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Pillars of A Renewed Majority
Pillars of A Renewed Majority
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Over the last four years, the House has served as an outpost in Washington for the peoples
priorities. With a renewed majority, we renew that mission, and pledge to focus on good-paying
jobs and an economy strong enough to help keep the American Dream alive and well.
To do this, we need a plan, and in conversations with people in my district and around the
country, I have identified five things we need to do to harness Americas energy boom and reset
the foundation of our economy:
Fix our tax code so that we can bring jobs home and families can plan for the future.
Solve our spending problem so that our children can pursue their aspirations with
confidence.
Reform our legal system to better protect victims and consumers while giving confidence to
innovators and manufacturers.
Reform our regulatory system to make it more practical and productive for workers and
small business owners.
Improve our childrens education to eliminate the barriers that keep students from
becoming the best-prepared workers and leaders.
This document lays out a roadmap for establishing these pillars of growth and opportunity. As
youll see, the House has already done much of the groundwork, but of course, we have miles to
go. After all, were talking about dealing with some of our countrys most pressing challenges.
If we push ourselves and show real leadership in the trenches, I know we will get there together.
John A. Boehner
November 2014
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword by Speaker Newt Gingrich
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FOREWORD
By Speaker Newt Gingrich
Speaker of the House John Boehner gave an important speech at the American Enterprise
Institute. He offered the American people in simple language the five things we need to do to
reset our countrys economic foundation. It was exactly the kind of realistic, positive vision for
governing in the 21st century that Americans have been waiting to hear from either party.
Speaker Boehner began with what the House Republicans have accomplished in the last four
years, despite Democrats controlling both the Senate and the presidency. Some of their record
may surprise you. Republicans cut total federal spending for two straight yearsthe first time
thats happened in half a century. They guaranteed that 98 percent of Americans would not see
permanent income tax hikes. And they pushed through free trade agreements with South Korea,
Colombia and Panama.
These are historic accomplishments. They have real meaning for the lives of millions of
Americans. And they create room for future economic growth.
Speaker Boehner argued that the real growth in the last few years, however, has come not from
government but from an opportunity in American energythe revolution in energy production
that is transforming towns across the country and creating good jobs in places where there have
been too few. Thanks to almost unbelievable advances in engineering and technology, the United
States is now the worlds leading producer of both oil and natural gas.
That energy boom, he said, means the U.S. should be one of the best places in the world to make
just about anything, with more growth, more jobs, and lower prices. It is a once-in-a-generation
opportunity to reset our economy from the bottom up.
Taking advantage of this opportunity will require leadership with the wisdom to do five crucial
things, the Speaker said.
First, we have to fix the tortuous tax code that punishes companies for doing business here and
carves out dozens of special loopholes for the wealthiest Americans while the middle class
struggles to get by. Everyone would be better off with a simpler, fairer, and flatter tax code.
Second, we have to fix the spending problem and move toward a balanced budget. This means
cutting waste and strengthening Medicare and Social Security for current retirees and the next
generation as well.
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Third, we have to fix the legal system that makes it impossible for doctors, hospitals, and other
businesspeople to do their daily work without fear of getting sued. The cost of litigation here is
far higher than in other countries, and were all paying the price.
Fourth, we have to tame the sprawling, bureaucratic regulatory state that makes it painful and
expensive to do business in the U.S. The bureaucracy has gotten completely out of control.
And finally, Speaker Boehner argued that we have to fix our education system, which has been
failing to teach our children for two generations and denying opportunity to millions of students
who are trapped in schools where they dont have a chance. We can go a long way toward
resetting the system if we give parents and students a choice about which schools are best for
them.
If we do these five things, Speaker Boehner argued, we can reset the foundation of our economy
for the next two or three generations.
This was a sincere, heartfelt speech from a leader of the Republican Party who has an optimistic
vision for the future.
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SOLUTIONS
We can start to maximize this energy boom by (1) building the infrastructure that connects the boom to
consumers and companies alike, (2) pushing for federal lands to contribute to increased domestic energy
production, and (3) stopping regulations that undermine this renaissance.
