Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010
Return of 'The Contract With America'
Expect more political theater than problem-solving if Republicans win back Congress
The Republicans have announced the forthcoming release
of the "Contract From America"—a set of legislative proposals presumably
intended to replicate the "Contract With America" used by their
leaders in the historic 1994 midterm when they won control of both houses of
Congress.
The question immediately raised by this news is why John Boehner and his colleagues would remind voters of their political descent from the likes of Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay, and the legacy of misconduct, fakery and error that they represent.
They may well believe that most Americans won't remember what Republicans actually did when they regained control of Congress for the first time in decades. Certainly amnesia is a perennial pathology in American politics. But anyone who listens closely to what the Republicans are saying this year should be able to detect the clues suggesting that the more they claim to have changed, the more they remain the same.
During the years of the Gingrich speakership, the most significant activity undertaken by Congress was a long series of investigations of the Bill Clinton White House, the Clinton cabinet, the Democratic Party and anyone remotely associated with the president. Although the Republicans had promised back then to pass the various elements of the Contract With America, the investigative war against the Clintons is what they spent most of their time and effort preparing.
The result was expensive but unedifying, as congressional committees issued thousands of subpoenas seeking to expose such pressing issues as the alleged misuse of the Clinton family’s Christmas card list and rumors of cocaine trafficking at a rural Arkansas airport. These phony probes cost millions of dollars and required hundreds of hours of public hearings, brought to the American people courtesy of Republican leaders who had vowed to curb waste and abuse.
The question immediately raised by this news is why John Boehner and his colleagues would remind voters of their political descent from the likes of Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay, and the legacy of misconduct, fakery and error that they represent.
They may well believe that most Americans won't remember what Republicans actually did when they regained control of Congress for the first time in decades. Certainly amnesia is a perennial pathology in American politics. But anyone who listens closely to what the Republicans are saying this year should be able to detect the clues suggesting that the more they claim to have changed, the more they remain the same.
During the years of the Gingrich speakership, the most significant activity undertaken by Congress was a long series of investigations of the Bill Clinton White House, the Clinton cabinet, the Democratic Party and anyone remotely associated with the president. Although the Republicans had promised back then to pass the various elements of the Contract With America, the investigative war against the Clintons is what they spent most of their time and effort preparing.
The result was expensive but unedifying, as congressional committees issued thousands of subpoenas seeking to expose such pressing issues as the alleged misuse of the Clinton family’s Christmas card list and rumors of cocaine trafficking at a rural Arkansas airport. These phony probes cost millions of dollars and required hundreds of hours of public hearings, brought to the American people courtesy of Republican leaders who had vowed to curb waste and abuse.
Clinton Succeeded Despite Wasteful GOP
Investigations
Now the politicians who may take control of important
House committees next year are poised to repeat the same cartoon version of
government.
Once again, public funds and legislative attention will be devoted to the scourging of federal officers and agencies, for the sole purpose of advancing Republican political fortunes.
They have promised to investigate the Troubled Asset Relief Program (actually signed into law by President Bush), the stimulus program and the implementation of health care reform. No doubt they will find ways to address other obsessions of their base, including the New Black Panther Party and the president's Kenyan heritage. What they will not do is restore full employment, improve health, education and the environment, or repair the nation's balance sheet.
What is new this year is the peculiar kookiness of the Republican candidates, especially those associated with the tea party. The party's new Senate candidate in Delaware, for instance, says that she "dabbled in witchcraft" as a teenager. That is perfectly appropriate for a party that seeks to bring back voodoo economics—promising to achieve a balanced budget at the same time that they insist on permanent tax cuts for the wealthy that will cost at least $2 trillion.
Americans who worry about jobs and deficits should recall the searing congressional debate of 1993, when President Clinton passed his first budget without a single Republican vote. The same figures attacking President Obama now—from Gingrich to Boehner—blasted Clinton for passing "the biggest tax increase in history" and predicted a horrific recession, along with the end of the American way of life.
Instead, the Clinton budget, which raised rates for the wealthiest taxpayers, led to the longest peacetime expansion in history, a series of federal surpluses, and the elevation of working and poor families into the middle class. It was the Bush administration and the Republican Congress that squandered the surplus with lavish tax cuts, pork spending and unnecessary war.
That voters are disappointed by the pace of improvement since the 2008 election is understandable. That they would want to repeat the political experience of the 1990s is mystifying.
2010 Creators.com
Once again, public funds and legislative attention will be devoted to the scourging of federal officers and agencies, for the sole purpose of advancing Republican political fortunes.
They have promised to investigate the Troubled Asset Relief Program (actually signed into law by President Bush), the stimulus program and the implementation of health care reform. No doubt they will find ways to address other obsessions of their base, including the New Black Panther Party and the president's Kenyan heritage. What they will not do is restore full employment, improve health, education and the environment, or repair the nation's balance sheet.
What is new this year is the peculiar kookiness of the Republican candidates, especially those associated with the tea party. The party's new Senate candidate in Delaware, for instance, says that she "dabbled in witchcraft" as a teenager. That is perfectly appropriate for a party that seeks to bring back voodoo economics—promising to achieve a balanced budget at the same time that they insist on permanent tax cuts for the wealthy that will cost at least $2 trillion.
Americans who worry about jobs and deficits should recall the searing congressional debate of 1993, when President Clinton passed his first budget without a single Republican vote. The same figures attacking President Obama now—from Gingrich to Boehner—blasted Clinton for passing "the biggest tax increase in history" and predicted a horrific recession, along with the end of the American way of life.
Instead, the Clinton budget, which raised rates for the wealthiest taxpayers, led to the longest peacetime expansion in history, a series of federal surpluses, and the elevation of working and poor families into the middle class. It was the Bush administration and the Republican Congress that squandered the surplus with lavish tax cuts, pork spending and unnecessary war.
That voters are disappointed by the pace of improvement since the 2008 election is understandable. That they would want to repeat the political experience of the 1990s is mystifying.
2010 Creators.com
You inferior leftists need to come to grips with the fact that there is a conservative revolution that is going to put a screeching halt to the socialist policies of your messiah, lord obama. Damn, it is going to be just a hoot to watch you bozos whining like schoolgirls after November 3rd!
The Republicans are just as bad as the Dems. Its time to get rid of all of the incumbents.who want bigger government, redlstrubtion of the wealth, and earmarks.
Whoa, calm down, Corrina. Take your meds.
Mr. Conason, your neglect of the truth in this fabricated article is no mistake is it sir. First, the "contract" that the '94 Republicans campaigned on was implemented. Their only failure in that term was falling to all the crap the left put forth about them, like having "granny eat dog food." Remember that one? The AARP crowd went nuts. Remember the politics the left played with the "shutting down the government" fiasco? What really was wrong with Congress not passing a bill that was full of pork, when spending would go on as it did from previous terms (as per law), instead the left castigated Newt and his team with lies and fabrications... like usual. Also, the investigations on Clinton only took as long and cost as much as they did because he STALLED them and tried to hide and LIE! The man was IMPEACHED! Get a life you no talent jerk. Not only is your article full of falsehoods and implied mistatements, you lean so far to the left I'm surpised you don't walk in circles.