The folks over at Human Events took it on themselves to host a "Solutions Day" for conservative policy ideas - which offers something completely different from what we've been hearing out of DC lately - and today's the day.
From their lead article [2]...
But there are better ideas than Obamacare, budget-busting government growth and the economy-killing “cap and trade” global warming tax. Unsurprisingly, they are ideas that conservatives have been proposing all year and on which the national media has imposed an electronic blockade. The hackneyed calumny “Republicans have no alternative” has been applied to everything from the faux-stimulus to Obama’s bloated budget to health care. Enough.
Today, HUMAN EVENTS is devoting itself to reporting and commenting on those ideas. We’ve rounded up many of the conservative leaders in congress to explain -- at one time and in one place -- the keys to economic recovery, health care and energy independence. And here -- in brief -- are the top five of those ideas. Fortunately for the nation, there are many more.
Here's a roundup of some of the interesting articles they're featuring...
Health Care: The Conservative Alternative in the House [3]: (Rep. Tom Price)
Our solution is built upon the principle that when individuals are given control and ownership, we will achieve full access to coverage and see the entire system move in a positive, patient-centered direction. ...
Health Care: The Conservative Alternative in the Senate [4]: (Sentors Tom Coburn and Richard Burr)
This spring we introduced a comprehensive health care reform bill, the Patients’ Choice Act, along with U.S. Representatives Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Devin Nunes (R-CA), that delivers on the stated goals of both parties -- improving health care choices, access and affordability -- without adding billions of dollars in new debt or taxes. In fact, according to independent estimates, our bill could save taxpayers at least $70 billion and states more than $960 billion over the next ten years. ...
Economy: The Conservative Alternative [5]: (Sen. John Thune)
It is time for Congress to lay out a roadmap for the government’s withdrawal from the ownership stakes it has acquired through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). I have introduced a bill along with a dozen of my colleagues, the Government Ownership Exit Plan Act, which would prohibit the Treasury Department from purchasing any new ownership interests in private companies. This legislation would also require the Treasury Department to sell off its existing ownership interests within one year of becoming law, with a possible one year extension if Treasury can show that such a delay is in the best interest of the taxpayer. Equally important is a provision that requires any revenue generated from the sale of these assets be used to pay down our dangerously high national debt -- instead of being used as a slush fund for the Treasury Department to recycle to other financial institutions. ...
Energy: The Conservative Alternative [6]: (Reps. Rob Bishop and Cynthia Lummis)
Republicans in Congress have an alternative vision on energy; one we believe is shared by the majority of the American people. This vision looks to innovation, conservation, and production as the means to greater economic prosperity, a cleaner environment, real job creation and realistic environmental achievements in the near future. This alternate energy vision is premised on the idea that tax increases never lead to job creation and that arbitrary government mandates only stifle American ingenuity. It is based on the understanding that the government cannot dictate and regulate job creation.
Health Care: The HSA Solution [7]: (Rep. Louie Gohmert)
Any reform must guarantee that patients have access to the treatment they need, when they need it, with the doctor they choose, at a price that is transparent, affordable, and covered.
That is exactly what the Patient-Controlled Healthcare Protection bill does. For people currently on Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP or any combination, they will for the first time ever gain complete control and complete coverage through high deductible insurance with a personalized Health Savings Account (HSA) to cover the entire deductible. ...
Card Check: The Conservative Alternative [8]: (Reps. John Kline and Cathy McMorris Rogers)
Our alternative -- the Secret Ballot Protection Act, H.R. 1176 -- permanently eliminates the uncertainty surrounding the union election process. It assures workers that no one -- not a union organizer, not management – will know how they voted. Simply put, it guarantees workers will be able to vote with the privacy and protection of a secret ballot, empowering them to cast their ballot freely. ...
Rather than shackling our workplaces with layer upon layer of new federal mandates, the Republican alternative plan would eliminate existing barriers that prevent employers and workers from reaching flexible arrangements that benefit both sides.
Check them out. There's some good stuff here. And next time you hear liberal friends buying in to the notion (put forward by Obama and liberals in Congress) that Republicans haven't put any ideas on the table and only say "no", forward them a copy of these articles.
