Americans for Prosperity Has High Expectations for New Political Agenda

Americans for Prosperity, the political organizing arm of the donor network led by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, is putting Republicans on notice they expect them to carry through with a conservative political agenda, The Washington Post reports.

"We've had promises, especially on controlling spending, from Republicans, and it's time for them to really keep their word," AFP President Tim Phillips told the newspaper.

"Before, they had a reasonable point when they would say, 'Well, we don't control the White House.' There was a time when they only had the House and not the Senate. They have all three now, and so the ability to genuinely get these actions, take these actions, get this agenda done — now they have that opportunity."

The AFP's political roadmap includes repealing the Affordable Care Act, tightening government spending and rolling back federal regulations of private industry, according to the Post.

But it appears to be at odds with President-elect Donald Trump's plan to improve the nation's infrastructure.

"Everyone agrees that we must fix roads and bridges in need of repair, but the best way to pay for this isn't to spend money we don't have and add billions — or even trillions — to the national debt," the AFP says in a document outlining its political goals.

"Instead, lawmakers must eliminate or reform outdated regulations that make construction projects more costly and drag them out for years, or even decades."

But Phillips maintained he sees no major difference between AFP's goals and proposals by Trump and the GOP congressional members.

"The truth is, the election's over," he was quoted by the Post. "It may only be three months ago, but, frankly, it's over, and now is the time to put forward policies that will improve the lives of Americans. The Republicans have enormous opportunity.

"With that opportunity does come high expectations, and we're hopeful they're going to meet those expectations. We're going to help them do that.

"We'll also hold them accountable if there are times when they don't."

Politico reported the group's political spending in the past mainly targeted Democrats.

It has blitzed Democratic senators with tens of millions of dollars in attack ads on health care and other issues.