Paul Ryan unveils plans for the GOP election-year agenda in regards to poverty, tax reform, national security, health care, regulation cuts and constitutional policy. The agenda also seeks to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act but looks to maintain several popular provisions it provides.

The 2017 Republican agenda titled “A Better Way” is the brainchild of the Task Force on Poverty, Opportunity and Upward Mobility. Unveiled at the House of the Help City Of Hope in June, House Republicans argue that the initiative provides more effective grounds to lift Americans out of poverty and places them on a “ladder of opportunity.”

In a speech at the Library of Congress last December, Ryan enunciated the vitality of implementation of mandates as Republican’s “number-one goal for the next year” and aims to establish a “complete alternative to the Left’s agenda.” A Better Way’s agenda sets lofty goals to alleviate poverty within the U.S., emphasizing reforms to the current state of the welfare system and asserts that fiscal investments will neither rise nor decrease.

Ryan’s affinity to develop big policy ideas has also been showcased by his authoring of the 2008 agenda “Roadmap for America’s Future” and his substantial role in the 2013 GOP initiative “Path to Prosperity.” The unanimous vote to nominate Paul Ryan for a second term as speaker of the House, along with a Republican president-elect, House and Senate, increase the likelihood that goals outlined by A Better Way’s Agenda will be executed.

The agenda also strives to alleviate poverty in the U.S. by focusing on programs for families. These goals are aimed at especially assisting those families led by single mothers, by reforming nutrition programs, developing financial aid and Pell Grant policies, increasing services to at-risk youth and increasing development in early childhood by bridging the gap between educators and parents.

A startling 20 percent of Americans receive public welfare, while three-fourths of these individuals are recipients of support for no more than two years.

With the new year approaching, it is important to start off with structured planning to improve overall efforts to alleviate poverty in the U.S. It is hopeful that these efforts will create the strong foundation necessary to achieve the above standards.

– Amber Bailey

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