Earlier this year I mentioned that House Speaker Paul Ryan was meeting with Republican leadership to develop a plan for Congress to run on in 2016. This week he published A Better Way: Our Vision for a Confident America – reminiscent of the 1994 Contract With America.
While the 1994 election was more momentous, with voters dismantling the forty-year lock the Democrats had on Congress, giving the GOP control of the Senate and the House, 2016 could be significant in its own right. Republicans have an opportunity to capture the White House and turn around an angered voting electorate.
The GOP released the first of its six-part vision for a confident America, A Better Way, this week.
Just as those running for office in 1994 had the Contract With America to lay out their agenda for voters, those running for office this year will have A Better Way to discuss with voters. As copies will be available to voters, it offers them a means for holding their elected representatives accountable. I hasten to remind you that not a single Republican incumbent member of the House, Senate or governor was defeated in 1994 – a clear mandate.
Although not as sweeping as the Contract, A Better Way is a six-part policy initiative that will give GOP candidates, long thought strictly as Obama bashers, with common sense legislative actions. Part one is a blueprint for reforming welfare, workforce and education that will empower America to achieve that elusive American dream. The agenda for national security, the economy, the Constitution, health care, and tax reform will follow.
While Ryan has reviewed the plan with Donald Trump, and although it’s too early to know if the presumptive presidential nominee will adopt it to unify the party, you have to admit that A Better Way and Trump’s campaign slogan, Making America Great Again, are compatible.
In my view, a great deal of work has gone into the Republican plan that can help make America great again. Trump would be wise to take advantage of it, help sell it, even own it, as the way to turn our country around.
(Editorial cartoon courtesy of redstate.com)
Unlike in 1994, when Congress had to deal with Democrat Bill Clinton in the White House, a clear mandate would be enjoyed if Trump wins the presidency while helping retain control of the House and Senate with the blueprint put forth by A Better Way.
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