“If we break this Contract, throw us out.”
12 years ago those were the words told to us by over 367 Republican members of the House of Representatives and candidates who pledged to “restore the bonds of trust between the people and their elected representatives.” by signing the infamous “Contract with America”.
Now, 12 years later, I thought it might be interesting to take a quick look as how they are living up to the contract.
Here are the 8 major reforms listed in the contract:
FIRST, require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress.
SECOND, select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse;
THIRD, cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third;
FOURTH, limit the terms of all committee chairs;
FIFTH, ban the casting of proxy votes in committee;
SIXTH, require committee meetings to be open to the public;
SEVENTH, require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase;
EIGHTH, guarantee an honest accounting of our Federal Budget by implementing zero base-line budgeting.
12 years later.. what do we have?
FIRST, the most corrupt congress in modern history. Tom Delay, Bob Ney, Mark Foley, Duke Cunningham, the list goes on and on. Whether it be fraud, selling votes, hitting on pages, or bribes, these guys are breaking records on fraud and abuse in Congress.
SECOND, in the past 12 years our Federal Debt has Exploded from $3.5 Trillion to $8.5 Trillion dollars. So much for fiscal responsiblity. Saying the Republicans of the past 12 years are fiscally responsible is a work of fiction. $300 millon dollar Bridges to nowhere, “ear marks”, and endless pork is the legacy of this congress.
THIRD, much of their contract is about accountability, allowing the public to know what’s happening in Washington, or having “Independent Auditors” and so on. This Congress is a sham when it comes to accountability. They’re totally the opposite, they refuse to hold George W. Bush accountable for Iraq, they rubberstamp his policies, they refuse to launch ethics investigations on other Republicans in congress, they refuse to investigate the fraud and wasted billions in Iraq. This congress is a sad joke when it comes to accountability.
One week from today America has a chance to decide, has the contract been broken? And will these guys be thrown out on their ass?
Or are we looking at more business as usual?
Stay tuned.
Gerald Stallings — On 10-31-2006 at 2:36 pm
They broke this contract years ago, and are long overdue to be fired. I just can’t believe it took so long.
Harriet — On 10-31-2006 at 5:12 pm
It’s been more like the “Contract On America”
Albert — On 10-31-2006 at 6:06 pm
Hullo,
Good concept — but don’t act like it’s a republican problem. it’s systemic.
Oh right, no democrat fraud. No democrat waste.
At least they got the taxes right! And anyone who can argue against it on an economic basis, gets a shiny nickel. Anyone who uses “tax cuts for the rich” needs to look at who actually still pays the taxes.
Porter Venn — On 10-31-2006 at 6:24 pm
Yea Albert, I got my $300, 5 years ago.. .woo hoo… No thanks, I would rather our country be solvent than have the $300. And of course, I didnt get the HUGE tax breaks like the top 1% did. And you’re right, fraud has historically happened in every party, however it was the Republicans who created a “contract” that stated they would get rid of fraud, and if they failed to do so we should “throw them out.” Ok.. so they failed, miserably actually, so lets “throw them out” Good Riddence to Bad Rubbish as Aurora says.
Jedi Master Spock — On 10-31-2006 at 8:47 pm
It was a PR ploy.
restless — On 11-2-2006 at 7:26 am
They actually incorporated more fraud into the system not got rid of it. I’m reading “Hostile Takeover” right now and the first chapter deals with the tax issue. Tax cuts for the rich impoverish us as a country and do nothing to help the economy. More on this later this week. . .
Joesrant — On 11-14-2006 at 8:14 pm
The contract with America was not accepted by the government and to be a joke during the Clinton administration and by the way it take 8-12 years for the work of our government to change the economy (which the way our economy is just starting to rock ‘n roll) with out selling our oil reserves or selling nuke tech to the Chinese so or our military, please people take the wool from over your eyes the liberal media has been weaving for 12 years since they lost their power….
Porter Venn — On 11-14-2006 at 10:01 pm
LOL… “Liberal Media” He must mean Faux news? Or maybe he’s talking about all those Liberals like Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Reilly? Oh wait.. I know, he’s talking about the “liberal media” that gave Bush a free friggin pass for 6 years, including turning the other way when any American with an ounce of brains knew the WMD BS in Iraq was just that, pure BS… oh yea….. that liberal media allright. These morons won’t give up. Sorry Joesrant… America woke up a little while ago, and then last week they gave you Right-Wing Wackos the middle finger. Bye bye.
Net Crap (11/3) « Musings of a Chicagoan — On 1-31-2007 at 10:29 pm
[…] Look at the Republicans’ 1994 “Contract with America.” Boy, did they screw us up on that one … (tags: politics dumbass neocon) […]