Republicans to deliver on a ‘golden opportunity’

EMBOLDENED by a commanding House majority and Senate gains, Republican leaders vowed yesterday to deliver on their “golden opportunity” to roll back the size of government and President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

“Change course we will,” said Ohio Republican John Boehner, the speaker-in-waiting, describing Tuesday’s mid-term elections as a mandate to shrink the government. That echoed the unrelenting demand of the tea party activists whose energy and votes helped to fuel the largest turnover in the House in more than 70 years.

The capital awoke — if it ever slept — to a new political order. With their lopsided win, Republicans are ushering in a new era of divided government and dethroning Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a prime target of their campaign.

Repealing the healthcare law, with its mandates and subsidies to extend health insurance to nearly all Americans, has been a Republican rallying cry for months, but Obama, with his veto power, and the Democrats still in control of the Senate stand in the way.

Several Republicans indicated their challenge to the law won’t happen overnight when they take power.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who survived a tea party challenge in Nevada, said “I’m ready for some tweaking” on the health care law, but would fight its repeal.

In the heady election aftermath, some Republicans cautioned their own that they have work to do in building public trust in a time when many Americans are fed up with both parties.

“We’ve been given a second chance and a golden opportunity,” said Eric Cantor of Virginia, No 2 Republican in the House. However, he added: “People want to see results.”

He called for discretionary spending to be cut to 2008 levels, including defence, and for a reduction in the federal payroll.

Sizing up the power shift, Reid said he wants to preserve Obama’s sweeping healthcare law and let taxes rise on upper income Americans, but “I’m not bullheaded”. He said on CNN: “If there’s some tweaking we need to do with the healthcare bill, I’m ready for some tweaking. But I’m not going to in any way denigrate the great work we did as a country, and saving America from bankruptcy because of the insurance industry bankrupting us.”

Incomplete returns showed the GOP picked up at least 60 House seats and led for four more, far in excess of what was needed for a majority.

On their night of triumph, Republicans gained at least six Senate seats.