Republican Planks

Republican Planks

For more than a century, the world regards America as a land of opportunity. However, the last 8 years of Democratic Party rule has yielded an economic downturn that threatens to dent the country’s reputation. Currently, America faces unprecedented challenges and uncertainties on the sluggish economy, the war in the Middle East, terrorism in the West, and fiscal policies. Hundreds of thousands of Americans in the midwest and the Southern states experience the burden of lost homes and jobs. In fact, studies indicate that many of them have lost hope on the future of the nation. Meanwhile, Obama’s administration continuously expands the scope and size of the federal government, its deficit and debt as well as the spending and borrowing. In fact, liberty retreats gradually as federalism is threatened. Therefore, the 2016 planks for the Republican platform should be centered on these issues to ensure that America regains and maintains its growth trajectory (Weinberg, 2011).

Specifically, the last four years have witnessed a significant loss of America’s global leadership role. Given that there is a direct link between global dominance and economic vitality, the next four years of American presidency should be defined by an honest talk on the challenges experienced and trustworthiness. With republican leadership, the United States will implement profound changes on taxation, budgetary system, and regulation of government operations. In essence, Americans will choose to retain of Obama’s policies or Republican’s optimistic and positive view of societal opportunities for the attainment of American dream and prosperity.

1.      Sound Monetary Policies

The massive nature of the federal government has rendered it financially and structurally broken. Years of Democratic rule has pushed it beyond the fundamental functions, thus resulting in increased spending to levels that cannot be sustained by a weak economy. Commonly, elected federal officials overpromise and overspend. Unless a dramatic action is taken during the November elections, the future generations of Americans will inherit high and unsustainable debt. The interest rates for such debt will likely consume a significant portion of national wealth. Most European countries like Greece and Iceland currently face national bankruptcies. A similar fate is likely to be experienced in the United States if a Republican leadership is not installed. In the last three years alone, the existing administration had added more than 5 trillion to the national debt, despite cutting the defense budget. Resultantly, the national debt is more than 15 trillion, the highest in the country’s history. In the year 2011, the government spending crossed 3.5 trillion-mark (a quarter of the overall GDP). It implies that the government borrowed half of the spent money. Federal statistics indicate that Medicaid, Obamacare, and Social Security constitute approximately 40% of the annual federal spending (Platform, 2012). Evidently, these skyrocketing levels of spending yield debt that stagnate the economy while lowering the rate of job creation. Even worse, the latest projections of future spending are socially and economically catastrophic (King et al., 2013). Obamacare alone will lead to over-taxation, and higher commodity price tags.

With the help of Republican Congressmen and members of the House, the future Republican president is mandated to propose immediate slash of federal spending for manageable fiscal control. A tripartite test for all the federal activities is suggestible. For instance, the Republicans and other House members will explore if a federal activity falls within the constitutional scope, its effectiveness, and necessity. Additionally, the president will determine if the federal activities justify foreign borrowing for funding.

2.      The Budget

It is not enough for the government to cut spending. Some other recommendations include structural reforms, application of technology, and downsizing of the government to limit deficits and debt for better economic growth (Goldsmith, 2013). For instance, if the health care is reformed, thousands of senior citizens will be empowered to control individual healthcare decision. The move will sharply contrast Obamacare, where only a few bureaucrats are empowered while the deserved care for the elderly is denied.

Altering the budgeting process to reflect economic and time changes is imperative. Since the Democrats took over the leadership in 2008, the budget process design has not restrained reckless spending. Rather, it has enabled unnecessary expenditures by according the Congressmen with procedural cover. In fact, tax expenditures have enabled the taxpayers to keep government earnings through exemptions, credits, and deductions, which is equivalent to incurring expenses on other entitlement programs. Interestingly, the welfare checks and benefits of veterans are not included in the list of entitlements. Besides, this process wrongly assumes that the tax cuts are temporary while government spending is permanent. It does not acknowledge the important budgetary impact of lowered rates of taxes. If a spending increase is lower than the inflation rate, the existing administration regards spending as a cut.

Republican Congressmen have made numerous attempts to introduce reforms on the current budget process for accountability and transparency. Particularly, they unanimously voted for a Balanced Budgetary Amendment to instigate for constitutional restraints similar to those applicable in 33 US states. If a republican president wins the next election, he will lead the party in an amendment of the constitution to discourage tax increase unless there is war or national emergencies. In addition, the next administration shall impose a cap to limit spending to historical levels. In this way, the national budget will be balanced to spur economic growth.

3.      Workplace Freedom

The Obama Administration clings to power concentration in the offices of elite union leaders in Washington. Therefore, the needs of employees are hardly represented on the ground. The administration supports anti-business card legislation that denies the workforce a secret ballot to elect union leaders. Consequently, the use of Project Labor Agreements prevents more than 80 percent of the construction employees from seeking employment opportunities in stimulus projects. Additionally, the Democrats have transformed NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) into a labor advocacy that threatens and coerce business entities through controversial laws, micro-unions, and frequent snap elections.

Considering this, a Republican Administration will restore the rule of law through a re-enactment of Secret Ballot Protection Act to block card checks. Furthermore, the administration shall discourage labor violence through enforcement of Hobbs Act. Raise Act will be passed to allow hardworking employees to receive a pay rise without the need for workers union endorsement. Moreover, republicans shall repeal Davis-Bacon Act to effectively end PLA (Project Labor Agreements). Essentially, this will save trillions of dollars of taxpayers’ money spent on artificial federal projects.

In summary, the next Republican president should focus on issues surrounding the American economy and job creation. Notably, the American economy is yet to regain the rate of growth experienced prior to the 2008 recession. Unless the economy is jumpstarted through a sound monetary policy, most of the industries will be relocated to other Asian countries such as China and India.

References

Goldsmith, S. B. (2013). Political Party Platform Health Planks: A Mechanism For Participation And Prediction?. American journal of public health, 63(7), 594-601.

King, G., Laver, M., Hofferbert, R. I., Budge, I., & McDonald, M. D. (2013). Party Platforms, Mandates, and Government Spending. American Political Science Review, 87(03), 744-750.

The platform, R. (2012). We believe in America. In Republican National Convention.

Weinberg, M. W. (2011). Writing the Republican Platform. Political Science Quarterly, 92(4), 655-662.