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Memo to GOP lawmakers: It’s time to work for the people

This election cycle, Americans on both sides of the aisle made this much clear: they believe the system is rigged against them. And they’re right. For decades, Republicans and Democrats alike have helped the well-connected few get ahead while everyone else falls further behind. Voters want government to work for – not against –  them once again, and they’ve placed their trust in the Republican Party to do exactly that.

Now Republican lawmakers at both the national and state level must prove they got the message. In the coming weeks and months, they must defy what has become the political norm and reject government favoritism, no matter what form it takes. They must rip out corporate welfare root and branch. They must demonstrate that they’re willing to put Americans’ interests ahead of special interests. And this doesn’t have to be solely a Republican effort – leveling the playing field should be a bipartisan goal. 

{mosads}Make no mistake: Doing so will be a radical departure from the status quo. But as we heard after talking to millions of Americans across the country, it’s time to reset priorities in Washington. For far too long, politicians – Republicans and Democrats alike – have used taxpayer dollars and the force of government to benefit their special-interest friends and allies at the public’s expense. 

At the federal level, Washington politicians have helped big banks get bigger and left Americans to foot the bill; they’ve enabled agricultural giants to amass more power and crowd out family farms; they’ve propped up failing energy projects while hiking household costs; they’ve funded foreign projects at the expense of American jobs; and they’ve even commissioned defense projects that our nation’s warfighters don’t want or need. In return, these – and many other – handpicked winners have kept their favorite politicians in power.

In total, a 2011 report estimated that corporate welfare programs cost $11,000 per person each year – or $3.6 trillion nationwide – after 35 years of all kinds of taxpayer giveaways. The tax code alone contains $1.5 trillion in exemptions and special-interest handouts—an amount equivalent to nearly half of annual federal revenue.

This is how politicians and big business created a ruling class: politicians doling out billions to favored industries, and in return special interests filling politicians’ war chest with millions in donations. For decades, that was enough to keep Washington working against the people.

There are plenty of opportunities to pare back this fundamentally unfair system. And that starts with President-elect Donald Trump and Congress overhauling hundreds of federal corporate welfare schemes that have been created and expanded over the years.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle can eliminate all kinds of energy and fossil fuel subsidies, repeal the Jones Act, which artificially drives up the price of shipping, and do away with all the skewed programs tucked into the Farm Bill.

State leaders must make a similarly principled stand. More often than not, governors and state legislators have been all-too-quick to follow Washington’s lead in terms of benefitting the few at the expense of the many.

Nearly every state has an entire office devoted to “economic development” – politician speak for taxpayer handouts to select industries. In both red and blue states, these offices spend billions of taxpayer dollars each year to plus up big businesses. For instance, over the past three decades New York doled out $13.1 billion to a few corporate giants; Washington state $11.9 billion; Michigan $10.3 billion; followed by Louisiana, Oregon, and Missouri, which each distributed over $4 billion. 

According to a 2013 Good Jobs First report, state and local governments have granted companies more than $104 billion in massive subsidy packages over the past three and a half decades. What do the states have to show for it? For about every $670,000 they’ve spent, they created or retained a single job, on average. That’s fortunate for a handful of people, but not for the millions of taxpayers who fund these billion-dollar packages.

And that’s just one form of corporate welfare. There are dozens of others, including subsidies and tax breaks for sports stadiums, film producers, banks, energy companies, and tech giants, just to name a few.

Whether it’s in Washington, D.C. or in statehouses across the nation, this unfair system has gone on for long enough. This year, Americans made clear that even if entrenched politicians had forgotten them, they haven’t forgotten how the government is supposed to work: “of, by, and for the people.” Now Republican lawmakers must show the American people that their vote wasn’t in vain.

Luke Hilgemann is the chief executive officer of Americans for Prosperity.


The views expressed by authors are their own and not the views of The Hill.

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