From the WSJ Opinion Archives
MAN OF THE HOUSE
The Boehner Banner?
House Republicans must return to their reformist roots.
With the election of John Boehner as House majority leader, Republicans have, in effect, taken over the House of Representatives for a second time. And not a moment too soon. After over 10 years in the majority, House Republicans had lost their way, too focused on parochial pork over public policy.
More than anything, Rep. Boehner's success represents the intent of Republican members of the House to repair their credentials as reformers with the American people. His victory was made possible because he was able to find common purpose with John Shadegg, Jeff Flake, Mike Pence and the rest of the Young Turks of the party eager to regain what some are calling the Spirit of '94. As such, interpret Rep. Boehner's victory as a Republican Conference mandate to restore the party of limited, honest government and big reform ideas that move money and power out of Washington.
Foremost, the majority leader is an officer of the House. His first responsibility is to the House as an institution of our Republic. His second is to the nation and to pursue the broad national interest. My advice is best summed as follows: If it is about power, you lose. The majority leader must serve the job, not use the job to serve himself. If Leader Boehner serves the job well, the trust of his colleagues and the American people will naturally follow.
Unless the speaker decides to change his delegation of responsibilities, the majority leader will continue to manage the legislative agenda of the House. In doing so, he must put his policy duties ahead of his political duties, knowing that good policy makes good politics.
Not that this will be an easy task. When Republicans took control of the House in 1995, Newt Gingrich and I had a major advantage that Denny Hastert and John Boehner do not: Authorizers and appropriators believed that we were the ones who engineered their chairmanships by winning the majority for the first time in 40 years. Over time, their appreciation waned. Today, the third party in Congress--the appropriators--drives much of the legislative process, with disastrous results.
As the gatekeeper to the House floor, the majority leader has significant influence over what Congress will accomplish. He must work with the rest of the leadership to pull House Republicans together around a common agenda of good policy that is good for America. It is also time to take full control of the internal workings of Congress. The current process calls reductions in spending growth a "cut," makes earmarks a way of life, and scores tax relief and personal retirement accounts in ways that ignore their economic benefits. One way to achieve and advance a consensus Republican agenda is by restoring the legislative process in the House. The majority leader is not just responsible for scheduling legislation, but also for coordinating the overall legislative process. That must be done in such a way that a bill comes to the House floor only after it has been fully considered by all the committees of jurisdiction, and after the majority leader has resolved conflicts among factions and ideologies in the House.
This means resolving in conference the purpose of a bill, then moving it through the proper committees and only then bringing it to the floor. It is not flashy and it is hard work, but the rigor of process will help produce quality legislation. There is no shortcut to good legislation. The alternative is last-minute deal-making and cobbled-together legislation that poorly serves both Republican policy goals and the nation as a whole. So here are my suggestions for policy initiatives that should be tackled immediately:
1. Spending restraint. Any serious effort to restore ethics and integrity to the House must start with cleaning up the appropriations process. Over the past five years the number of earmarks has gone up sevenfold--from around 2,000 to 14,000 in 2005--while the number of lobbying entities doubled during the same time. Rep. Boehner made his intentions clear in this regard. A good start would bring Rep. Flake's earmark reform legislation to the House floor. Also, President Bush asked for enhanced recision authority in his State of the Union Address, and Congress should give it to him. Jeb Hensarling, another reformer, has a comprehensive budget process reform package that should have the support of the new leadership. In terms of spending restrain, the recent deficit reduction vote was an important signal, but the House must do more. In the long run, reforming entitlements like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, which cost over $3 billion a day last year and are expected continue to grow around 8% a year, is essential to real spending control.
2. Tax reform. Republicans believe in a tax code that is simple, low, honest and fair. While enacting a flat tax would clean up special interest politics in Washington overnight, this House must focus on legislation that can, and must, be passed this year. Most important are permanent repeal of the death tax, permanent extension of dividend tax relief, and permanent extension of both the income and capital gains rate cuts. Each of these represents an important piece of fundamental reform, and is vital to the continued strength of the economy.
3. Social Security reform. Republicans should stand for an honest Social Security program that stops the congressional raid on retirement funds and allows younger workers to choose personal accounts that they own and control. The year 2007 offers another opportunity to do reform right, but that opportunity will be determined by the willingness of rank-and-file Republicans to stand up during the 2006 election season and educate their constituents on the opportunity and necessity for a better retirement system for younger generations.
4. Tort reform. The House should work toward a legal system that delivers swift justice for real victims of wrongdoing instead of enriching an elite class of abusive personal injury lawyers. Medical malpractice reform is important and achievable this year. Another initiative that needs to be done right is asbestos litigation reform. The Specter/Leahy trust fund does not solve the problem, rewarding some corporate interests and all trial lawyers at the expense of other medium-sized businesses and taxpayers. The House should reject this new entitlement and instead pass Chris Cannon's legislation defining clear medical criteria that will ensure full compensation to the real asbestos victims.
5. Unleashing new technologies. Regulatory reform, especially in sectors like telecommunications, is needed to keep our economy innovative and growing. Look to the legislation recently introduced by Sen. Jim DeMint for a sound policy roadmap. This is an opportunity that will yield tangible economic growth and new jobs.
6. Health-care Reform, including Medicare and Medicaid. The president has some good ideas to empower individual patients and their doctors through health savings accounts. The Republican Congress should expand that concept to federal entitlement programs as well. Medicare, in particular, needs to be transformed from a one-size-fits-all bureaucracy to one based on ownership and individual control. The result will be a more humane health-care system for future retirees, and it will yield real budget savings over time.
This is a rare opportunity for the House once again to lead the party and set the legislative agenda. The Republican Congress must re-establish its credibility as the party of fiscal responsibility and limited government. The majority leader also has the role of spokesman for the party and must be able to articulate a Republican vision for the country. This will help the majority reconnect with the base, which has lately been wondering why they have worked so hard to elect a Republican majority that is spending like a Democrat one. Remember: When we act like us, we win. When we act like them, we lose. If the big ideas of 1994 and the Republican revolution are lost, so is the majority.
No doubt, the new majority leader arrives at a difficult time, when the Democrat agenda is to simply cheer the temporary failure of Social Security reform, as Hillary Clinton and her colleagues did during the State of the Union. Rep. Boehner's Democrat counterpart was recently quoted gloating about House Democrats ability to stonewall. "[They said] 'you can't beat something with nothing.' And we said, 'Yes we can,' " she boasted. But there are serious legislators in both parties, who put policy first. Working with the minority has been neglected in the past couple of years. The new majority leader needs to operate with a process that brings Democrats to the table without compromising our principles. And by keeping the process open, it forces Democrats to offer alternatives and to debate us on policy grounds. We should not shy away from supporting big Republican ideas. They are, in the end, the real purpose of our majority.
Mr. Armey, House majority leader from 1995 to 2002, is chairman of FreedomWorks, a national grass-roots advocacy organization.
