Congressman Bacon Talks Left and Right

By Gordon Hopkins At a press conference Friday afternoon, October 24, U.S. Representative Don Bacon discussed several legislative matters, and took the opportunity to criticize both the left and the right. Shutdown versus Health CareThe most pressing issue continues to be the federal government shutdown. While Republicans have offered a “clean” continuing resolution to fund the government, meaning no partisan extras have been tacked on, Democrats maintain they will not vote to reopen the government unless some concessions are made regarding health care. Democrats want to see an extension of the ACA (Affordable Care Act tax credits), which are set to expire on December 31 of this year. If that happens, people insured through ACA could see their premiums increase. They also want to see cuts made to Medicaid reversed.Like most of his fellow Republicans in the house, Bacon has called on House Democrats to approve the continuing resolution as is and negotiate with Republicans on health care separately.Bacon said, “And I want to remind people that President (Barack) Obama, himself, said that he would never negotiate anything different than a clean CR (continuing resolution). This is as clean of a CR as you can have, and the same CR that the Democrats voted for 13 previous times under the earlier or the previous administration.”“And let me just differentiate their tax credits in the ACA bill passed by President Obama back in 2011 those are in law, and they're and they're not under risk at all. It was the COVID-era tax credits that were passed in 2021 party line vote that will expire on December 31. Most Republicans, I'm not saying all, but most Republicans want to compromise here. We don't want to see premiums rise either, but we're not going to just do an endless extension of these COVID era tax credits.”The difficulty for Democrats is that Republicans currently control the House, Senate and Presidency. Once a continuing resolution is passed, Democrats no longer have any major leverage.Previously, the congressman made clear his view that the shutdown is not truly motivated by health care but by opposition to President Donald Trump. Bacon made clear his opinion has not changed, “I was on an interview with one of my colleagues. He goes, ‘Don, in the end, this is about not having business as usual. This is about President Trump and the base on the other side of the aisle want the shutdown to prove they're fighting back against President Trump.”That sentiment has been echoed by another Nebraska delegate, Senator Pete Reicketts. During a recent press conference, Ricketts said of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, “He got beat up by his far-left wing of the Democrat Party, and that is what is driving this.”Bacon added, “If this is about Trump, this is going to be a long-term shutdown. If it's about ACA tax credits, this could be solved today, in my view.” Far-Right versus ConservativeThe congressman did not reserve his criticism solely for those on the left. He also has harsh words for what he calls the far-right elements of his party. Bacon began the press conference by stating, “I'm a (sic) old school conservative, Reagan-era type Republican. So, in some areas, I support the administration. Others, I'll be a little bit critical.”Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon recently told The Economist there was a plan to get President Trump a third term in 2028, something which would be unconstitutional according to the 22nd amendment.When asked about this, Bacon didn’t mince words, “Steve Bannon is from Idiotville,” adding, “I think he represents the worst part of the far-right.”The congressman then drew a distinction between what he sees as different and incompatible ideologies in the Republican party.“I've been doing a lot of thinking about being far-right versus conservative. I'm a conservative,” said Bacon. “The far right has broken from that. They're not. They're not tethered to conservative ideology, and he (Bannon) represents that segment out there. They now call themselves national populists. That is not conservative and I reject it.”Bacon then took it a step further, “Well, I embrace the traditional conservative views of the Republican Party, and I don't accept the Bannon and Tucker Carlson (ideology). They should not be part of the Republican Party in my view. They could be their own party.”Bacon said, “I do embrace traditional Ronald Reagan conservative views now, and I have to admit, we're in a weird spot in our political dialog.”Earlier this year, Bacon announced he would not be running for re-election.“I'm going to fight for the soul of our party. That's one of the reasons why I'm not running again. I'm going to stay involved,” said Bacon. “I'm not willing to give up on the Republican party to the Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson crowd.”

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