Opinion: Opinion: The Republican agenda for government starts with uniting this divided land

Defending Donald Trump is a fool’s errand. Aggressively pursuing Hunter Biden may also be poor judgment. Moderate voters may think President Joe Biden’s policies are too extreme and that at 82 he’s too old to serve a second term, but that doesn’t mean they don’t like him.

Democrats are doubling down

Opposing Biden on taxes and spending is not enough to hold on to power.

With a better-than-expected midterm showing, Democrats are feeling emboldened. They will continue to promote racial and gender fundamentalism, mock the shortcomings of free markets, and decry inequality.

Republicans must change the terms of the debate by offering a compelling One America message and a pragmatic legislative agenda.

Too often, conservatism is reduced to low taxes, deregulation, and free markets, or to a reflexive defense of traditional institutions and customs.

The problem of adequately funding a poorly prepared military to fight Russia, Iran, China and North Korea, threats to the financial stability of cryptocurrency, and the damage caused by trade with China clearly reveal the inadequacy of this simplistic distillation. conservative imperative.

Likewise, dysfunctional public schools, rampant crime, and crumbling infrastructure show the failure of Democrats’ commitment to critical race theory, nihilism in the face of civil unrest, and patronage politics.

A positive review

Republicans must present a positive vision of a united America, countering the Democrats’ unjust American history, which fosters insidious entitlement claims and breeds division.

The America of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and Franklin Roosevelt maintains the same attitude as the 21st.^St Century America, like ancient Rome and the 19th century^e The nation-states of the century to the modern European Union. On their continents, both eventually secured modern democracies, but engaged in horrific campaigns of conquest, enslavement, and internment. This is not the fault of our generation, but history.

Civic and political institutions were duly restructured, and the value of meritocracy became deeply rooted in the American consciousness. For example, Americans oppose racial preferences in college admissions.

House Republicans are expected to repeatedly say they are working to promote “One America” ​​and pick three or four issues where they can find allies in the Senate.

The GOP should brazenly refuse to write laws with preferences and cast aside based on race and gender and instead embrace the narrative that America is on a level playing field, not a right.

Tax accuracy

Even Biden admits the budget deficit is shrinking is important in eliminating inflation. All new spending must be financed either through additional taxes or through savings from existing programs.

Families should have a floor under the resources available to raise children. Democrats want to restore the expired $3,600 per child refundable tax credit, but that must be seen in the context of combining the current CTC, the earned income tax credit, and the tax credit. in a support program for foster carers.

Additional funding should come from restoring work requirements for food stamps and closing some tax loopholes, as proposed by Sen. Mitt Romney.

Adjust the border

Since Biden took office, a large number of illegal immigrants have entered America. We need better border security. And more workers, and not necessarily those sneaking across our southern border.

Call on Sen. Chuck Schumer to form a bipartisan group of eight members of the House and Senate to craft a bipartisan bill that secures the border, fixes DACA, and establishes a point system for legal immigration based on worker needs. Report within 60 days so committees of both houses can discuss it and mark it up for a vote.

A big part of the student debt and labor problems is that we send too many young people to college. The Labor Department approves private-sector internship programs that lead to well-paying jobs after a year or two, but high schools continue to steer young people to community colleges and universities.

Business, trade and China

The federal government should create a national training network and channel aid from schools and universities to travel and live in places where high school graduates are offered one- and two-year training programs. And rely on more affordable job waiting programs offered by private companies.

We cannot completely withdraw from trade with China, but the House must pass proposals to limit our vulnerability by readjusting tariffs to force balanced trade with China. Re-negotiate free trade agreements with allies such as the UK, the EU and the Trans-Pacific Partnership to spread R&D spending and achieve economies of scale.

All of this will expand opportunities for American workers, strengthen our institutions and families, and strengthen our shared prosperity.

Peter Morici is a professor emeritus of economics and business at the University of Maryland and a national columnist.

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