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The House of Representatives has already begun to act on examples of these policies, including:
H.R. 3 | Northern Route Approval Act | Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE)
Approves the Keystone pipeline and eliminates legal and regulatory barriers that could delay its
construction for years.
H.R. 6 | The Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act | Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO)
Expedites the approval of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export applications. Just the construction involved
in supporting LNG exports would, according to one study, create anywhere from 2,000 to 40,000 jobs
between now and 2018.
H.R. 1582 | Energy Consumers Relief Act | Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
Subjects the EPA to common-sense oversight of future ozone regulations. These EPA rules could lead to
2.9 million fewer jobs per year on average through 2040.
H.R. 1900 | Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act | Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS)
Accelerates the development of critical energy infrastructure. As an example, the construction of 351
delayed energy projects could have boosted the economy by $1.1 trillion and created 1.9 million jobs
annually during the construction phase.
H.R. 2641 | Responsibly and Professionally Invigorating Development Act | Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA)
Expedites the approval for new energy projects that will help lower costs and create jobs.
H.R. 2728 | Protecting States Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act | Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX)
Prohibits Washington from overriding states that have been safely and successfully regulating hydraulic
fracturing on federal land. A new study has found that the hydraulic fracturing boom shaved up to
$0.94 per gallon from fuel prices in 2013.
H.R. 2824 | Preventing Government Waste & Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in America | Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH)
Prevents the government from imposing excessive regulations on coal-fired energy. The
administrations proposed rewrite of coal production regulation could cost at least 7,000 jobs and hurt
the economies of at least 22 states.
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H.R. 3826 | Electricity Security and Affordability Act | Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY)
Prevents a new de facto national energy tax from taking effect. These new rules could, in addition to
causing double-digit percentage electricity rate increases in most states, close 45,000 megawatts of coal
production.
H.R. 4899 | Lowering Gas Prices to Fuel an America That Works Act | Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA)
Promotes onshore and offshore energy production. This measures offshore provisions alone, according
to an economist at Louisiana State University, could create 250,000 short-term jobs during exploration
and development, and 1.2 million long-term jobs.
America has enjoyed the benefits of an energy boom that has surprised
economists, shocked the end-of-oil doomsayers, surprised Saudi Arabia and
Russia, and surprised Washington D.C.s pundits. The entire boom came from
and is being driven by the work, risk taking, investment and entrepreneurship
of thousands, not a handful of small and mid-sized businesses, and it is
stimulating the biggest manufacturing resurgence in modern history. This
has happened without specific new government programs or policies, new
incentives, or any kind of special favors. In fact, it has happened in the face of
regulatory and political headwinds. Imagine what would happen how much
more could be done if Washington actually helped? America can get a lot
more yet, more economic growth, more geopolitical benefits for our nation
and our allies, and more jobs in dozens of states and not just in the oil and gas
fields, but far beyond, should we provide incentives to accelerate new
technologies, and remove the regulatory and tax barriers that slow their
deployment by Americas small and mid-sized entrepreneurs.
Mark Mills
Senior Fellow of The Manhattan Institute
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SOLUTIONS
Here are examples of ways we could fix our tax code to bring jobs home, make our country a more
attractive place to start and grow a business, and make it easier for families to do everything from buy a
home to save for college and retirement:
Lower and simplify the rates paid by individuals and pass-through businesses.
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Simplify the tax code for families and businesses, so families can do their own taxes and
businesses can plan for the future, and neither can wonder if someone else is getting a better
deal.
Simplify the maze of credits and deductions families use for things like education and
retirement planning.
Reform the IRS to make it more accountable to taxpayers and less susceptible to
bureaucratic abuse.
On February 26, 2014, Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released a discussion draft
for tax reform that addresses these priorities. The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimates
that Chairman Camps proposal would create 1.8 million private-sector jobs over the next 10 years, and
his plan sets the stage for further action on reform. In addition, the House has acted on the following
bipartisan proposals:
H.R. 3393 | Student and Family Tax Simplification Act | Rep. Diane Black (R-TN)
Permanently reforms and consolidates the complicated maze of high education tax incentives into a
single American Opportunity Tax Credit.
