This is a prescription for disappointment because the voters who supplied the Republican majority made it clear they wanted a dramatic course correction. They voted for a reversal of policies that have reduced health care quality, stagnated the economy, increased regulation and legalized amnesty.
Even with their new found majority, Republican leadership has already conceded it plans a tepid legislative agenda. Their announced plan is to pass the Keystone XL Pipeline and repeal of the Medical Device Tax. While laudable moves, neither were key issues in the mid-term elections.
If that's the extent of the Republican agenda, then the GOP will have wasted an opportunity to show it can govern with courage and conviction. Avoiding mistakes is not an agenda for change. The country has suffered enough under the obstructionism of Harry Reid, who pigeonholed GOP-passed legislation.
Clearly, Americans are clamoring for audacious moves. Incremental change will not satisfy those who handed the reins of government to Republicans. Instead of worrying about 2016, GOP leaders need to solidify their gains by keeping their promises to voters.
Yet Republican leadership has already waved the white flag, claiming its hands are tied because a Democrat occupies the White House. Each Obama veto will weaken the resolve of Democrats. To maintain faith with Americans, Republicans should embrace an aggressive agenda that includes:
1. Repeal Obamacare. Every poll shows the president's health care reform grows more unpopular with each passing day. Nipping at the edges of the monstrous health law will not satisfy most Americans. It will only guarantee that the law will survive in perpetuity. Of course, the president will veto the bill. So what? After he does, the GOP should rewrite the law, keeping a few popular provisions like coverage for preexisting conditions. The new law should be no longer than 10 pages and be posted on the Internet for everyone to see before it is voted upon. Even Democrats will have a difficult time justifying opposition to a law that eliminates the huge bureaucracy required to administer the current elephantine bill.
2. Reform tax laws. The current tax code is 73,954 pages. It stretches to nearly four million words. It has grown an average of 1.8 percent annually since Barrack Obama became president. The code is packed with exclusions, loopholes and ambiguous language. Republicans should pass a tax reform bill that simplifies the the tax code to a manageable 100 pages and eliminates the bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo that makes the law unfathomable for most Americans. This would have the added benefit of reducing the size and the influence of the IRS, which has been granted too much power under Obama. As part of the reform, federal income taxes should be lowered for all Americans.
3. Invest in the economy. Real economic stimulus follows real investment. The President's vaunted stimulus bill was nothing more than pork to reward cronies, unions and donors. There was no investment in infrastructure, including roads, bridges, airports, communications and utilities. There are a myriad of actions the Congress could take to spur investment, including investment tax breaks, increased spending on transportation and tax incentives for hiring. This is just a partial list. For instance, it doesn't includes legislative initiatives like eliminating the corporate tax on businesses' repatriation of overseas earnings. That measure alone could trigger billions of dollars of investment at home. Americans businesses pay the highest taxes in the developed world. If Congress is serious about spurring investment, then it should lower the tax rate for all businesses.
4. Reign in the regulatory regime. There has been an alarming tsunami of regulations under President Obama. The chief executive's signature health care law added 11,588,500 words in new regulations alone. That's 30 words of regulations for each word in the law. The size of the Federal Register, which publishes new regulations annually, grew by 7.4 percent in the first three years of his administration. In the last ten years, the federal government has imposed more than 40,000 new regulations. This bureaucratic red-tape costs taxpayers and businesses billions of dollars. Yet federal regulators are free to issue rules without consulting Congress. Republicans should pass a bill that requires every regulation with an economic impact of $100 million or more to be approved by Congress.
5. Pass a budget that reduces the size of government. No matter what you read in the media, the federal government has grown bigger and fatter under President Obama. Since he became president, federal budgets and borrowing have increased. Republicans need to take a meat clever to the federal budget, not just whittle away at a few pet projects. Leadership should start by insisting that every federal department reduce spending by one penny for every dollar in their current budget. Those pennies will add up to billions when you consider the current gargantuan budget of $3.9 trillion. Real government reform will never happen unless Congress reduces funding. Washington never voluntarily does away with any project or department.
6. Enact real immigration reform. The president has thrown down the gauntlet to Republicans with his executive order on amnesty, daring them to pass immigration legislation. The GOP has an opportunity to craft a bill that addresses the priority of border security. Without that step, illegal immigrants will continue to flood into the United States forever. Once that is done, the GOP should create legislation that facilitates the immigration of those with high-tech credentials, eliminates red-tape for those seeking political asylum and reduces the waiting time for those currently holding jobs in the country. Once those steps are taken, the Congress should insist on strict enforcement of laws that prevent the hiring of illegals. This is a jobs issue. American jobs are going to those who have no legal status in the country. That is unfair to tax-paying Americans who need jobs.
If Republicans want to prove they can govern, then they need to ditch the cautious approach. The country is hungering for dynamic change. The GOP will lose its base and the 2016 presidential election if its unwilling or unable to swiftly reverse the Obama agenda.
5. Pass a budget that reduces the size of government. No matter what you read in the media, the federal government has grown bigger and fatter under President Obama. Since he became president, federal budgets and borrowing have increased. Republicans need to take a meat clever to the federal budget, not just whittle away at a few pet projects. Leadership should start by insisting that every federal department reduce spending by one penny for every dollar in their current budget. Those pennies will add up to billions when you consider the current gargantuan budget of $3.9 trillion. Real government reform will never happen unless Congress reduces funding. Washington never voluntarily does away with any project or department.
6. Enact real immigration reform. The president has thrown down the gauntlet to Republicans with his executive order on amnesty, daring them to pass immigration legislation. The GOP has an opportunity to craft a bill that addresses the priority of border security. Without that step, illegal immigrants will continue to flood into the United States forever. Once that is done, the GOP should create legislation that facilitates the immigration of those with high-tech credentials, eliminates red-tape for those seeking political asylum and reduces the waiting time for those currently holding jobs in the country. Once those steps are taken, the Congress should insist on strict enforcement of laws that prevent the hiring of illegals. This is a jobs issue. American jobs are going to those who have no legal status in the country. That is unfair to tax-paying Americans who need jobs.
If Republicans want to prove they can govern, then they need to ditch the cautious approach. The country is hungering for dynamic change. The GOP will lose its base and the 2016 presidential election if its unwilling or unable to swiftly reverse the Obama agenda.
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