Republicans

House and Senate Republicans are getting together for a retreat to figure out how much damage they can do to the United States before November’s elections—and how they can survive those elections. In between a long lunch with Donald Trump and a long dinner with Mike Pence, congressional Republicans will discuss the “unique environment” they face for the 2018 elections and get what sounds like a pep talk:

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Steve Stivers of Ohio and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Cory Gardner of Colorado will talk about messaging on GOP successes like taxes, the economy, safety and security, “and a lot about the landscape,” Stivers said. “There’s no shortage of opportunities for us either, and we’ll be talking about that,” he said.

No shortage of opportunities, huh? No shortage of Koch network dollars to buy you opportunities, anyway. House and Senate will also try to get on the same page legislatively:

“These retreats are helpful in helping members in both the House and Senate understand what the limitations are in the other body. The House guys probably need to hear from Senate leaders just how challenging it is going to be to get to 60 votes for some of the things they want to do,” Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune of South Dakota said.

But it sounds like that may be a challenge in itself:

Many House Republicans say they’re ready to push for major changes to welfare programs and to revisit dismantling the 2010 health care law. Senate Republicans, who narrowly control the chamber with 51 members, don’t see many paths for such measures, even if they were to use the budget reconciliation process that allows passage with only majority support. “We can’t accept the Senate’s answer that they don’t have the votes to do anything, because people back home are hurting,” Rep. Richard Hudson said.

Yes, people are hurting and we need to hurry up and hurt them some more by taking away their health coverage and their food stamps. If only the darn Senate wouldn’t get in the way.

Republicans have their work cut out for them, both avoiding a year filled with infighting and failure and avoiding massive election losses despite a gerrymandered House and a favorable Senate map. But they have plenty of evil and money to go around, so don’t count them out on either front.

Take back the House! Can you give just $1 to the Democratic nominee funds in each of the Daily Kos-targeted districts?