GOP AGENDA 2023-24
What Congress Should Do
The Temptation
While the Freedom Caucus wrung important concessions from McCarthy before voting him in as Speaker, it’s important to focus on what the voters (us) want, not get into a political spitting match. We all want the Biden crime family to go down, and it’s long overdue. But no one really wants to give the top job to Harris, and going after Hunter could easily lead to her stepping into the presidency. It also might be tempting to try to go in and protect Trump.
It's always tempting to spend our money. Although both sides want earmarks, putting them out of play would be a better idea. Republicans should horse-trade with the Democrats to give them spending and taxing increases. We simply can’t afford it.
A Better Plan
What should be the focus, at least for the first year, is to tackle winnable, popular agendas that could be completed in a short amount of time. Rolling back the unconscionable increases in the IRS budget is a great start. No one in their right mind wants to give the IRS more power and more money to persecute us, especially as the D’s have the Senate and Biden. Tax increases are likely unless our side fights hard against them. Any other rollback of spending would be a great idea.
One of the most important concessions was to insist on single-issue bills, instead of the thousand-page documents no one has time to read that are filled with completely unrelated wish-lists that cost us our hard-earned money. They’ve also insisted on 72-hours to review the bills. I’d ask for longer, with public posting of bills available during the same time period, so we can see what our representatives are doing.
The latter could really come into play in disincenting illegals from coming here. If we stopped giving money to help them arrive, get food and supplies, and be transported to their desired destination, more would reconsider. Imagine arriving here, thirsty, hungry and sick and the US says, “Sorry, we have citizens to care for. We have nothing for you.” Once they find a way in, again, offer them nothing. No visa or citizenship papers? We can’t help you. Instead, let’s get back to the business of selecting the legal immigrants we want and who can help our country out. This could be the beginning of a border plan.
What else do voters really care about right now? The economy is top of mind for many who are still struggling to recover from Covid shutdowns, loss of income and the rising costs of everything. Our team needs to push hard on recovering our status as an oil and gas producer, not importer, reopening anything we can get opened and reassuring the public that the rise in energy costs will end. Everything monetary is tied to that. The supply chain requires cheap gas and factories need cheap electricity. Restore reliable power and costs will come down. Down the road, look at the future of nuclear, which the private sector has been innovating on. A reliable, low-carbon solution is in our hands and it isn’t solar or wind.
Donald Trump did a yeoman’s job of reducing regulations and that should continue with the House working hard to roll things back. Again, everyone benefits with fewer ridiculous regulations which impact every aspect of our lives. Eliminate the “emergency” status of Covid, taking away the power from a variety of unelected bureaucrats.
Without a majority, D’s can’t initiate spending or tax bills, nor can they play the game of budget reconciliation, which is how they got Obamacare passed without a single R vote. The R’s can put more money into modernizing our military, going after the CCP. Take the money away from DIE, critical race theory and other training BS. Reinstate all service members who were thrown out for refusing the useless and probably dangerous vaccine. And stop building yesterday’s equipment. We will never fight another WWII. Doing this will make military service far more attractive to young people starting their careers.
Kicking inflation in its butt would make many people happy, mostly those who work and suffer under the increasing cost of living. Then, Republicans would have the luxury to do some of the things that need doing, but take more time and aren’t seen as critical by the voting populace.
Down the Road
Defang Iran and the PLO by continuing to support Israel in the Abraham Accords, drawing in more people. Align with our allies to clarify the high costs to countries of China’s Belt and Road initiatives and offer them better options. Work to persuade international organizations to push China and North Korea out, as they will never play by the rules the rest of the countries do. Sure, it may piss them off, but what can they do? The world will be safer if we isolate them. China is our most serious enemy now, and despite its missteps, we cannot afford to ignore the threat. More and more, we know that the Wuhan Virology Institute created and let loose Covid; maybe an accident, maybe not. But it was no accident that China refused to tell anyone until the virus had reached all ends of the planet.
Go after the FBI and other agencies who’ve been turned into political tools. Launch the Biden family investigation, along with others. Once you have the people on your side again, it’s much easier to accomplish the larger goals.
Write to anyone who will listen and with luck, we can see this play out as a win the Republicans can build on for 2024.
