{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.isakson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/what-others-are-saying?ContentRecord_id=ef92f76c-f4ef-41a6-bb1f-fc316ba21d61", "AJC: Isakson eyes a path forward for new GOP majority", "2014-11-05", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "GA", "Johnny Isakson", "I000055", "www.isakson.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Now, they need to prove they can win in Washington, D.C.\r\nAfter two cycles of swinging and missing at a Senate majority, the GOP finally connected this time around and controls Congress for the first time in eight years. What now?\r\n\u201cI think we have to do what we indicted the Democrats for not doing over the course of the election,\u201d said Georgia\u2019s soon-to-be senior senator, Johnny Isakson. That means passing bills and sending them to President Barack Obama.\r\n\u201cYou can\u2019t make (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid the issue and continue to have gridlock in the Senate,\u201d he said.\r\nWhich bills? Isakson, speaking to me by phone about 12 hours after Republican David Perdue won Georgia\u2019s other Senate seat, offered his personal opinions rather than a big GOP strategy.\r\n\u201cThe first thing I\u2019d send the president is the Keystone (XL) Pipeline,\u201d Isakson said, referring to the long-delayed project to bring Canadian crude to the U.S.\r\nThe next thing he mentioned may come as a surprise. Last year, Reid invoked the \u201cnuclear option\u201d to eliminate the filibuster for many presidential appointments. Rather than expand it, as some have speculated a GOP majority might do, Isakson said he favors reversing it: \u201cI think the 60-vote threshold makes sense.\u201d\r\nTime for transitioning to power is short. Isakson rattled off five major issues with deadlines on or before May 31: the debt ceiling, the reimbursement rate for doctors who treat Medicare patients, the budget, appropriations bills, and the highway trust fund for transportation infrastructure.\r\nThese, Isakson said, are \u201cfive things the Democrats have looked the other way on\u201d for years under Obama. Add a reform for corporate taxes that have been driving companies overseas through \u201cinversions\u201d and other maneuvers, and there are plenty of opportunities for the GOP to make progress.\r\nWhat about Obamacare? While a symbolic House vote to repeal the law may have been cathartic for conservatives in 2011, sending Obama a repeal bill, just to watch him veto it, would only aid the inevitable Democratic narrative that Republicans aren\u2019t serious about governing.\r\nBetter, Isakson said, to focus on \u201ccertain parts of it that are ripe for reform and change immediately, the medical device tax being one. Bailing out insurance companies for any losses they might incur is another,\u201d as is the employer mandate.\r\n\u201cWe do it in selected, targeted things that would pass the House and the Senate, probably with Republican and Democratic votes,\u201d he said. \u201cThat would be my guess.\u201d\r\nAnd this: \u201cYou can\u2019t eat an elephant with one bite \u2026 and that is an elephant of a law that needs to be surgically dealt with.\u201d\r\nIf, as is rumored, Obama tries to use an executive order to enact amnesty for illegal immigrants, Isakson said Republicans should use the power of the purse to de-fund such efforts until the next election comes.\r\n\u201cIf (Obama) thought there was a big tidal wave\u201d on Tuesday, Isakson said, \u201cif he starts something like that, the tidal wave will continue.\u201d\r\nWebsite:\u00a0http://www.myajc.com/news/news/opinion/isakson-eyes-a-path-forward-for-new-gop-majority/nhz6H/?ecmp=ajc_social_twitter_2014_kylewingfield_sfp#5848f683.3548322.735544", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.isakson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/what-others-are-saying?ContentRecord_id=ef92f76c-f4ef-41a6-bb1f-fc316ba21d61"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0497746989130974, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}