It seems to be pretty universally recognized that something needs to change for Republicans to avoid another significant loss in November. Opinions vary on precisely what must be done, but many conservatives have argued that the party needs to return to its fiscal conservative roots, while at the same time offering practical solutions to genuine problems. Along precisely those lines, Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), the senior Republican on the House Budget Committee, has introduced the Road Map for America’s Future:
Ryan’s plan ensures universal access to affordable health care, sets federal spending at sustainable levels, addresses the problem of outstanding federal debt, and promotes sustained economic and job growth over time. The ambitious plan is extremely broad — too broad to fit into a 30 second sound bite. But it is the core of a plan that fiscal conservatives can coalesce around. Think of the Road Map as a ‘Kemp-Roth Tax Cut’ for the 21st century. Before President Reagan adopted the tax cut plan that became the signature economic achievement of his presidency, the legwork was done in Congress by energetic Republicans like Jack Kemp, Bill Roth, and even by then-Democrats like Phil Gramm. The Kemp-Roth tax cuts were the economic message of the Reagan campaign, and their passage was largely ensured when he won a resounding victory in 1980. Some of the central elements in the Ryan plan — tax reform, health care choice, retirement accounts, etc. — may become the key elements of the GOP economic message in this election, and potentially beyond. Visit the site that Ryan has set up to see what the Road Map includes.
