Hello, DC Republicans: There’s a New Sheriff in Town

Republicans are in shock that Donald J. Trump did the unthinkable — he won. The establishment wing of the Republican Party, the #NeverTrump wing, and stalwart conservatives must all figure out what to do with Trump.

Here are three action items that conservatives in Congress should implement moving forward, both before and after Trump takes office.

Roll out a bold agenda

The old adage goes. “you can’t beat something with nothing.” Well, Republicans need to roll out a bold agenda for the future, and it needs to paint with the bold colors of Donald Trump.

First, they need to cancel the lame-duck session of Congress. Republicans in the House and Senate would be smart to pass a Continuing Resolution that lasts until the end of the fiscal year to clear the decks for Trump’s first 100 days.

Part of that 100 days needs to be a wholescale assault on Obamacare. In addition, Republicans should push Trump’s bold plan to reform the tax code and cut corporate taxes to make America great for business again.

One of the greatest threats to our republic is crushing debt. It’s time to push a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that limits the size of government and that prohibits Congress and the courts from imposing tax hikes. A balanced budget amendment would force Congress to take a hard look at entitlement programs that are on a path to insolvency, while also requiring them to honor the promises to people relying on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security today.

Trump is the true outsider. Trump is disliked by Wall Street, K Street, the corporate cronyists, and the main stream politicians. He may be the perfect candidate to promote a policy that truly tackles crony capitalism.

Republicans should end all legislation that provides special tax credits, regulations, and appropriations that help a specific lobbying interest or corporation. The special loopholes directed at certain industries or companies must end; the political favors for certain individuals or entities need to cease too.

Finally, one of the most important efforts in the first 100 days will be to pull from his list of potential Supreme Court nominees and nominate Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah (A, 100%) to the high court.

These agenda items are merely the tip of the iceberg. A radical agenda would capture what the American people told us yesterday — that they hate Washington and want radical change.

Fight

Republicans need to channel Trump.

They need to stop cutting deals in the name of “incrementalism.” Our squishy leaders will try to lower expectations for the new Congress. They will blame the Senate’s filibuster as a way to deflect from their own lack of leadership.

Learn from Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky. (A, 92%), Mike Lee, Tom Cotton, R-Ark. (C, 76%), and Ted Cruz R-Texas (A, 97%) and start this new Congress with guns blazing.

Learn from Trump

The lessons of Donald Trump’s victory should be studied. He was a reaction to the terrible leadership in Congress over the past few years. When these “leaders” were confronted with numerous gun control bills, they played defense and refused to push popular ideas like national conceal carry. When they had the opportunity to defund the Obama agenda, they refused to use the power of the purse to even engage in a fight.

The only time they fought was to block Merrick Garland’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, but had Trump lost, they would have immediately confirmed Garland, anyway.

Donald Trump is wildly popular with the base because he was the most anti-establishment candidate in the race. He called Washington politicians “dumb” and “stupid” — and he was right in a political sense. Washington politicians were not listening to Republican voters who wanted their representatives to stand up for what they believe in.

Are they listening now? We will find out soon. (For more from the author of “Hello, DC Republicans: There’s a New Sheriff in Town” please click HERE)

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