Republicans to release their “Pledge to America” on Thursday

  Taking a cue from Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” from the 1990’s, the Republicans are set to release their new “Pledge to America” tomorrow. The full text of the pledge–which I have skimmed through, but have not read thoroughly yet– can be read here, but below is some of the highlights.

Jobs:

– Stop job-killing tax hikes

– Allow small businesses to take a tax deduction equal to 20 percent of their income

– Require congressional approval for any new federal regulation that would add to the deficit

– Repeal small business mandates in the new health care law.

Cutting Spending:

– Repeal and Replace health care

– Roll back non-discretionary spending to 2008 levels before TARP and stimulus (will save $100 billion in first year alone)

– Establish strict budget caps to limit federal spending going forward

– Cancel all future TARP payments and reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Reforming Congress:

– Will require that every bill have a citation of constitutional authority

– Give members at least 3 days to read bills before a vote

Defense:

– Provide resources to troops

– Fund missile defense

– Enforce sanctions in Iran

  There are certainly some good ideas in this pledge; rolling back spending to 2008 levels, tax cuts, reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, repealing healthcare reform, stopping the bailouts, ending TARP (which if I am not mistaken is set to expire in October anyway), and requiring a document that shows where the constitutional authority lies to pass any bill that is introduced in the future, to name a few.

  There is also a pledge to bring change and transparency to government and allowing senators three days to read every bill before they vote on it. Again good ideas, but they are promises that Barack Obama also made and we know how that turned out. I guess we just have to hope that the Republicans–if elected–will be more honest with the American people than Barack Obama was when he was trying to get elected.

  The questions are; is this just pre election posturing or will the Republicans be true to their word?  Did they learn their lesson since they have been thrown out of power? 

  This pledge is an aggressive agenda and it is highly unlikely that they would be able to pass most of it in one election cycle, especially when they will probably not have enough votes to override a presidential veto. But it is imperative that they at least try to make good on these promises. If they do not make an hosest effort to implement this agenda the American people will see through it, for we are waking up more and more everyday and we are not going to stand for it anymore.

  Republicans need to understand that the American people are fed up with the Congress as a whole and are not necessarily suddenly pro-Republican– as is evidenced by the number of Tea Party sponsored “outsider” candidates who have beaten “establishment” Republicans, much to the chagrin of people like Karl Rove, who simply still doesn’t get what this movement is about–the American people are simply not going to take them at face value. If the Republicans think that because they are returned to power they can simply rest on their laurels they are sadly mistaken. If the American people give the Republicans the opportunity to reign in the Obama regime they had better make the best of it or angry voters will simply turn on them also. The Republicans need to earn our trust.

  Again, there are some good ideas in this pledge but this had better be more than just pre-election posturing because we will be watching, and if these Republicans fail us we will vote them out also!

  The time for real change is now! There can be no more delay, it has taken us years to get to this low point in America and it will take years to right the ship. But we must start now and this pledge is a good starting point.