A New Year approaches. Along with it comes a brand new Congress. There are many things Congress needs to do next year. However, I believe there are five that are of the utmost importance; things that the new Congress should make New Years Resolutions.

Resolve to Reform Healthcare…By Repealing Some of It

In 2010, we saw a lot of talk about reforming health care, and we got reform. Just really bad reform, with things like freedom impinging mandates. One of the first thing the new Congress needs to pledge to do, and especially the Republican House, is repeal this provision of the law. 62% of Americans really don’t like that part of the law, and I think it stands a good chance of being overturned by the Supremes, anyway. The sooner the better, so the new Congress needs to get on to it early.

There are other parts of the health care legislation that should be repealed, but this is the biggest one.

Resolve to Reform the Filibuster

No doubt you believe I’m crazy, as this one clearly favors Democrats. Well, it does right now, but the Republican end-game is going to be reclaiming control of the Senate. When they do (and I don’t believe it’s an if), there could be problems.

Right now a Republican can threaten a filibuster and screech legislation to a halt. I actually think it’s a bit of a ridiculous maneuver, but it does work. At least it did until the lame-duck session. Yet, I don’t think Republicans’ loss of Senate maneuvering power will last too long.

That said, expect this strategy to be turned against Republicans when they regain the Senate. The Democrats have learned to employ strategies once used by their opposition. Just last week they used the old “it’s for 9/11″ strategy, invented by the Republicans, in order to pass the 9/11 rescuers healthcare bill. So it makes sense that Democrats will be equally as adept at employing threats of filibusters in the future.

So filibuster reform is a program the Republicans should resolve to support now, even though it seemingly makes little sense in the current situation. If they don’t, and the current system continues to stick around, it’ll cause headaches once the positions of the two parties are reversed. It will mean more work – like having to stand on the floor of the Senate – but I believe it’ll be worth it in the long-run.

Resolve to Insist on Stand-alone Legislation

Though it may seem like Republicans completely lost their footing during the lame-duck session, I don’t believe a newly powerful Democratic Party is the entire reason the GOP was so unsuccessful this month. Part of the reason so much of the leftist wish list may have passed is because of stand-alone bills. Or, that is, anything that’s not an omnibus, 10,000 page monstrosity.

I hope everyone noticed that the one omnibus bill that was introduced during the lame duck failed to pass. All bills that did pass were largely stand-alone, even if still often incorporating many parts. When the Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell repeal passed, the media took notice.

And they should, because Republicans are generally in favor of this type of legislation. Nobody can read a huge bill before passage. In fact, Madame Tyrant even once taught us that we had to pass bills to find out what was in them. Stand-alone bills, on the other hand, are much more simplified, because they cover only one thing. If you can get a legislator to read a bill, I believe they’re more likely to be persuaded to vote for it. This is true even for the legislators from the opposition party. The lame-duck showed us how true this was.

Of course, Republicans must put their money where their mouth is, as they too have a history of huge omnibus bills.

Resolve to Make the Tax Cuts Permanent

This is probably easier said then done, as it’s something the Republicans have wanted since originally passing the cuts, but have not yet realized. Still, it is an important step forward in getting our financial house under control. Two years of maintaining the current levels is great, but it’s only going to lead to yet another battle toward the end of the next Congress.

Of course, maintaining the current taxes permanently should not be the end goal as there is much work to be done. The death tax, which will be reinstated much the same as it was before this year, ought to be ended. And research ought to be undertaken to see if it’s appropriate to lower the tax level even further.

Of course, while this should be one of the biggest things Congress should pledge to do in the next year, it won’t make any difference of it without my final recommendation.

Resolve to Reduce Spending

For tax cuts to make any sense at all, they must be coupled with a reduction in spending. The last several years have seen mostly lip service given to the idea of spending cuts. Meanwhile, we’ve seen a lot of increases in health care, bailouts, and war, and from both parties. From the Democrats it is expected, but Republicans do not get off the hook just because they’ve been out of power for four years. Now that they have the House back, it is time to get serious.

The first obvious place to start will be the budget, which will come into play at about the same time the continuing resolution expires. I think the blueprint Republicans should work from is Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) Roadmap for America’s Future. I intend to cover this in more depth as time goes on, but for now, to say that I believe it provides some great solutions to our deficit problem will have to suffice. It isn’t perfect, and I don’t think everything in it is fantastic, but it is somewhere to start from.

Republicans have a real opportunity to make spending cuts where they are needed to get the country back of the road to financial stability. They shouldn’t pass it up. I believe this should be their top resolution for next year, even if it means the others don’t quite get fulfilled.

The new year is a little over a day away, and the new Congress is not far behind. Are there any other New Years Resolutions the legislature should make?