By Chelsea Titus
Round Table editor

Republicans captured control of the House of Representatives, last Tuesday, Nov. 2. They won more than 60 seats formerly held by Democrats to take majority control of the House and narrowed the Democratic majority in the Senate, while winning the share of governors’ races around the country.

Republicans interviewed on talk shows promised congressional investigations, an all-out effort to repeal health care reform, and steadfast opposition to any form of higher taxes.

Democrats, meanwhile, said the losses they suffered in the congressional elections reflected voter dissatisfaction with lingering high unemployment in the slow recovery from the economic recession.

Republican Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, who is expected to become the new House majority leader in January, questioned on “Fox News Sunday” whether there was any benefit to compromising with President Barack Obama.

The question was not whether President Obama was willing to work with Republicans, as he stated last week, but, “Are we willing to work with him?” Cantor asked.

“I mean, first and foremost, we’re not going to be willing to work with him on the expansive liberal agenda he’s been about,” Cantor said.

President Obama wants to extend the lower tax rates for income above $200,000 a year for individuals and $250,000 a year for families, saying that means 98 percent of Americans won’t be subject to a de facto tax increase.

Republicans oppose higher tax rates for anyone, including the nation’s wealthiest two percent, arguing it would harm small business owners who traditionally bring about significant job creation.

In an interview with “60 Minutes,” President Obama expressed a willingness to compromise, perhaps by extending the lower tax rates for wealthy Americans for a two-year period as long as everyone else also maintains their current lower rates.

 A unanimous Republican policy is to try to get the health care reform bill repealed. While acknowledging President Obama and the Democrats will almost certainly be able to kick off full repeal, Republican lawmakers including Cantor and others advocated cutting funding and mounting legal challenges to hinder implementation of the measure until they can try to defeat Obama in 2012.

Some of the Republican opponents of the bill also called for keeping popular provisions promoted by Obama and Democrats, such as preventing insurance companies from dropping coverage when people get sick or denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

Many Americans have become disappointed with the Democratic Party. They elected Republican leaders as a change. Weren’t the Democrats supposed to bring change? I have yet to see it.