Webb: Repeal, replace, pass or fail

Pay attention. No matter what spectrum of Republican you are. You chose to run for the job. The American people have chosen to replace the typical political head of the nation with a businessman and a populist approach to solving problems over the typical political wrangling with no solutions. It is true that while any rational person sympathizes with your desire to go home to your families, many Americans have no sympathy for those elected to do a job, who then abrogate their responsibilities.

There are three legs to this legislative stool. Time for the Republicans to stay in Washington and get the job done — #NoSummerRecess.

{mosads}The first leg is repeal, and where necessary, replace the un-Affordable Care Act with free-market principles and constitutional measures.

Yesterday, Senate Republicans narrowly revived their healthcare legislation by a 51-50 vote with Vice President Pence casting the tiebreaker. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted no as they promised. This left no room for additional no votes on the GOP side. Sen. John McCain returned from Arizona after being diagnosed with a brain tumor to cast his crucial vote. There are still other GOP holdouts who supported commencing debate for a variety of reasons but their final vote is still in question.

Of course, as expected, the Democrats in lockstep fashion opposed with their vote any fix to the Affordable Care Act that does not lean forward to a single-payer system. This is not unexpected and it should further inform Republicans that any pronouncement of a bipartisan approach to fix it is, by Democrats, simply a delay tactic.

The procedural vote on Tuesday begins what is likely to be a contentious debate within the Republican Party on what to do about healthcare. Senators can offer amendments. If the Senate produces a bill it still has to survive the reconciliation process with the House version. President Trump is correct. After seven years of talking, the Republicans will soon demonstrate whether they are willing to step up and do something about the failing Affordable Care Act.

The second leg is to replace the existing and convoluted tax code.

The three easy pieces initiative put forward by Larry Kudlow, Stephen Moore, Art Laffer and Steve Forbes can be done by Republicans with a 51 vote majority and give us a change in the tax code for 10 years.

Their initiative is:

1. A 15 percent business tax rate for small and large businesses, with full and immediate expensing for capital purchases.

2. A repatriation tax at 10 percent for foreign earnings brought back to the United States.

3. A doubling of the standard deduction from $6,500 to $13,000 for individuals and $13,000 to $25,000 for couples, to put more money into their pockets now and to simplify tax returns.

Imagine what can happen in 10 years before Republicans can stand on a wave of success as a result of another round of pro-growth policies and face the electorate.

The third leg is to pass an actual workable budget with real reductions not a slowing of growth out of the existing blueprint. The blueprint is 62 pages and while the final package will be many more, the goals should be simple. Not a reduction in growth, but a cut in spending that when combined with pro-growth economic policies put more money in the hands of American individuals and businesses.

Fail to do these three and the hot days of August 2017 won’t end till the results of the 2018 midterms for many of you faux fiscal conservatives in the Republican Party. Accept that not one of you will get 100 percent of your political desires but in true Reaganesque fashion get as much as you can on the first try and then go back for the remaining.

A final note for the Republicans. If you want to beat the Democrats, you must give the president his administration. He is the duly elected president and leader of the Republican Party. This is not the prettiest way to be effective but ignore the screaming from the Democrats and take a short recess thus giving the president time for recess appointments. The recess appointments clause (Article 2, section 2, clause 3) is clear. “The president shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.”

During this recess, unless it is a weekend, we the people expect you to stay in Washington, D.C.

The Democrats lost and continue to lose electorally at all levels of government. We have given you Republican majorities and now expect you to act like winners including using these rules and effective tactics for the betterment of the American people.

Webb is host of “The David Webb Show” on SiriusXM Patriot ’25, a Fox News contributor and a frequent television commentator. His column appears twice a month in The Hill.

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