H.R. 4457 | America's Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2014 | Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH)
Permanently allows small businesses to deduct the up-front cost of purchasing new equipment and
property.
HR. 4718 | Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH)
Makes permanent 50 percent bonus depreciation.
H.R. 4719 | America Gives More Act | Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY)
Makes permanent and simplifies charitable provisions of the tax code.
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- Eugene Steuerle
Institute Fellow and Richard B. Fisher Chair, The Urban Institute
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SOLUTIONS
Keeping our Pledge to America, the Republican majority has worked to cut government spending by $2.1
trillion over 10 years. To lead by example, weve cut the cost of running the House by nearly 14
percent. Weve also passed three budget reform bills to make it easier to measure the scope of the
problem before us.
Still, to truly reset the foundation of our economy, we need to address whats driving our debt. By
sustaining entitlement programs for our children, we can secure their ability to invest in their futures
and pursue their aspirations.
Thats why, on April 10, 2014, the House passed H. Con. Res. 96, a balanced budget resolution that
contains examples of solutions to strengthen our entitlement programs: This budget protects and
strengthens Medicare for current and future generations. It also requires the President and Congress to
work together to develop a solution for Social Security. This budget recognizes that the federal
government must keep its word to current and future seniors. And to do that, it must reform these
programs.
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SOLUTIONS
By (1) boosting transparency and restoring fairness, (2) enacting real medical malpractice reform, and
(3) addressing excessive regulations, we can reform our legal system to better protect victims and
consumers while boosting the confidence of innovators and manufacturers. Here are examples of
solutions the House has acted on to date:
H.R. 982 | Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act | Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX)
Promotes transparency in the asbestos bankruptcy trust system, reduces fraud and enhances
victims recoveries. According to the House Judiciary Committee, the measure would increase the
ability of legitimate victims to obtain maximum recoveries for their injuries and illnesses.
H.R. 2655 | Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act | Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)
Reduces excessive litigation while preserving the right to file legitimate suits. It also
provides a path for victims of frivolous lawsuits to receive full compensation.
H.R. 2804 | Achieving Less Excess in Regulation & Requiring Transparency Act | Rep. George Holding (R-NC)
Includes reforms requiring greater transparency, rights for regulated entities and the public, judicial
scrutiny, and flexibility to rein in existing consent decrees.
H.R. 3309 | Innovation Act | Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
Combats abusive patent litigation. Among other things, the Innovation Act requires plaintiffs to disclose
who the owner of a patent is before litigation, so that it is clear who the real parties behind the litigation
are.
In the 112th Congress, the House passed H.R. 5, medical malpractice reform that sought to ensure
patients could recover full economic damages while setting a statute of limitations and limiting
attorneys fees based on the establishment of a sliding scale.
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- Thomas J. Donohue
U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO
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SOLUTIONS
By (1) implementing a system to review and eliminate excessive regulations, (2) streamlining the
permitting process, (3) ensuring public and congressional input, and (4) limiting the sue and settle
process, we can bring jobs home, give the public more of a voice, and make America a more attractive
place to invest. The House has acted on examples of these policies, including:
H.R. 367 | Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act | Todd Young (R-IN)
Reshapes federal regulatory policy by making approval of every major new rule contingent on an up-ordown vote in both houses of Congress.
H.R. 2122 | Regulatory Accountability Act | Rep. Todd Young (R-IN)
Requires federal agencies to choose the lowest cost rulemaking alternative that meets statutory
objectives.
H.R. 2641 | Responsibly and Professionally Invigorating Development Act | Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA)
Streamlines the regulatory process by, among other things, setting reasonable deadlines for bureaucratic
reviews and establishing a 180-day statute of limitations for lawsuits challenging permitting decisions.
The bill also empowers agencies to manage environmental reviews efficiently, avoiding waste and
duplication.
