A Growth and Reform Congress
The GOP can’t ‘govern’ from Congress but it can showcase its agenda.
U.S. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday on the day after he was re-elected to a sixth term to the U.S. Senate. REUTERS
President Obama met the press corps Wednesday, and if he is concerned about his party’s drubbing on Tuesday you couldn’t tell. He offered up his familiar priorities (minimum wage!), vowed to listen to ideas from the new Congress, but showed barely a hint of introspection or need to change direction. Harry Reid , Mitch McConnell , who cares? So it looks like it will be up to Republicans to drive the policies to lift economic growth and reform government.
Mr. McConnell, the GOP Senate leader, showed a desire to transcend gridlock at his press conference Wednesday, and nearby he and House Speaker John Boehner mention areas of potential agreement with the President. But soon enough will come the hard decisions about what is achievable while Mr. Obama is President and what is better used to frame the 2016 election debate.
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Republicans could start by no longer saying they must now “govern.” They can’t govern from Capitol Hill as long as Mr. Obama has the veto pen. Newt Gingrich learned that lesson in 1995, and Republicans shouldn’t promise Americans more than they can deliver.
What they can do is demonstrate that they have a reform and growth agenda—some of which Democrats in Congress might support and Mr. Obama might accept. The hard part will be deciding what Republicans can unite around to put on Mr. Obama’s desk that is good policy and smart politics.
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Editorial Page Editor Paul Gigot on why the Republican Senate victory is a rebuke of the President and his polices. Photo credit: Associated Press.
One lesson of the last four years is to have a common House-Senate political strategy. Mr. Boehner’s fortified House majority will always be able to pass more conservative reform, but it is a waste of time unless Senate Republicans go along. This doesn’t mean the Senate tail should always wag the House, but it does mean collaboration is essential.
This also means that Messrs. McConnell and Boehner will have to do better than run their joints out of their hip pockets. Mr. Boehner lost control of his Members in 2011 and 2013 in part because many didn’t trust his solo forays to the White House.
Mr. McConnell is a crafty fellow, especially in the minority, but now he has to lead what could be a fractious majority, at least four of whom are Members running for re-election in 2016 in states that Mr. Obama carried. These are some of his best Senators—for example, Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson and Pennsylvania’s Pat Toomey —and Mr. McConnell needs a game plan that everyone understands to keep his Members united.
A strategy with specific and clearly communicated legislative goals would also make it less likely that Senator Ted Cruz could hijack the conference as he plays to the Iowa caucuses. And it would give some direction to committee chairmen who might otherwise cut bad deals with Democrats.
Editorial Page Editor Paul Gigot advises the President on how best to spend the next two years governing with a GOP-led Congress. Photo credit: Getty Images.
The overarching theme of this next Congress should be growing the economy faster and reforming government to improve the lives of all Americans. This is easier to write than it is to pass in legislation. But as a theme it will keep the focus squarely on the unhappiness over the economy and government failure so evident in Tuesday’s exit polls.
The obvious place to begin is with proposals that have bipartisan support and thus a chance to get 60 Senate votes. Candidates include approving the Keystone XL pipeline, expanded energy drilling and export, repealing the medical devices tax, fixes to Dodd-Frank, free-trade bills and perhaps tax reform. Mr. Obama will have a harder time vetoing bills that have bipartisan support, and if he does Republicans will have an easier time winning the public debate.
The annual budget creates an opening to pass legislation with only 51 Senate votes, and how much policy freight to add will be a tough call. Tax policy can be added under Senate rules but the repeal of ObamaCare probably cannot. So-called policy riders can also be added to spending bills, and these will also be veto flash points. If Mr. Obama stays true to form, he’ll stigmatize a provision or two to justify a veto. Republicans will have to choose policies carefully and then defend them without apology.
The good news is that most Republicans understand the need to show at least some results from winning Congress. They also seem to realize that incremental progress is better than nothing. Republicans took the Senate in part by running against its “dysfunction,” and moving legislation will be part of showing voters in two years that they’ve fixed its worst political habits.
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The real prize—and the key to repairing the damage of the Obama years—is taking the White House in 2016. While the candidates will set the overall agenda, a GOP Congress can help by educating voters about what would be possible with a Republican President. This means passing bills that showcase Republican reforms even if Mr. Obama may veto them.
One possibility would be the replacement of ObamaCare’s unpopular mandates with more insurance choice and competition. Mr. Obama said Wednesday he won’t sign a repeal of the individual mandate, for example, but that’s a fight the GOP should welcome.
The mistake Republicans shouldn’t make is to become hostage to Mr. Obama’s political methods, which everyone knows by now include disdain (that he sometimes can mask) for his opponents, and an inability to compromise. If he’s willing to change, great. If not, the GOP will have to pursue its own agenda and ask the President to choose