Former American Express CEO Harvey Golub has put together an economic agenda for the new Republican Congress.
"GOP legislators should first and foremost stop the advancement of Obama economics, whenever possible," he writes on
Real Clear Markets. "They must put forth a legislative agenda that will show the nation that they are able to govern."
One suggestion: "Deal with the massive problem of illegal immigrants already in this country, without having to pass an unwieldy, complex omnibus immigration law covering every problem," Golub maintains.
"No sane person wants to simply deport those illegal immigrants — 10 or 15 million well-integrated people who are obeying the law, working hard and paying their taxes."
Reform should include "strengthening border security, providing a guest worker program and deporting" criminals says Golub, now a board member of the American Enterprise Institute.
Many Republicans want to eviscerate Obamacare.
Golub's advice: "deal with the generally acknowledged dysfunction in the Affordable Care Act by eliminating the tax on medical devices, eliminating the individual mandate and eliminating the employer mandate," he writes.
"The president will certainly veto these laws, but the public would support these actions, and the Democrats in Congress will have to go on record with their votes," Golub notes.
"Whether or not these proposed laws are vetoed or not, is not the point. They are the elements of an agenda that can speak to Americans and show what Republicans can do. The GOP could not legitimately be cast as the party of no, with such a positive, effective agenda."
Meanwhile, Steve Beaman, chairman of The Society to Advance Financial Education, told
Newsmax TV that "what they [the GOP Congress] will try to do is reignite some of the bills they put forward in 2014 related to regulatory changes, a little bit of tax modification, certainly corporate income taxes will come high on the agenda."
He told the
Newsmax TV's "MidPoint" program that "Obama is going to have to give on some of it. He's been talking about wanting to work with this Congress. He's going to have to meet them in the middle, certainly on the corporate tax issue as well as regulatory issues."