PLEDGE TO AMERICA

By Jessica Rettig




Posted: September 27, 2010


With lumber stacked high in the background and not a necktie in sight, Republican Party leaders staged an outside-the-beltway scene at a Virginia hardware store last week for their latest appeal to disgruntled Americans. House GOP leaders rolled out a "Pledge to America" as a platform for their envisioned House takeover in November.

But President Obama today characterized the Republican policy outline as “irresponsible.” On NBC’s Today show, he said that “they propose $4 trillion worth of tax cuts and $16 billion in spending cuts, and then they say we’re going to somehow magically balance the budget. That’s not a serious approach.”

Democrats throughout the campaign season have characterized Republicans as "the party of no" that tries to block Obama's initiatives but lacks policy alternatives. With their pledge, the House GOP leaders has responded with a broad agenda covering long-favored Republican ideas and new counter-Obama measures. These include permanently extending the Bush-era tax cuts (including for the wealthy), repealing and replacing the Obama healthcare law, canceling unspent stimulus funds and barring future bailouts, and rolling back federal spending to the 2008 level (except for spending on the military and the elderly)."Republicans have heard the American people," said Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the party's leader in the House. The Republicans' 45-page pledge (which includes graphics) is something of an update to the GOP's "Contract with America," presented in 1994 when then-Minority Leader Newt Gingrich and his allies stood in suits and ties on the steps of the Capitol to present a short statement of principles that helped pave the way for winning House control later that year. This time, with the rise of the Tea Party movement fueled by anti-incumbent sentiment, the Republicans went out of their way—about 30 miles from the Capitol to Sterling, Va.—to appear distant from official Washington.

The document describes two dozen measures that fall under the party's five broad themes: to create jobs, to reduce spending and size of government, to repeal and replace Obama's healthcare law, to reform and restore trust in Congress, and to maintain national security.

The pledge, in both language and substance, invokes the sentiments of conservatives who favor a return to the values of the Constitution, says Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez. "It's very pro-America," she says, adding that the pledge will resonate "especially with Tea Party voters—these are folks that are very concerned about spending, concerned about the role of government, and also are very patriotic. That's why the appeal of this promise is very important."

But Democrats see fresh ammunition to use against the GOP. "No matter how they package it, Americans know the real Republican agenda," says Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Republicans want to privatize Social Security, ship American jobs overseas, and give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires."

[See an Opinion slide show of 5 bad Republican policy ideas]

One Democratic aide depicted the GOP event as a hypocritical exercise. While Republicans traveled to a privately-owned store to express their plans to help small businesses, the aide noted, they returned to the House chamber shortly afterward and voted against a Democratic-sponsored small-business assistance bill that had previously cleared the Senate.

Beside's Obama's criticism of the GOP initiative, some Republicans have been cool towards the pledge because of its shortage of specifics and its failure to adequately address key economic policy issues among fiscal conservatives, such as curtailing earmarks and future entitlement spending. Social conservatives have also voiced concerns about its lack of attention to issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

Boehner and other Republican leaders defended the pledge in appearances on Sunday television talk shows. Boehner, for example, said that the pledge as intended as a starting point and that a more "systemic" process will follow. "Let's not get to the potential solutions," he said on the Fox News Sunday program. "Let's make sure Americans understand how big the problem is. Then, we can begin to talk about possible solutions and then work ourselves into those solutions that are doable."



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Reader Comments Read All 26 Comments Add Comment Republicans are Irresponsible!Who broke our economy and now want to gridlock the government to a halt?

Republicans!

If you want to fix things, fine, vote against Republicans won't fix anything. With this pledge Republicans are promising to make things worse, promising to line the pockets of billionaires with your tax dollars.

If you are against socialism. then put your foot down against the Republicans' Socialism for the Rich. Bush imposed TARP on the country bailing out the supposed capitalists. If there was actual risk in capitalism, how it is the Republicans bailed out Wall Street and the bankers with your deficit, and now they want to do it more. Wake up!

Now Senator Demented want to shut down the Senate, and any Republican gains in Congress will make things worse. These GOP flakes are promising to make gridlock and obstructionism their policies to solve the country's problems.

Stamp out Republican Teabagging Anarchy and save the USA!

[report comment]

Les of OH @ Sep 28, 2010 16:29:49 PM

Back to good old George W Bush days.It took 8 years of Bush,Chaney & Karl Rove to get us in this mess, and now in less than two years the party of no want President Obama to fix their mess. They will bring us back to same situation that caused us this problem. It" a joke when they say we are for fiscal responsibility. Let us get everything except the tax cut for the rich, and don"t br tough on Wall Street. I used to be proud of the Republican party, however they have been taken over by extream radicals.

[report comment]

Robert of GA @ Sep 28, 2010 16:17:10 PM

Who is Irresponsible?ALL of them. All of us. Obama is being blamed for the lack of success of his programs (if not making it worse) and for where his policies or proposed policies are headed - and that is worse by most peoples opinions. Republicans didn't control Congress the second half of Bush, and the Democrats were the party of "No" before that when they weren't the majority, so you can't put all the blame to Republicans. And as far as the goof-ups, all are to blame, but it was liberal policies and politicians in housing and Fannie and Freddie that started this mess - where is that admission? Any move to reign that in and you were against the poor or a racist... Social Security is already broke, the money is NOT there. Face it - we are going to work longer and get less, or else no one gets anything. If not - how do you propose to pay for that? If they are taking it out of your left pocket to put in your right - you aren't really getting anymore. And that is a trick they have been using for nearly a century. And another - forget tax "rates" - look at the numbers, they are collecting more than ever, and the "rich" are paying more than ever, and more as a percentage than ever. It's simple - it's not that there aren't enough taxes being collected (2.5 trillion last I checked), it's that they are spending too much - and no matter what they collect - or from whom they collect it - they ALWAYS spend more than they collect. You complain about "adding" $4 trillion to the deficit - well where is your complaint of the already proposed $10 trillion deficit by Obama? (Why wouldn't that be a $6 trillion deficit instead of "adding" another $4 trillion to the $10 trillion - you see how they manipulate us?) Yes we have to pay for our government, but there is the rub - what should be our governments proper role and responsibility - and the vast majority of Americans believe it has gone too far, and now we are going to pull it back. Republicans, Democrats, House, Senate, President - it doesn't matter, if you aren't going to be for less spending and shrinking government, you are going to be out on your ear.

[report comment]

Balance the Budget of OH @ Sep 28, 2010 16:03:28 PM

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