WSJ editorial:
From DeLay to November
April 5, 2006; Page A20
Tom DeLay's decision to resign from Congress removes one large Republican liability this election year, but it hardly ends the party's political vulnerability. One pressing question is whether the GOP majority is going to use the few productive weeks it has left to establish a 2006 record and 2007 agenda that are worthy of re-election.
Recent evidence is not reassuring. GOP leaders seem determined to avoid any meaningful legislative fights, lest their own internal fissures show. Instead, they're promising to make the election a "choice" -- rather than a referendum on their own governance -- and thus mobilize voters by claiming that Democrats would be worse: that they'd raise taxes, impeach President Bush and cut and run from Iraq if they win. And as a desperation strategy, fear does sometimes work.
On the other hand, the biggest Republican problem now is the demoralization of their own voters. Their lack of meaningful achievements this Congress (beyond the two Supreme Court Justices), all of their spending, and troubles in Iraq have left conservative voters wondering what the point is to voting for the GOP. If Republicans want their supporters to show up on election day, they'll need more of a message than wearing a "Speaker Nancy Pelosi" fright mask.
May we suggest a Plan B? How about at least fighting for the agenda that elected them the last time? It's obvious at this stage of the 109th Congress that little will actually become law, especially with Democrats able to filibuster in the Senate. But if Republicans were seen to be fighting for some principles, voters might actually decide it's worth showing up on November 7.
Here are a few ideas, none of them new, but all of them worth accomplishing:
Taxes. We hear that the House-Senate conference to extend the 15% capital gains and dividend rates isn't even meeting. This is inexplicable. The one large domestic success of the Bush years has been the post-bubble, post-9/11 economic revival, yet Republicans seem blasé about extending the tax cuts that did so much to spur it. A failure here would hurt the stock market and demoralize economic conservatives.
While they're at it, force the Senate to vote on death-tax repeal. Republicans may not get 60 votes, but if they come close enough they may be able to get Senator Jon Kyl's compromise that would cut the rate to 15%, from nearly 50% today, and raise the exemption above $10 million or so.
Reform Congressional budgeting, by passing the line-item veto and ending static revenue scoring at the Joint Tax Committee. Another good idea is the effort by Arizonans Jeff Flake in the House and John McCain in the Senate to end earmark abuse. A return to some spending self-discipline will count for much more with conservative voters than will "lobbying reform," which is a Beltway trope designed by the same crowd that promoted the "campaign-finance reform" that empowered George Soros.
Health-care choice. Congressman John Shadegg (R., Ariz.) has a bill to let Americans purchase affordable health insurance from any of the 50 states, thus bypassing state mandates that drive up insurance costs in New York and many other places. Another idea would let associations form health-care risk pools for their members, thus giving small business owners and the self-employed the same tax-preferred insurance options that big business and unions have now. These proposals would address a top voter priority and steal a march on Democrats.
Endangered Species Act reform. This is a huge issue in the West, where ESA rules drive property owners crazy. Congressman Richard Pombo (R., Calif.) has a bipartisan proposal that would require the federal government to compensate property owners for regulatory "takings" due to wetlands preservation or endangered species limits on development. The Senate probably wouldn't pass it, but the issue could be potent in key Congressional contests this fall.
We can think of other ideas, such as fighting for appellate-court nominees in the Senate, and defending the President's anti-terror agenda, especially the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretaps. But the larger point is for Republicans to show that they are willing to fight for something.
Some Republicans seem to believe that debating any of these issues will help Democrats "nationalize" the election, which will hurt them because of Mr. Bush's low approval ratings. But a Congressman is not a dog catcher, and some kind of national agenda is what voters expect of someone they'll be sending to Washington. With the Abramoff scandal likely to keep making headlines, Republicans need something to motivate their voters. Policy will trump scandal, but only if Republicans look like they want to achieve something real.
On election night in 2004, Democratic campaign consultant James Carville asked: Where did all these Republican voters come from? Unless Republicans set a new legislative course over the next seven months, a deposed House Speaker Denny Hastert may soon be wondering: Where did all the Republican voters go? |