H.R. 2804 | Achieving Less Excess in Regulation and Requiring Transparency Act | Rep. George Holding (R-NC)
Includes reforms requiring agencies to account for the costs of new regulations on small businesses and
find flexible ways to reduce them. This bill also addresses the problem of sue and settle regulations
that are issued after agencies and special interest groups enter into legal settlements, thereby
circumventing the legislative process.
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SOLUTIONS
Earlier this year, President Obama signed into law H.R. 803, a workforce development law based on Rep.
Virginia Foxxs (R-NC) SKILLS Act. This bill will help our workers develop the skills they need to take on
good-paying jobs. Just as closing that skills gap is important, so is closing the gap that keeps students
from getting the best possible education and becoming the most prepared workers:
Reforming our K-12 education system. The House has passed H.R. 5, which would eliminate barriers to
progress by, among other things, (1) revamping teacher evaluations to ensure the best teachers stay in
the classroom; (2) putting state and local education leaders in control of how money is used in the
classroom; and (3) taking steps to give parents more options for their childrens education.
Making education more accessible and affordable. From early childhood education to college, the cost
of education continues to rise across the board. In July, the House passed three bipartisan bills to
address the cost of college: H.R. 3136, H.R. 4983, and H.R. 4984. The House has also passed H.R. 3393,
which would make it easier for families to utilize tax credits to save and pay for college.
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Expanding successful charter school programs. The House has passed H.R. 10, which would allow 42
states and the District of Columbia to apply for grants to build and expand high performing charter
schools. Today there are more than 6,000 charter schools, serving more than 2.5 million students, with
one million students on waitlists. By modernizing the current Charter School Program, which has
broad public and grassroots support, states would be able to create, expand and replicate innovative
public charter schools to meet the growing demand.
The House has also reauthorized the popular and successful D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, a
landmark school choice initiative that has allowed thousands of low-income families to choose the best
learning environment for their children.
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This boom is driving real growth. In Youngstown, for example, unemployment is nearly half of what it
was four years ago.
This is a big deal.
Except Americans dont hear much about this boom, and thats because its happening entirely on state
and private lands, where the federal government has no say whatsoever.
We take this approach to the national level by doing things like approving the Keystone XL pipeline and
opening more areas for exploration and thatll really get our economy humming.
But lets not stop there. I want us to think bigger than just moving the numbers.
In my view, Americas energy boom presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset our economy
from the bottom up.
Heres what I mean.
North America is on track to be energy independent in the next five years or so. This is going to mean
more growth, yes, but its also going to mean lower prices.
Were already paying anywhere from 30 to 50 percent less for electricity than many European countries.
This disparity is going to grow, and as it grows, more manufacturers are going to look at moving their
factories here. Theyll have to. You cant produce anything without energy, especially electricity.
Now, thats what theyll look at doing, but will they follow through?
Thats our job, to make sure that happens.
The problem is, Washingtons approach is so top-down, and the bureaucracy so lumbering, that the
government is keeping us from where we need to be.
Look at the state of things: flat wages, higher prices, a six-year slog to regain the jobs lost during the
recession, and millions still asking, where are the jobs?
So we can do this the Washington way, move around some dirt, see what happens.
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Or we can lay a solid foundation for growth and mobility. Not pick one thing over the other, but do all
we can to reap the benefits of this boom. Bring these good-paying jobs home, get our workers off the
sidelines. Build a culture of hard work and responsibility around them. Make America the best place to
work, save and invest.
It can be done. And there are five things that I think we need to do to make it happen. First thing is, fix
our tax code.
Youve heard a lot lately about corporate inversions. Well, inversions are really just visible symptoms of
a much deeper problem: our tax code is terrible. No one understands it, certainly not the IRS.
People pay an accountant hundreds of dollars in the hopes of paying less to the feds. They have to,
because over the years thousands of changes have been made to the tax code, largely for the benefit of
the well-connected, who happily take their share while the middle class remains overtaxed.
