The nation cannot afford to go backward — vote Republican

A Democratic takeover of the House would mean a complete stop for any policy agenda in Congress. Policy progress would be swapped out for two years of vicious partisan fighting, investigations, impeachment and whatever else the liberal base of the Democratic party forces their leadership to do.

Imagine controversy like that of the Justice Brett Kavanaugh hearings taking place day-in and day-out in the committee rooms chaired by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) closest allies in the House of Representatives.

This is genuinely what is at stake on Tuesday. Do we want to move forward as a country or spend the next two years embattled in bitter partisan fights that will further drive the country apart?

{mosads}Republican control of Congress and the White House has already achieved tax cuts, regulatory rollbacks, booming small-business growth, a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) deal and more. More importantly, the direction the party is headed in 2019 is becoming clear.

The administration is signaling what the agenda for the next Congress will be. The pro-worker, pro-middle class, pro-America agenda will build on the accomplishments of the first two years while also closing the book on unfinished business.

This agenda is directly linked to the new governing coalition that propelled Trump into the White House and allowed Republicans to win in states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Here is a preview of what to expect if Republicans hold Congress:

On health care, the White House recently signaled their preference for reform when they made it easier for states to obtain waivers that loosen the stranglehold of ObamaCare regulations and provide relief to individuals seeking affordable health care.

This  action clearly indicates a desire to move beyond ObamaCare and implement a health-care plan that allows for more freedom, more choice and higher-quality care. Republican congressional leaders are joining the White House in acknowledging that fixing our health-care system needs to be a top priority in 2019.

Expect to see a GOP plan that transcends the national controversies around health care by allowing states to be the big decision-makers. Local representatives are closest to the people and more accountable. Health-care decisions are better made locally than federally. 

Taxes will be cut, again. President Trump surprised everyone by calling for a 10-percent tax cut for the middle class. Despite the derision he received from a cynical media and a checked-out D.C. establishment, this promise is real and it has legs.

By announcing it in the weeks leading up to the election, Trump has guaranteed that a Republican victory will mean swift action on this item. Expect to see this middle-class tax cut paired with a measure making the individual cuts from 2017 permanent. 

The border will be secured and our broken immigration system will finally be reformed. A GOP midterm victory would mean the immigration issue played front-and-center in many elections and thus, gave Republicans the mandate they need to finally pass legislation to secure the border.  

Building the border wall is both a practical need but also symbolic of greater border enforcements and reforms to legal immigration. Republicans will seek to put an end to chain migration, the visa lottery and other poorly formed laws that have served as a magnet for illegal immigration. 

Dignified and meaningful work will become a centerpiece of the GOP agenda. The work/jobs agenda is multifaceted: Small-business growth is yielding a massive jobs market whose biggest challenge is finding workers to fill the roles.

An infrastructure package that utilizes public-private partnerships can continue to fuel job growth. The White House has signaled their support for work requirements in the farm bill. In 2019, expect to see this support transfer to a broader welfare reform bill that swaps welfare checks out for paychecks.

On top of that, conservatives will push for higher education reforms like the HERO Act, which allows federal loans such as pell grants to be used for vocational training and apprenticeships.

Last week, the administration instructed all cabinet heads to find 5 percent in each of their agencies to cut. Cutting down on wasteful federal spending is important in its own right, but perhaps more importantly, shrinking the size and scope of the federal government and devolving decision-making to the states is the surest way to drain the swamp.

The swamp exists because too much power resides in Washington. Small-government conservatives — a vital part of the Trump coalition — held their noses through most of the first two years. In 2019, expect to see the party make moves to keep them in the coalition going into 2020. 

This agenda can and should unite the majority of Americans. It is an agenda that puts workers and middle-class Americans first. It prioritizes local freedom over federal prescription. Crucially, it protects the sovereignty and security of the United States.

If you block out all the noise in our horserace-obsessed, 24-hour media cycle and instead focus on the policy, the choice Tuesday becomes clear. Americans cannot afford to go backward.

Tim Chapman is executive director of Heritage Action, a sister organization of The Heritage Foundation.