Ways and Means contest

Now that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has been elected Speaker of the House, another contest looms to replace him as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.   Often referred to as “the powerful Ways and Means Committee,” that one would think that’s its official title.  The moniker has stuck because this is the committee that handles all tax legislation for the House and, under the Constitution, is the originator of all tax legislation for Congress.  Powerful indeed!

Two senior members of the committee, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) have thrown their hats in the ring.   

{mosads}A look at their records shows a considerable contrast in voting patterns as well as very different styles reflective of the parts of the country they represent. Brady is from the heart of conservative southeast Texas while Tiberi’s district, although solidly Republican, is a mix of urban, suburban and rural.  The American Conservative Union’s congressional ratings are the only ratings that cover the entire careers of both congressmen on a wide variety of issues, be they economic, social or national security related.   

Both meet the minimum ACU standard for a conservative (80 percent out of 100, based on Ronald Reagan’s 80 percent ally principle), based on their lifetime ratings, although Brady is clearly the more conservative at 94.5 compared to Tiberi’s average of 82.46. 

However, if you then take the average of the last four years, or the “Boehner era” ratings, only Brady meets the test:

Brady:     90.75

Tiberi:       67.0

Congressional voting is one key aspect of deciding who is the better candidate.  Character, leadership, communication skills and legislative effectiveness are other key considerations. 

Both have strong conservative records on issues of life, guns and national security, such as a strong missile defense and keeping terrorists locked up in Guantanamo.  The differences are more apparent on economic issues.  Brady has consistently voted for the conservative budget put forth each year by the House Republican Study Committee that would balance the federal budget in five years or less and reform entitlement programs.   

Although Brady has also voted to eliminate a number of pork barrel and subsidy programs (e.g., Legal Services Corporation and Amtrak Subsidy), both Brady and Tiberi have voted to approve the last two Omnibus spending bills, the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank and the subsidy-laced farm bill.

One major difference is that Tiberi, reflecting union-dominated Ohio, has voted with labor on such issues as preserving the Davis-Bacon “prevailing wage” law, and opposed overturning the worst of the Obama administration’s labor rulings. 

Both Brady and Tiberi have been active sponsors of tax-related legislation.  Brady gained particular prominence in the last Congress when he chaired the Joint Economic Committee that includes members of the House and Senate.  Before that, he was best known for leading the effort to restore the sales tax deduction for states that do not have an income tax (one of which happens to be Texas).  He has sponsored and championed the repeal of the Death Tax and succeeded this year in getting the House to take a roll call vote on the issue for the first time in nine years.  Brady has also sponsored comprehensive government reform legislation, including “sunset laws” to force every federal program not specifically authorized in the Constitution to justify its existence every 12 years or face elimination, and would like to see a repeal of the tax code.

Tiberi is leading the effort to make the current bonus depreciation law permanent.  This allows businesses to deduct 50 percent of purchases needed for their business immediately.  Although it was revived in 2002 after being eliminated in the 1986 tax overhaul, it has been tied to dozens of other tax credits which have been extended one year at a time.  Tiberi has gained a lot of support from the business community for this year’s efforts. 

Although the dean of the Ways and Means Committee, 85 year-old Sam Johnson of Texas, has been named interim chairman, a decision on his replacement is expected today.

Hart is a senior fellow with the American Conservative Union Foundation.