Nine Things the GOP Congress Must Do

But for that to happen, two things must occur: He must follow through on key campaign commitments, and the Republican Congress must act on them.

Here are nine commitments Trump made that the incoming Congress should make happen:

Trump's position paper on health care said: "Our elected representatives in the House and Senate must: Completely repeal Obamacare. Our elected representatives must eliminate the individual mandate. No person should be required to buy insurance unless he or she wants to."

It further stated that reforms put in place after the repeal should "follow free market principles that will restore economic freedom and certainty to everyone in this country."

Congress must immediately repeal Obamacare -- and enact only reforms that "follow free market principles."

"The freedoms we cherish and the constitutional values and principles our country was founded on are in jeopardy," Trump stated in September. "The responsibility is greater than ever to protect and uphold these freedoms and I will appoint justices, who, like Justice Scalia, will protect our liberty with the highest regard for the Constitution."

In a letter to pro-life leaders, Trump added: "I am committed to ... (n)ominating pro-life justices to the U.S. Supreme Court."

In his immigration plan, Trump promised to: "Begin working on an impenetrable physical wall on the southern border, on Day One."

"All immigration laws will be enforced -- we will triple the number of ICE agents," said the plan. "Anyone who enters the U.S. illegally is subject to deportation."

Trump's plan also would "turn off the jobs and benefits magnet" for illegal immigrants. "Many immigrants come to the U.S. illegally in search of jobs," it said, "even though federal law prohibits the employment of illegal immigrants."

Congress should enact all legislation needed to build Trump's wall and fully enforce the immigration laws.

"I am committed to ... (s)igning into law the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would end painful late-term abortions nationwide," Trump said in his letter to pro-life leaders.

Congress should place that bill on Trump's desk by Jan. 27, the day of the 2017 March for Life.

"I am committed to ... (d)efunding Planned Parenthood as long as they continue to perform abortions," Trump said in his letter. Congress should defund Planned Parenthood in the first spending bill it sends Trump.

"The Trump Plan will collapse the current seven tax brackets to three brackets," says Trump's tax plan. It would cut the top rate from 39.6 percent to 33 percent.

Additionally, Trump's plan would "repeal the death tax," which can be a confiscatory tax on family owned businesses. It also drops the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent.

A great Congress would go further than Trump's plan. It would enact the "Fair Tax Act" that would eliminate the income tax, replace it with a sales tax and set the stage for repeal of the 16th Amendment, which made direct federal taxation of individual incomes plausible.

But enacting Trump's plan to cut tax rates and abolish the death tax is a good start to reining in federal tax collections.

In 2015, the U.S. had a merchandise trade deficit of $745.66 billion, according to the Census Bureau. Since 1979, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation has lost more than 7 million manufacturing jobs.

Trump's trade plan calls for negotiating "fair trade deals that create American jobs, increase American wages, and reduce America's trade deficit." That includes withdrawing from the not-yet-approved Trans-Pacific Partnership and renegotiating NAFTA.

Trump's foreign policy plan says he will end "the current strategy of nation-building and regime change." Congress should support this, including by reasserting its constitutional authority over the use of military force. That means the president may not use force -- except to repel a sudden attack on the United States -- unless Congress authorizes it.

Sean Hannity asked Trump on Fox News on June 17, 2015: "Would you insist on a balanced budget as president?" Trump responded: "I would insist on it relatively soon."

When President Barack Obama took office, the federal debt was about 10.6 trillion. Now it is about $19.9 trillion.

Obama and the last Republican Congress kept America on the road to bankruptcy. President Trump and the new Republican Congress must lead us back the other way -- and they cannot do it too soon.

IMMIGRATION:

1. A road along the entire border, navigable by Jeep or similar vehicle, with triple strand concertina wire barriers 100-200 yards on each side monitored frequently for vandalism. That can be done very quickly and will immediately slow the crossings of illegals. We must secure the border so illegals cannot easily enter (or reenter after being deported).

2. At least one additional barrier beyond those double barbed wire obstacles, whether a fence, a wall, or something else physical to prevent unauthorized passage. We must secure the border so illegals cannot easily enter (or reenter after being deported).

3. Pregnant illegals who are not immediately deported should be held outside the United States so their anchor babies will not be US citizens.

4. All illegals who committed the crime of entering our country illegally or of overstaying after legal entry and then committed any other crime while in our country should be deported. No exceptions. Those deported should be permanently barred from any legal reentry or path to citizenship. Any state or local government with a “sanctuary” policy should be barred from receiving federal funds; and illegals who access social services, including schools, should be required to be reported to ICE.

5. All illegals who committed the crime of entering our country illegally in the past two years, and thus have not been here long enough to have stronger ties here than at home, should be deported. In other words, no new growth in our illegal population. Those deported should be permanently barred from any legal reentry or path to citizenship. No exceptions.

6. Once those are taken care of, we should deport the remaining illegals (or better, encourage them to go home on their own). Allow those who go home on their own to apply for legal reentry and legal status. Those deported should be permanently barred from any legal reentry or path to citizenship - again, no exceptions. For those who go home on their own, we should take into account in their visa applications any past history of productive work in the United States, English proficiency if they learned our language while here, and any record of living here without using welfare and other social services.

7. The only way for illegals to gain legal status should be to apply from their home countries for legal entry after voluntarily going home. Note: We also need to fix legal immigration so that the number of immigrants approved by Congress and by the President can obtain visas in a reasonable time to come here, and they can do it from the countries we wish to receive immigrants from, after thorough background checks.

OBAMACARE:

Repeal completely. Do not replace in the same bill. Pass a separate bill allowing kids to stay on parental policies to age 26 IF the insurers want to. Pass a separate bill allowing interstate sale of insurance.

BUDGET:

Eliminate entire departments, starting with Education, EPA, Energy, and shrink HHS to its proper and very limited role.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.