Senate Republicans must lead to win election: Column

In just a few months, Senate Republicans may find themselves in the majority, and setting the agenda, for the first time in years. With just six more Senate seats – a real possibility – Republicans would have unified control of Congress, and with it an opportunity to press ahead with a small-government agenda.

But we still haven't heard what Senate leaders would do . That's a missed opportunity – a failure to demonstrate that they are ready to lead. It's time to identify a set of conservative priorities that a Republican Senate would tackle in 2015 and send a signal to the conservative grassroots that a Republican victory will mean a new focus in Washington on limited government and upholding the Constitution.

The goals of the grassroots could not be more clear. While we can count on the opposition of the president and his liberal Senate allies, it is time to start reducing government interference in our everyday lives and the economy, to commit to real fiscal discipline. and to begin to reform or eliminate outdated federal programs that no longer work, if they ever did. If Republicans regain the majority, grassroots conservatives are counting on them to deliver.

Clearly, the top priority must be a vote to repeal ObamaCare completely -- using the Budget Act's reconciliation rules. This has been a rallying cry for conservatives ever since Democrats took advantage of arcane Senate rules to defy the will of the American people and impose this damaging regime. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican Leader himself, has said the law must be pulled out "root and branch." Families who've lost policies, or been forced to pay higher premiums and deductibles or find new doctors, are counting on McConnell to make every effort to deliver on his commitment. Obama will veto the legislation, but using his first veto on the unpopular law will force him and the Democrats to defend it's mandates, regulations, higher costs and unfair tax penalties all over again.

Repeal of the destructive health care law is something that both establishment and conservative candidates clearly agree on. Pro-consumer, pro-market health care reform will be an important issue in the 2016 election. A clear vote on the law will give conservatives the opportunity to lay down principles for future proposals.

Harry Reid's Senate has generally refused to fulfill the legal requirement to pass a federal budget each year; the Republican Senate cannot follow in his footsteps. They must lay down a plan to balance the federal budget in under 10 years, without new taxes and without the revenues brought in by the tax increases and penalties of the president's health care law. Most Americans understand that Washington is adding trillions in debt due to a refusal to rein in spending. It's time to turn over a new leaf, and to resolve that our children and grandchildren will not be saddled with an ever-growing burden simply because Washington lacks the discipline to live within it's means.

Next, it's clear that America's immigration laws are broken – and the first priority must be to crack down on illegal immigration and oppose amnesty at all costs. Last year, the Senate and it's infamous 'Gang of Eight' used the genuine need for enforcement as a pretext to pass a massive comprehensive mess - one that would spend hundreds of billions to authorize supposed border security with sham accountability requirements while granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. That was a mistake, and the next Senate can and should do better. They must secure our borders, ensuring that our nation is protected and that individuals wishing to come here legally go through the proper channels to do so, and that those channels actually work for those obeying our laws.

Fiscal discipline means more than just passing a budget and avoiding tax increases. It means saying no to omnibus spending bills that are rushed through at the last minute. It means no more "emergency spending" bills that are little more than cover for lawmakers' pet projects instead of real emergencies and finally ending corporate welfare. And it means ending the practice of allowing bureaucrats to write costly, job-killing regulations that Congress then washes its hands of.

These are the sorts of conservative ideas that the Senate leadership should proudly commit to – and the sooner, the better. The American people are ready for change, and they are begging for leadership. Committing to a clear and responsible agenda begins to answer that call, and it will send a strong message to the conservative grassroots that campaign promises are more than just rhetoric.

Ken Cuccinelli is the president of the Senate Conservatives Fund.

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