William Hoagland: The next House speaker should learn from 2011 experience on fiscal reform

G. William Hoagland is senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center and a member of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He previously held senior staff positions with the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and the Office of the Republican Majority Leader. He recently wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Examiner, an excerpt of which is below: 

"It has been said that history repeats itself," psychoanalyst Theodor Reik (no, not Mark Twain) first observed. "This is perhaps not quite correct; it merely rhymes."

History could and should rhyme loudly when the 118th Congress takes office in January, particularly on fiscal issues. In 2011, just as in the year that begins in January, the Republicans regained control of the House (after a four-year hiatus) while the White House and the Senate remained in Democratic hands.

To prepare for 2023, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), or whoever becomes House speaker, should review how Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) managed a similarly contentious House Republican caucus in 2011 when it came to fiscal matters. That way, the official can help policymakers avoid the fiscal crises that threatened the nation that year, secure the position of speaker, and, most importantly, put the country on a sounder fiscal future.

Read the entire piece here. 

Published works by members or staff of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget do not necessarily reflect the views of all members or staff of the Committee.