By Fred Barnes
Come January House Republicans will mount a far-reaching assault on the Democratic policies of the last two years.
When Republicans take over the House of Representatives in January theyll have a solid majority 242 to 193. With enough imagination and fortitude they could become the party of hope and change.
For the past two years with Democrats in control of the White House and both houses of Congress Republicans were seen by Democrats and the media as the party of no. Indeed they opposed nearly all of President Obamas agenda: the omnibus spending bill the economic stimulus package cap-and-trade climate legislation health-care reform a slew of new regulations and billions in spending.
But the political culture of the country has changed and House Republicans intend to take full advantage of the new conservative mood. Even now theyre ready to join Senate Republicans to block the spending surge that Democrats are trying to slip through the lame duck Congress this week.
The new political imperative would seem to require that. Public sentiment now strongly favors cuts in spending less government and a shift in power to the states.
The Republicans strategy is to use the House as a battering ram to force their proposals and ideas to the top of Washingtons list of priorities. By passing spending cutsa new one every weekand curbs on government activism the goal is to put Democrats and the president on the defensive.
Theyre going to vote against everything says Ohios Rep. Jim Jordan head of the Republican Study Committee the influential group of House conservatives. Democrats are going to be the party of no. And theyre going have a lot to say no to.
The Republican assault is breathtaking in scope. D-Day is January 5 when Republicans start to do business as the House majority. At least five committees are getting ready to take part.
Wisconsins Paul Ryan soon to be the chairman of the House Budget Committee says hes stockpiling bills right now to pare back spending and overhaul the entire budget process. He says the budget rules enacted in 1974 impede spending cuts and promote hikes in spending and taxes and.
At the Energy and Commerce Committee the incoming chairman is Michigans Fred Upton who is rapidly shedding his reputation as a moderate and now sounds like a ferocious conservative reformer. Hes eager to contain the rising cost of Medicaid for one and told me that he plans to dispatch committee members to investigate federal agencies to see if theyre capable of running their programs.
Mr. Upton has already talked to governors about turning Medicaid over to the states. He says $180 billion can be saved by giving governors the flexibility to alter Medicaids rules and by changing federal funding into block grants. Mr. Upton intends to have what he calls top-flight governors including Chris Christie of New Jersey testify on Medicaid at a series of committee hearings.
Thats not all. He told me he wants to subject the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act aka ObamaCare to heavy-duty oversight. Mr. Upton wants to trim the income ceiling for both Medicaid eligibility (now 133 of the poverty level) and S-chip the health-insurance subsidy for children (currently $88000).
The Ways and Means Committeewhose new chairman is Michigans Dave Campshares jurisdiction with Energy and Commerce over health care including Medicare. In 2009 and 2010 it held no hearings on ObamaCare. That will change in 2011. Another member of the committee is Mr. Ryan who challenged Mr. Obama face-to-face on health care at the nationally televised White House summit last February.
Over at the Financial Services Committee incoming Chairman Spencer Bachus of Alabama is preparing to review the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill enacted this year. More important he will take up what that law completely ignored the money-hemorrhaging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The House Appropriations Committee will be the first to act. Its task Mr. Ryan told me is to offer rescissions or cuts in the current 2011 budget. To prove their seriousness about reining in spending House Republicans will vote first on a 5 decrease in funding for congressional operations the speakers office included. That vote will be followed by one to repeal ObamaCare. Both are expected to pass the House.
To succeed Republicans must prove that three hardy perennials of Washington thinking are wrong or misleading at least at the moment.
One is that the president always sets the agenda. John Boehner who will be the new House Speaker endorsed that notion on election night in November. But thats no longer what Republican leaders are saying. Were better prepared to control the agenda than the Senate or the president says Californias Kevin McCarthy who will be majority whip in the new Republican leadership. In their Pledge to America Republicans laid out an agenda that includes slashing spending to pre-stimulus pre-bailout levels. From day one were ready to move Mr. McCarthy says while Democrats and Mr. Obama are in disarray.
The second Washington oldie is that voters favor spending cuts and smaller government in the abstract but balk at individual reductions that may actually affect them. With a looming debt crisis this time its different Mr. Ryan says. Adds Mr. McCarthy: You havent had this kind of election since the 30s. You havent had this kind of high and steady unemployment since the 30s.
The third maxim is that you cant govern from Capitol Hill. True enough Newt Gingrich failed when he tried to do so as House speaker from 1994 to 1999. The GOP strategy today is different. Republicans arent trying to govern. Theyre aiming to do what voters have asked for but with little expectation of enacting legislation. And theyre determined to play up ideas to help elect a Republican president in 2012.
The game plan is simple: Take on the federal behemoth in Washington. We cant be daunted says Mr. Ryan. We shouldnt be intimidated. We can put our ideas out there in a very clear way. Thats not by splitting hairs and being bland.
Mr. Barnes is executive editor of the Weekly Standard and a Fox News commentator.
