Real Reform in Congress

With the election of John Boehner to Majority Leader, House Republicans have a long-overdue opportunity to initiate real reform to reign in spending and limit the size of government.

Republicans' core appeal has always been about limiting government to empower individual opportunity and put more money back in the pockets of families.Boehner's track record here is a hopeful sign. In a recent interview with the WSJ:

During his 15 years in Congress, Mr. Boehner has refused to add earmarks to spending bills to steer federal dollars back to his district. "I don't do projects," he told me bluntly. He also has voted against every major highway bill, and he railed against Republican leaders in the late 1990s when they undid provisions of the Freedom to Farm Act so they could increase subsidies.

What has garnered surprisingly little if any attention among the press corps is Mr. Boehner's recent efforts to rein in large federal entitlements. In the past year Mr. Boehner used his chairmanship to champion significant reforms that could save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars in the coming years. All told, Mr. Boehner's reforms account for 40% of the savings in the $39 billion Deficit Reduction Act.

And on the issue of earmarks, Boehner is getting help from Sen. John McCain, who is pushing forward on legislation with bi-partisan support, despite a recent withdrawal from the group by Sen. Barack Obama, who is now favoring an all Democrat plan, as reported in the Tribune:

McCain said he would unveil his plan to create more disclosure in legislation, particularly in the process known as "earmarking," where specific local projects often are buried in complex legislation. Under his plan, the projects would be subjected to considerable scrutiny.

Obama intends to propose creation of a Congressional Ethics Enforcement Commission, made up of former federal judges and former members of Congress, to investigate ethics complaints and to make disciplinary recommendations to the Senate Ethics Committee and the Justice Department.

McCain's transparent reporting approach seems the better one, if only to save us from yet another posturing commission of insiders. And in conjunction with restoring the Line Item Veto, which the President has asked for and Boehner supports, these reforms would have some teeth:

More immediately, one idea likely to reappear on the Hill is something Mr. Bush mentioned in the State of the Union--giving the president the power to strike earmarks from spending bills. The Supreme Court struck down the Line Item Veto Act in 1998, so Congress would to find a way of granting the president that power that passes constitutional muster--or amend the Constitution. But Mr. Boehner thinks it's worth doing. After all, as he told me, the line-item veto used to be "part of our mantra."

Tomorrow house Republicans meet to discuss other ideas for reform. One is a "Suburban Agenda", led by Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk, a moderate from the 10th district. In a recent interview with Morton Kondracke, Kirk outlined key issues raised by his constituents: open space, limits on lawsuits that delay Superfund environmental cleanups, the rise of gangs in the suburbs, support for "401-Kids" savings accounts which would not be limited to college tuition, and expansion of Health Savings accounts, including portability.

Healthcare portability is also a priority for Rep. John Shadegg, whose support for Boehner in the house leadership race put him over the top to become the new Republican leader.

We look forward to a Republican reform agenda.