OPINION:
House Republicans need to look at their counterparts at the state level and get federal expenditures under control with permanent spending reductions. To get the economy moving in the right direction and to help drive down inflation — and with it, the costs of items such as food, gas and housing — Congress must make previous tax cuts permanent. With recent positive news on trade, Americans are heading toward a new era of peace and prosperity.
Republican governors and state lawmakers are leading the way on fiscal responsibility and pro-growth policies. We did it in Wisconsin during my time in office. We lowered taxes on the hardworking people of my state by more than $22 billion since 2011 while having budget surpluses eight years in a row. Other states are taking similar actions to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse while sending more money back to the taxpayers. Federal lawmakers should follow a similar path to fiscal sanity. The time to act is now.
The latest numbers from the Congressional Budget Office project that the federal government will spend $89.3 trillion over the next decade. Liberals are going wild over changes that would reduce these numbers by less than 2%. Conservatives should be pushing for even more significant changes. A good place to begin is codifying spending reductions recommended by Elon Musk and the federal Department of Government Efficiency.
House Democrats protested reductions to Medicaid during the Ways and Means Committee hearings. These cuts, however, are connected to work requirements for able-bodied, working-age adults. We pushed these changes years ago in Wisconsin.
Public assistance should be more like a trampoline and less like a hammock. For those who are down and out, we will help you get back on your feet. This help should never be a form of permanent dependence for those who can hold employment. We specifically targeted childless adults ages 18 to 64 without a disability with work requirements, worker training and recovery programs. Federal lawmakers should do the same and save Medicaid for needy children, families and seniors, not men without children who can work.
True freedom and prosperity do not come from the clumsy hand of the government. They come from empowering people to control the destiny of their lives through hard work.
In the same way that individuals must take responsibility for their actions, state and local governments must be responsible for their actions. I oppose any action at the federal level that forces taxpayers across the nation to offset the high costs of taxes in certain states or jurisdictions. The state and local tax deduction forces taxpayers in responsible states with low tax burdens to offset taxpayer costs in areas with high tax burdens.
We should eliminate that deduction. Doing so would force a real debate in these areas about levels of spending and taxation. Allowing people in high-tax jurisdictions to offset part of their burden on their federal taxes removes some of the pressure that might otherwise be directed toward the politicians in these areas.
This leads to the most important thing that House and Senate Republicans must pass in a bill: tax relief. Make the tax cuts President Trump signed into law during his first term permanent and add provisions he ran on in 2024, such as no tax on tips and no tax on overtime earnings. These provisions would help lower the cost of living by putting more money into the hands of hardworking people nationwide and would help spur even greater economic growth. Combine that with real reductions in the growth of federal government spending, and inflation will go down. Prices on key consumer goods will go down, too. The time to act is now.
That said, special interest groups will be working overtime to stop or significantly diminish spending cuts. “We the People” must push back and let our senators and members of Congress know that we expect them to pass real spending reductions, tax cuts and government reform. I know it can be done because we did it in Wisconsin.
If we can do it in my state, the closest of the swing states, and survive a recall election and a subsequent reelection, there is no reason federal lawmakers can’t do the same in Washington. The time to act is now.
Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels taught me that it is important to act quickly, as lawmakers will resist reform when it gets closer to an election year. He said to use political capital quickly and then keep reinvesting it.
We need to give the reforms and tax cuts time to work. Higher economic growth and lower inflation can start this year and build into 2026. Combined with favorable trade deals, our economy could be a real asset for Republicans running in the midterm elections.
• Scott Walker is president of Young America’s Foundation. He served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin.
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