For House GOP, It's Time To Bring Out the Shotgun

With their big win, Republicans took hold of the House of Representatives. With that control, Republicans will be able to control the Federal purse strings and push their own legislative agenda. There are several ways to accomplish that but I propose what my Dad calls the shotgun approach.

House Republicans would introduce a series of single subject bills. Each bill, should contain popular reforms and budget cuts. There are two possible outcomes for each bill. First, they pass and the GOP gets the cuts that the Federal government so desperately needs. Second, Democrats, which control the Senate, can kill the bills there through procedural means or the filibuster or President Barack Obama vetoes it.

It's that second case that, in many ways, will benefit Republicans more than actually passing the bills. By killing off the bills, Democrats become the obstructionist "Party of No". In doing so, Democrats will show that any promises they made about being fiscally conservative will be proven to be false. Every "No" vote becomes a hammer to hit Democrats with in 2012. Every "No" vote highlights the Democrats' big spending ways.

For those bills that do pass, and there will be many that will, Republicans must stand up and loudly proclaim their victories and the victories for their agenda. If they let Democrats co-opt that message, they will simply be handing the victories to the Democrats. The Dems will be able to say "See? We can be fiscally conservative, too." Republicans must get out in front with articulate, enthusiastic speakers like Marco Rubio or Allen West to celebrate their wins. (I hate playing identity politics, but having minority congressmen such as Sen. Rubio or Rep. West will help get the Republican message out to these minority groups who have been deceived by Democrats for so many years.)

Now, a little bit about the bills themselves. First of all, they need to focus on cutting government waste and largess and stay as far away from "social issues" as possible. For example, it's okay to remove all direct and indirect federal funding of abortion but they shouldn't even attempt to try to outlaw the procedure. Trying to go all social-con at this point will blow apart the coalition that has formed between Republicans and libertarians.

Second, there's no doubt that House Republicans will pass a symbolic bill in the house repealing ObamaCare. That bill will then die in the Senate or be vetoed by Obama. The serious work for dealing with that monstrosity will come need come in two phases. First, and this may be the simplest part, pass a series of bills stripping out things like the mandates. Second, is defunding the beast. The fight will be with the Senate as they try to keep the funding there.

Thirdly, and this will be a bitter pill for some conservatives, the Republicans need to look seriously at cutting military spending. I'm not talking about across the board cuts or scraping defense programs that should continue but pulling out of situations that the United States should not be part of. The simplest solution is to stop being the defense force for half the world. It's time for the countries in Europe and nations like Japan to foot the bill for their own defense. The US can and should maintain many of the bases but scaled back what basically amounts to refueling stations and emergency landing fields.

Afghanistan is a separate problem. We need to either quit playing around and conquer the place or get out. Anything else is a waste of money and, more importantly, lives.

While I'm rambling on about foreign policy, I'd love to see the US stop paying UN dues (or reduce payments down to $1). We can't afford to foot the bill for an organization that has become as useless as the UN has over the years. We shouldn't withdraw completely because we have permanent veto power and can kill anything that comes up that is contrary to US interests.

Anyway, back to the GOP's shotgun bills. Every bill that they pass must be a win-win bill. If it's passed, it makes Republicans look good and it makes Democrats look bad if they block it. If Republicans let them get hung up on a few big bills, the momentum they've gained with this election will be stalled.