For the past two years Republicans have campaigned on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, securing the southern border, reforming the tax system and defunding Planned Parenthood. As it sits today, Obamacare is falling apart, the southern border remains open, our tax system is more convoluted than it should be and Planned Parenthood continues killing babies with the help of taxpayer dollars.
Will those that promised to fix all of this really follow through? They haven’t yet.
Congress convened in early January. After two months of work, no major bill on any of the issues above has been proposed. Republicans voted to repeal Obamacare on several occasions while President Obama was in the White House. These votes never made it out of the House. Congress complained about illegal immigration on the southern border yet we have no legislation that will secure the border. Republican representatives and senators railed against the current tax system during campaign time as convoluted and burdensome yet we have no new tax reform legislation to date. For the past three years, GOP leaders have boasted about wanting to defund America’s largest abortion provider but they said the effort was dead because then -President Obama would veto the effort.
At the time, these excuses had merit. Now, there’s no room for excuses. The GOP controls the House, Senate and White House.
Some might say that these are complex issues that take time to work through. While that is true, let’s not forget that Republicans had eight years to work through and craft legislation on these issues. Do you know what this tells me? Republicans didn’t expect to win the White House this past November.
If the GOP genuinely expected to win the presidential election, they would have had all of this legislation crafted and ready to file.
If Republicans wants to keep the majority in the House and Senate, here’s what they need to do in the next two months.
First, Congress must return to regular order. This means that instead of passing a massive budget bill or continuing resolution the House would vote on up to a dozen appropriations bills. This would allow more negotiation and control over spending. Right now, House leadership throws together a bloated budget bill and says to each member, “would you like to fund the government, yes or no?” What congressman is going to vote “no” on this? Without regular order, members of congress aren’t able to effectively regulate what the government funds and what it doesn’t. By returning to regular order, Congress can officially remove Planned Parenthood funding from Medicaid and any other portion of the federal budget.
Secondly, Republicans must repeal all of the Affordable Care Act. By doing so, millions of Americans will be allowed to shop for more affordable healthcare and the government will get its hands out of this private market.
Thirdly, the GOP should appropriate the funds necessary to secure the southern border. This would mean funds to complete construction of a border wall and expediting deportation of illegal immigrants. By ending illegal immigration, our government will stop wasting money on welfare for illegal immigrants and Americans will have more opportunity for jobs that were previously taken by illegal aliens.
Lastly, Congress must pass a tax plan that simplifies the tax code and lowers taxes for middle class families. Also, lowering the corporate taxes will allow businesses to invest more money into America and hire more workers.
The policies that I’ve mentioned above are all campaign promises that won Republicans the House, Senate and White House this past November. If Republican leadership will just understand this and carry out that which they’ve promised then they will be sure to hold the majority in the coming election cycle. If they fail to act, it will be the comeback of the Democratic Party. Either way, the outcome hinges on the Republican Party and whether or not individual lawmakers meant what they said during the last election or had their fingers crossed behind their backs.
