A Plan for the Next Two Years -- 1

With election Day just a week away, it is time to begin discussing what should be done in the next two years in Washington. Right now, it seems likely that the GOP will control the House; the Senate is leaning towards continued control by the Democrats after major gains by the Republicans. We may see a narrow GOP control of the Senate or (less likely) narrow control of the House by the Democrats, but one thing is certain: the Democrats will no longer be able to govern without dealing with the Republicans. So what should the Republcians do?

Here is the answer: since the House must vote on any spending or taxation bills, the GOP should conduct itself as if it were in total control of the country. By this I mean that the GOP should only vote for spending that is necessary; waste needs to be cut out. For example, much has been said in recent days about the half billion dollars that is spent each year on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The GOP should just refuse to vote for any bill that funds CPB. The GOP should also refuse to vote for funding any program at the extravagant levels set by the current congress and Obama. Republicans will not have the power to make affirmative changes to the government; Obama's veto will stop any change like repeal of Obamacare. Nevertheless, the GOP will have its own veto on every cent of government spending. They should use that veto.

Republicans will have gotten their positions from this election by speaking in favor of fiscal responsibility. They need to support that position once they get to Washington.

The big bugaboo, however, is the memory of the government shutdown in the mid 90's. The GOP under the leadership of Gingrich brought the government to a halt and paid a political price for that. This time, however, there is no need to stop the government from functioning. If spending bills cannot be passed, then the GOP should vote for continuing resolutions that fund the government at the levels of 2008 spending. If Obama wants to shut the government, let him. It will be his choice.