Republicans Make "A Pledge to America"

In 1994, the Republican Party offered a list of promises it would keep if it took control of Congress in that year's mid-term elections. "The Contract with America" got a great deal of credit for giving the GOP control of both houses of Congress for the first time in decades. Today, the Republicans have issued "A Pledge to America" that that is designed to do the same thing. It is full of half-baked ideas, promises that opposition parties can make because they can not keep them. Yet worse from the Republican leadership's point of view, some serious people on the right think it's nonsense.

On healthcare, the GOP vows to repeal "Obamacare" and replace it with medical savings accounts, high risk pools and curbs on malpractice suits. This won't happen unless they can override the president's veto (meaning they would need 67 senators; they currently have 41). On government reform, they vow to post bills online, cite the constitutional underpinnings of every law enacted, and to pass one bill at a time rather than massive omnibus bills. This won't happen unless there is no opposition party. On spending, they want to halt federal hiring, cut the Congressional budget, halt all TARP and stimulus spending, and reduce government waste. This won't happen for two reasons; first, they'd need 67 senators, and the GOP has no track record of cutting spending so they are likely to continue their old borrow and spend habits. Their ideas on national security are opaque, so one cannot really comment on them.

What will be the big issue of the campaign from the Republican point of view is the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. The Republicans want to extend them for everyone for a couple of years. The Democrats are willing to extend them for everyone who makes less than $250,000 a year (the other 2% of the population would see their taxes rise a couple of percent). The tax cuts expire December 31. The new (possibly Republican-controlled) Congress gets sworn in during January. This means, the GOP would have to pass new legislation (and face a Democratic filibuster unless there are 60 GOP senators) and get Mr. Obama's signature or override his veto (that 67th senator again) to keep the tax cuts for the richest.

Parties issue impractical proposals like this all the time. The Green and Libertarian Parties put out platforms all the time, and no one expects them to be enacted. The documents act as statements of political philosophy in action, were those parties in a position to act. The "Pledge" is the same, but it falls flat to a great many conservatives. While the preamble talks of banning federal funding for abortions (which already exists) and of defending "traditional marriage," it is more or less silent on gay marriage, don't ask don't tell, school prayer and other matters close to social conservatives' hearts.

Erick Erickson of RedState.com (who is to the right of Franco) has dubbed it "The Illusion with America." He wrote this morning, "It is dreck -- dreck with some stuff I like, but like Brussels sprouts in butter. I like the butter, not the Brussels sprouts. Overall, this grand illusion of an agenda that will never happen is best spoken of today and then never again as if it did not happen. It is best forgotten."

It is one thing for a policy document from a right wing party to receive poor reviews from leftists, progressives, liberals and skeptics. It is quite a more serve category of failure when the document disappoints its base that badly. There are still 40 days to go before the election; perhaps a complete re-write is still possible.

© Copyright 2010 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.

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