Remember the Contract with America? (More popularly known as the Contract on America in certain quarters.) It was a contract drawn up by Newt Gingrich and signed by GOP candidates as they attempted to win control of the House of Representatives in 1994. After 40 years of control, by 1994 the Democrats had become sickeningly corrupt and the Republicans vowed to clean up Congress and return its power to the people. They did this by promising to do a number of things once they got in power. Well, they’ve been in control of the House over ten years now and in control of both houses of Congress and the White House for over five years. So how much of the Contract with America was ever implemented?
1) The opening salvo of the Contract promised a requirement that all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress.
Well, let’s see. Congress has raised its own pay the last five years. Meanwhile the minimum wage hasn’t been raised for almost ten years! Recently a move was made to raise the minimum wage. Every single Democrat voted in favor; all but four Republicans voted against it.
We recently saw the hackles of lawmakers raised by the specter of FBI agents conducting a search and seizure inside their offices. The most eye-opening aspect of this whole affair was how quickly Republican Senators jumped to the defense of a corrupt Democrat. Perhaps they recognized a kindred soul. More likely is that they feared the setting of a precedent in which the offices of Congressman would have the same laws of criminal justice applied to them that apply to the rest of the country.
Let’s count this one a failure.
2) THE JOB CREATION AND WAGE ENHANCEMENT ACT: Small business incentives, capital gains cut and indexation, neutral cost recovery, risk assessment/cost-benefit analysis, strengthening the Regulatory Flexibility Act and unfunded mandate reform to create jobs and raise worker wages.
In keeping with the motif of helping the average worker, let’s take a look at this promise of the Contract on America…er, I mean the Contract with America. Creating jobs and enhancing wages. That’s an interesting word there, enhancing. They could have said raising wages and that would have been clear, but they chose “enhancing.” From 1994 to 2000, while Bill Clinton was President, this one actually seemed to be a success. During Clinton’s Presidency 10 million new jobs were created. Upon Clinton’s exit and Bush’s appointment to the Presidency, more jobs were lost in America than at any time since the Great Depression. As I pointed out, the minimum wage hasn’t been raised since three years before Clinton left office.
Take a look back up there at the promise again, keeping in mind the words “wage enhancement.” You’ll notice there is very little in the promise about actually creating better paying jobs, but there is a whole lot about restructuring business laws that could potentially create jobs, and there is mention of the favorite target of Republicans to increase wealth: cutting the capital gains. The only problem is that capital gains have nothing to do with wages; the only people who benefit from cutting capital gains are those already making enough money to allow them to invest heavily in stocks and mutual funds.
Actual real wages-the buying power of a person’s money after taxes and living expenses-is at its lowest since the Great Depression. More people may own more gadgets and goodies than ever before, making it seem as though people are better off, but the truth is that most people are only capable of owning those luxury items while also being in debt.
Failure.
3) Allow independent auditing to ensure that Congress cuts down on waste, fraud, and abuse.
Well…sorry, I just threw up in my mouth there. In response to this one I’ll just mention one name: Jack Abramoff. Yeah, I think we’re safe in saying that this particular promise made in the Contract with America was a huge failure.
4) A requirement that Congress live under the same budget constraints as families and businesses, including an amendment to balance the budget.
Hmm. I wonder. How many families succeed by spending over 100% of what they take in each year? Do you? And when you come up with a budget, do you include all the money you plan to spend? Or do you allow for extra spending on the side without including it in the budget. Are you aware that billions of dollars that have been spent on the Iraq war are not technically in the United States’ budget?
Another failure.
5) THE CITIZEN LEGISLATURE ACT: A first-ever vote on term limits to replace career politicians with citizen legislators.
Well, they were right on this one. It was a first-ever vote on term limits for Congressmen and Senators. And it was also a last-ever vote. Going in, they knew they wouldn’t have the votes to get it passed and once it failed they conveniently never brought it up again. Now that they do have the votes to get it passed, it has never once been put on the agenda.
Failure.
6) THE NATIONAL SECURITY RESTORATION ACT: No U.S. troops under U.N. command and restoration of the essential parts of our national security funding to strengthen our national defense and maintain our credibility around the world.
