Rep. Westerman: Trump would support ‘better way’

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, said Donald Trump would appoint conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices and support House Republicans’ “A Better Way” program, which is why he’s supporting him.

Westerman said in a teleconference call with reporters Monday that Trump is not his first choice, but the next president will appoint four Supreme Court justices, and Trump has put together a good list of potential ones.

“What happens to the Supreme Court during this next term will affect our country for a long time,” he said.

Westerman said Trump told members of the Republican House conference he would support the principles in A Better Way, a plan by House Republicans created under the leadership of House Speaker Paul Ryan that they say will grow the economy, improve health care and make the country more secure.

Hillary Clinton would be “President Obama 3.0” and would appoint young liberal Supreme Court justices, Westerman said.

Asked if he trusted Trump with the nuclear codes, Westerman said, “I trust that, if he’s got the confidence of the American people, he’ll handle that in a way that he should, and he’ll put good advisers around him.”

A Better Way contains proposals addressing six areas: poverty, national security, the economy, the Constitution, health care and tax reform. Following are some of the proposals in the plan.
• Poverty
Stronger work requirements for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families recipients; encouraging Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program beneficiaries to work; more flexibility for states.

“History shows the best anti-poverty program is a job. … The objective of our anti-poverty program should be to get people working,” Westerman said.

• National security
Securing the border; stopping cyberattacks; a more aggressive stance against terrorism; more defense spending.

• Economy
Reducing regulations; producing more energy; giving states more control of federal land; compensating victims of frivolous lawsuits; ending bailouts.

• The Constitution
Reasserting congressional authority; more transparent spending. Westerman said Congress has yielded too much power to the executive branch.

“Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be making laws, and right now through the rule process, they are making law,” he said.

• Health care
Refundable tax credits to buy health insurance; expanding health savings accounts; capping the tax break on employer-based premiums; allowing consumers to buy insurance across state lines; creating individual and small business insurance pools; medical liability reform. Westerman said funding for states should be segregated into buckets and then capped so states would have an incentive to spend the money efficiently.

• Tax reform
Cutting taxes to 25% for many small businesses; allowing deductions of 50% of dividends, capital gains and interest received from stocks and mutual funds; cutting the corporate tax rate to 20%; restructuring the IRS; eliminating the death tax.

Westerman said that after Ryan was elected speaker, the two had a lengthy meeting and among the topics discussed was the SIMPLE Plan created by Republicans in the Arkansas House of Representatives. Westerman wasn’t sure of the effect of that meeting, but both A Better Way and the SIMPLE Plan contained six points. Ryan challenged House members to identify the country’s major issues, and a task force was formed to discuss them. Westerman said he attended many of those meetings.

Westerman said Congress in the rest of this term will work on the next budget. He’s hopeful the Senate will pass a bill addressing the Zika virus that the House has passed. He’s also serving on a conference committee to try to pass his Resilient Federal Forests Act, which he believes could be attached to an energy bill.