So all this talk about inversions is just making the problem smaller. Its fussing over a divot when the
road is loaded with potholes.
Lets fix the whole tax code. Make it pro-growth and pro-family. Bring down the rates for every
American, clear out all the loopholes, allow people to do their taxes on two yes, two sheets of paper.
(See, I can already feel the blood pressure in the room dropping.)
We do this, we get rid of one of the biggest reasons jobs go overseas, and make it easier for families to do
everything from build a house to save for college.
Second, we have to solve our spending problem. For 53 of the last 60 years, weve spent more money
than weve brought in.
This is where people get on me for comparing apples to oranges, but hear me out.
Would you do this in your home? No. Could you do this in your business and live to tell? No way.
And we cant do it as a country either. Not just because its bad for our economy. It is stealing from our
kids and grandkids, robbing them of benefits theyll never see and leaving them with burdens that are
nearly impossible to repay.
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The question isnt whats driving this debt its who. Its Baby Boomers like me retiring at the rate of
10,000 a day, 70,000 a week, more than 3.5 million every year.
And this is only year four of this 20-year demographic bubble in which Baby Boomers are retiring.
Our entitlement programs werent designed to deal with all of us retiring at once, and they certainly
werent designed for us to live to well past 80.
But we dont need to throw these programs away. We need to put them on a more sustainable path,
which we can do without making radical changes.
Third, we have to reform our legal system.
Weve gotten to a point in America where litigation has become a first resort instead of a last.
The costs are staggering: Americans are spending more per person on litigation than just about any
other country, and its not even close. Our liability costs are more than 2.5 times the average level of
Eurozone economies. Not something to be proud of.
These costs dont just show up in higher premiums. Doctors have to charge more. Businesses have to
charge more. Its a stealth tax driving up the cost of all our goods and services.
Our system isnt just costly; its inefficient. According to one study, victims are generally receiving less
than half of every dollar paid out by defendants.
There has to be a better way. Im all for taking care of people who have been injured, but we ought to
establish reasonable limits on lawsuits and compensation.
Fourth, we have to rein in our regulatory system.
The way the federal government hands down regulations is coercive, combative, and very expensive.
Take the Dodd-Frank law, with its 849 pages and $21.8 billion in compliance costs. The whole point of all
this, we were told, was to end the bailouts, end too big to fail. Well, not only has it failed to do that, but
those compliance costs are indiscriminately hitting small community banks and credit unions.
For those smaller banks, their bread-and-butter is lending to entrepreneurs and small businesses. But
now, youve got more uncertainty and more money going into compliance. And what happens?
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The cost of borrowing goes up, and access to credit goes down. Its the last thing Main Street needs right
now.
Other countries have a more pragmatic process, where you focus on whats truly necessary and feasible.
The result is, you have fewer regulations, and the ones you have are more important and more easily
implemented.
Now, even if we were to do all four of these things, we still wouldnt be maximizing our potential.
So, the fifth thing is, we have to improve our education system.
Aside from Arthur Brooks, you wont meet a more glass-half-full guy than me. But these are, what I
consider, some depressing figures:
Last year, about one out of every five students didnt graduate high school. One in five.
And among those who do graduate, one in five need remedial courses in college.
And thats because, according to the Nations Report Card, only 38 percent of 12th-graders performed at or
above proficient in reading, and only 26 percent performed at or above proficient in math.
We are not educating enough of our kids its that simple
Now, one thing No Child Left Behind did was require every state to adopt standards and assessments of
progress. That means we can track whether children are learning.
Thats the good news. The bad news is that we know too many children still arent learning. And many
arent learning because theyre sentenced to attend a struggling school.
Thats why we created the first federally-funded private school choice initiative in America, the D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship Program.
And Ill tell you what: it is succeeding beyond even our highest expectations. 97 percent graduating from
high school. A 92 percent approval rating among parents.
Why wouldnt we go ahead and start expanding this initiative to the rest of the country?
Lets give more poor children and their parents a chance to find the better schools they need and deserve.
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