You know, what the US troops are currently doing in Iraq is exactly the same thing that UN troops have been condemned for since it was established. There is no difference. We are in Iraq now simply to keep the peace during a period of nation-building. So, in effect, all we managed to do was cut the UN out of the process; a process that would have resulted in fewer US troops being there and more international troops being there. As for maintaining US credibility around the world…okay, well, I’ll let you mull that one over a for a little bit.
Failure.
7) THE SENIOR CITIZENS FAIRNESS ACT: Raise the Social Security earnings limit which currently forces seniors out of the work force, repeal the 1993 tax hikes on Social Security benefits and provide tax incentives for private long-term care insurance to let Older Americans keep more of what they have earned over the years.
We all know the trouble Social Security is facing and we all know Congress has been choosing the ignore it for a decade. There is no such thing as affordable long term insurance in America and how can older Americans keep more of what they have earned when the price of gas and heating and cooling rises every year and most older Americans are paying out hundreds of dollars a month for medication that the drug lobby-who have a friend in Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist unlike any friend they’ve ever had before-in concert with the insurance lobby ensure remains prohibitively priced. After all, if you need a $25 pill to make sure you live, what choice do you have? Senior citizens have probably been hit harder than any other demographic by the big business policy of the GOP Congress. Well, except for poor young kids who have no choice but to enlist in the military.
Failure.
8) THE COMMON SENSE LEGAL REFORM ACT: “Loser pays” laws, reasonable limits on punitive damages and reform of product liability laws to stem the endless tide of litigation.
What this promise of the Contract with America really sought was to protect big business from being held accountable for making dangerous products. They pointed to outrageously large settlements that had been reported by the media in their usual shallow way, such as the woman who sued McDonald’s for being burned by hot coffee. The response was in line with the GOP desire to protect their monied interests: derision. Well, here’s the facts of that case that you may have missed. For one thing, the woman suffered third degree burns that required a skin graft. For another, McDonald’s coffee was served an average of 20 degrees hotter than other restaurants. For another, McDonald’s had settled over 700 similar cases out of court and had never once conducted studies to determine whether the manner in which they brewed and served coffee was dangerous or could be improved. And finally, regarding the outrageous settlement the woman received: On appeal it was reduced from 2.7 million to less than half a million.
The GOP basically put it in writing that they wanted to restrict the individual’s ability to hold big business accountable. This promise is problematic. If you consider whether they were able to implement their plans, then yes it was a success. If you consider whether that’s a good thing for the average American then it’s another failure.
9) THE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT: Discourage illegitimacy and teen pregnancy by prohibiting welfare to minor mothers and denying increased AFDC for additional children while on welfare, cut spending for welfare programs, and enact a tough two-years-and-out provision with work requirements to promote individual responsibility.
Let me ask you a question. When you were a teenager and things were getting hot and heavy with your boyfriend or girlfriend, did the thought of not receiving financial assistance from the government ever enter into your decision to have sex? This promise of the Contract with America should have been enough to indicate to voters that the GOP was firmly out of touch with reality. If not that, then it should have been enough to indicate that the GOP was manipulating moral concerns to justify their political agenda of taking money away from social programs to use for their own pet projects. Gingrich and the rest of the GOP phonies knew that cutting welfare would in no way discourage teen pregnancy, but they also knew it was a terrific tactic for selling their heartless agenda. As for the whole concept of promoting individual responsibility, perhaps they should start with the leader of their own party, the man in the White House. There should be a sign outside the Oval Office: The Buck Stop Anywhere But Here. Has any President ever had as many fall guys as Bush? From Tenet to Brown, nothing is ever this guy’s fault!
Failure.
The 1994 GOP Contract with America made a lot promises. It kept very few of them. Perhaps that is why it doesn’t like to remind people about it. If the Contract had been implemented and the policies had proven successful in bettering America and American politics you can believe a copy would be in the hands of every Republican candidate during every election. Instead, it has been swept under the rug, ignored, and for all practical purposes forgotten.
If you believe that America is headed in the wrong direction, I urge you seek out a copy of the Contract with America and write a letter to your newspaper reminding people of the promises made by the GOP when they took control of Congress. Gently remind them how the GOP was supposed to clean up the corruption they inherited by bringing up names like Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff. Remind people how many of the Congressmen who will be seeking their 11th term this year arrived in Washington amid promises to limit the number of times a Representative could serve. Remind them how the Republicans promised fiscal responsibility yet have approved record budget deficits ever since Bush took office. The Contract with America was a failure of policy and has left a string of broken promises.
