In the major build-up to the Mid-term elections, House Republican Leadership has released the Commitment To America. This bold policy agenda has been put together as an authoritative answer to the radical left's legislative measures that are bringing down our country.
After a thorough look at the Commitment, the Louisiana Policy Review is pleased to ENDORSE the plan as a great step forward for our country.
With that being said, here is our Policy Brief on the GOP's Commitment To America.
There are four key pillars to the Commitment: An Economy That's Strong, A Nation That's Safe, A Future That's Built on Freedom, and A Government That's Accountable.
There are a few key takeaways that LPR has gleaned from the literature on the proposal and from conversations with some of the decision-makers crafting this policy;
Louisiana First
First and foremost, you can rest assured that Louisiana will be at the forefront of all of these policies. Aside from the future Majority Leader Steve Scalise (who is leading House Republicans in their efforts to take back the congress), Congressman Mike Johnson and Congresswoman Julia Letlow were instrumental in the drafting of this plan. Both representatives had important seats at the table when the drafting process began.
Letlow had a lot of say in her spheres of expertise that included agriculture, education, and healthcare. Johnson, as the head of the Republican Study Committee, oversaw the creation of this plan from the outset of its creation.
In talking with Johnson himself, he explained the formulation of the Commitment over many years and how key GOP leaders in and out of government had been influential. For instance, Former Speaker Newt Gingrich played a key role in its drafting.
Policy Highlights
Of some of the most important issues we've been following, the Commitment hits on several of them.
Fight Inflation and Lower the Cost of Living
Inflation is breaking the backs of many of Louisiana's most vulnerable citizens. No matter where you live or what you do for a living, life gets tougher when your dollar doesn't go as far as it used to. Senator Kennedy explained this very well in his most recent campaign ad.
As our folksy Senator stated, "Louisiana families are really getting good at barely getting by." It's the sad state of the country right now under Democrat control.
We're glad to see it being addressed as the top issue for the GOP moving forward.
Achieve Longer, Healthier Lives for Americans
Healthcare has been a top issue for many conservatives for years now. From Obamacare and debates over Single-Payer systems to the recent battles over COVID, it's safe to say that in order to succeed, Republicans need to have a strong policy for how they can improve healthcare while lowering the costs for patients.
Democrats have done a good job at branding themselves as healthcare cost savers, but the question has always been, "at what cost???" Republicans have sometimes brought up that question, but there has not been a good answer other than the utilization of socialized medicine as the proverbial boogie man.
With the Commitment to America, the GOP has put big spending democrats on the defensive by attacking their "cost saving" policies by highlighting the ramifications. Sally Pipes covered this well in her recent Forbes piece:
It's true that President Biden and many Democrats have not yet embraced a socialized Medicare for All-style system. But Democrats do universally favor a top-down approach to health care with an ever-expanding role for the federal government.
The marquee healthcare reform in their erroneously named Inflation Reduction Act, which President Biden signed into law in August, authorizes federal bureaucrats to impose price controls on a growing list of medications purchased by Medicare.
The "Commitment" rightly identifies the danger of this approach—namely, that it'll gut pharmaceutical research and development and thus lead to fewer new cures and treatments.
As Pipes writes, the Commitment to America correctly attacks the Democrats' healthcare policies by highlighting their lack of true cost savings and the potential loss of breakthrough medications.
Confront Big Tech and Demand Fairness
In the release of the plan, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rogers wrote, "Big Tech is a destructive force. It actively works against free speech on its platforms by silencing content it disagrees with. Meanwhile, these companies continue to manipulate, harm, and exploit children for profit, ignore parents, and refuse to publicly acknowledge how their platforms endanger children's mental health and well-being. Big Tech isn't transparent about how Americans' personal information is being stored in and accessed by countries like China."
She's spot on in this assessment of the business landscape of today, and we're pleased to see it. Similarly to their approach to healthcare, Republicans have set a clear distinction between their support for free markets, small business, and economic sovereignty and the left's more globalist approach.
We're reminded of an issue we covered this summer that fully fits the example McMorris Rogers writes about - Dear Cassidy And Kennedy: Don't Expose Our Financial Data To The Chinese
While the Commitment to America calls for the government to put a check on market power and monopolies like the big tech firms, Democrats like Dick Durbin are still pushing a bill that would hurt small businesses and open the door for Chinese financial firms to get access to American consumer data.
As we wrote earlier, "Expanding these regulations from debit to credit would be a big win for UnionPay and the CCP. There are well-documented concerns related to data security and privacy with Chinese companies that have close ties to the government, including corporate espionage, intellectual property theft, and data privacy violations. If UnionPay is allowed to process Americans' credit card transactions, it would put millions of Americans at risk of unknowingly letting the Chinese government take their private financial data."
Price Controls never work, and now is not the time to start. Whether it's in the healthcare industry with drug pricing or in the financial services industry with payment processing, Democrats are off base by proposing these. We're glad to see the GOP standing up against these types of anti-competitive measures.
