Grassroots group to urge GOP to fight 'outrageous' regs

By Shane D'Aprile - 12/27/10 03:00 PM ET

The conservative group Americans for Prosperity, one of several organizations that spent heavily to influence the 2010 elections, is now gearing up to exert some grassroots pressure on the new Congress next year.    

Among the objectives: A "quick and clean vote" on healthcare repeal, progress toward fundamental spending and budget reforms, repealing the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) new net-neutrality rules and targeting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

 The group's vice president for policy, Phil Kerpen, says that for candidates who won with the help of Tea Party activism in 2010, a series of votes aimed at combating the Obama administration's regulatory efforts could be an early 2012 proving ground.
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Everything this new Congress does will come with a heightened level of scrutiny," said Kerpen. "2012 has already started and I think [new members] will realize that all of these votes will be remembered."  

AFP plans to call on its more than 1.5 million members as part of a major grassroots push it hopes will force Republicans to make use of the Congressional Review Act to roll back the new net-neutrality rules and other regulations.

Kerpen wants the Senate to force to the floor a "Congressional Review Act Resolution of Disapproval" on the FCC's new rules, which he said can be done with as few as 30 senators.
The goal is a series of high-profile votes targeted at "the most outrageous elements" of the administration's "regulatory agenda."

The group also hopes to continue a media campaign through 2011 that would include TV and radio ads.
In the House, Republicans are already vowing to repeal parts of healthcare and financial reform, but, if successful, the Democratic-led Senate would effectively act as a brick wall for any rollback efforts.

Buoyed by the recent confrontation over the omnibus spending bill, Kerpen said he expects activists to play a major role in the direction taken by the new Congress starting in January and to keep new members on notice that support from grassroots conservatives will be far from automatic come 2012.

"I fully expect people to stay engaged," said Kerpen. "There are some very high expectations, and they really have to deliver on those."

The Hill