Make Sure Every Student Can Succeed and Give Parents a Voice
In a recent press release, future Speaker Kevin McCarthy wrote of the importance of fighting for parents' rights in the classroom: "Over the past nearly two years, we have seen a troubling trend take root in the Democrat Party. Their elected officials want to take power away from parents and hand over more control to politicians and teachers unions to dictate what our children should be taught in classrooms.
We saw it when school districts, especially those in blue areas of the country, worked to keep our schools closed for months on end despite the evidence showing they could open safely. We saw it when President Biden's Department of Justice targeted parents at school board meetings at the behest of an interest group that labeled concerned parents as "domestic terrorists." And we saw it when a prominent official in the Democrat Party suggested that parents shouldn't have a say in their kids' education.
House Republicans understand that not only do parents matter, but their involvement is critical to a child's academic success."
This is another GREAT example of common sense, limited government policy that should be GOP bread and butter. Our very own Julia Letlow (LA-05) wrote of the parents bill of rights she's working on getting passed in Congress "As a mom of two and a former educator, I firmly believe that the relationship between parents and schools should be collaborative, not adversarial. Education is not a job parents or schools can do by themselves, it requires us to work together. This bill contains common-sense ideas and also fully opens the door for those partnerships."
This is a straight-up policy WIN and something we love to see.
Make America Energy Independent and Reduce Gas Prices
DRILL BABY DRILL - House Republicans are committed to expanding American energy production in order to create jobs and provide affordable energy to American families and small businesses. According to an analyst from Cameron Hanover, for every penny the price of gasoline increases, it costs consumers an additional $4 million per day. That equals $1.4 billion over an entire year. Even the smallest increase in gasoline prices has a significant impact on our economy.
The best way to prevent rising energy costs and insulate the U.S. from global price spikes is by actively producing our own American energy resources. This includes more American produced oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear, along with alternative sources such as wind, solar, hydropower and geothermal. Producing more American energy will lower prices, create new American jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, strengthen our national security, and raise new revenue.
Another great addition to this plan is the obvious and much needed pursuit to lower gas prices and establish American energy independence. We LOVE to see it!
Final Overview
Of course, these pillars and highlights are key to developing a resurgent United States but what about an in-depth look at the policies that are prescribed within the platform? Well for more clarity, let's take a look at some of the exact language from within House Republican's proposal.
Sea below:
An Economy That’s Strong Fight Inflation and Lower the Cost of Living Curb wasteful government spending that is raising the price of groceries, gas, cars, and housing, and growing our national debt Increase take-home pay, create good-paying jobs, and bring stability to the economy through pro-growth tax and deregulatory policies Make America Energy Independent and Reduce Gas Prices Maximize production of reliable, cleaner, American-made energy and cut the permitting process time in half to reduce reliance on foreign countries, prevent rolling blackouts, and lower the cost of gas and utilities Strengthen the Supply Chain and End Dependence on China Move supply chains away from China, expand U.S. manufacturing, and enhance America’s economic competitiveness and cyber resiliency
A Nation That’s Safe Secure the Border and Combat Illegal Immigration Fully fund effective border enforcement strategies, infrastructure, and advanced technology to prevent illegal crossings and trafficking by cartels End catch-and-release loopholes, require legal status to get a job, and eliminate welfare incentives Reduce Crime and Protect Public Safety Support 200,000 more police officers through recruiting bonuses and oppose all efforts to defund the police Crack down on prosecutors and district attorneys who refuse to prosecute crimes, while permanently criminalizing all forms of illicit fentanyl Defend America’s National Security Support our troops, invest in an efficient, effective military, establish a Select Committee on China, and exercise peace through strength with our allies to counter increasing global threats
A Future That’s Built on Freedom Make Sure Every Student Can Succeed and Give Parents a Voice Advance the Parents’ Bill of Rights, recover lost learning from school closures, and expand parental choice so over a million more students can receive the education their parents know is best Defend fairness by ensuring that only women can compete in women’s sports Achieve Longer, Healthier Lives for Americans Personalize care to provide affordable options and better quality, delivered by trusted doctors Lower prices through transparency, choice, and competition, invest in lifesaving cures, and improve access to telemedicine Confront Big Tech and Demand Fairness Provide greater privacy and data security protections, equip parents with more tools to keep their kids safe online, and stop companies from putting politics ahead of people
A Government That’s Accountable Preserve Our Constitutional Freedoms Uphold free speech, protect the lives of unborn children and their mothers, guarantee religious freedom, and safeguard the Second Amendment Hold Washington Accountable Conduct rigorous oversight to rein in government abuse of power and corruption, provide real transparency, and require the White House to answer for its incompetence at home and abroad Save and strengthen Social Security and Medicare Restore the People’s Voice End special treatment for Members of Congress by repealing proxy voting, and increase accountability in the election process through voter ID, accurate voter rolls, and observer access
Overall, the Louisiana Policy Review is thrilled to give an endorsement to the Commitment to America. It's a solid plan that will be a blueprint for conservative governance for years to come.