We Need A 'Born Again' GOP
By Thomas D. Segel
March 25, 2009
The telephone rang again the other night. It was a caller from the Republican National Committee seeking a donation. My response was, "I don't think I am a Republican any longer, because none of you even know what the GOP really believes."
When our elected officials stopped thinking and acting like Republicans they were all on a downhill slide. They started acting like Democrats-Plus, or Socialist-Lites and they not only lost their conservative base, but they alienated the religious right of the party. With every big spending, pork barrel piece of legislation they put their name to, another core value party member dropped support.
A person would need to be brain-dead not to understand what happened to the GOP. When those holding office forgot their pledges to the voting public, they started losing and losing big. When Republican candidates proclaiming to be conservatives spewed out promises out-democrating the Democrats, their campaigns were fated to fail. So, the GOP crashed and burned.
There was only one true glory election for the Republican Party in modern times and that was in 1994. On September 27th of that year, all GOP candidates for the House of Representatives stood on the Capitol steps and signed their Contract with America.
Many of you may not remember the importance of that contract signed 15 years ago. It called for 8 Tenets and 10 Bills.
The Tenets were: First, it required that all laws applying to the American people also applied to Congress. Second, it called for a major independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud and abuse. Third, it cut the number of House committees and cut committee staff by one third. Fourth, it limited the terms of all committee chairs. Fifth, it banned proxy votes in committees. Sixth, it required committee meetings to be open to the public. Seventh, it required a three-fifths majority to pass a tax increase. Eighth, it guaranteed an honest accounting of our Federal budget by implementing zero base line budgeting.
The ten bills in the Contract with America called for: a balanced budget and tax limitation amendment, plus a legislative line-item veto to restore fiscal responsibility to an out of control Congress. There was an anti-crime bill and a truth in sentencing requirement.
The contract advocated a Personal Responsibility Act to discourage illegitimacy and teen pregnancy and to cut spending on welfare programs, including a two years and out provision along with a work requirement to promote individual responsibility.
Child support enforcement, tax incentives for adoption, strengthening the rights of parents in their children's education, stronger child pornography laws, and elderly dependent care tax credits were an important part of the Contract and its planned legislation.
Increased tax credits for children, ending the marriage tax penalty and creation of savings accounts to provide middle class tax relief were detailed.
An important provision of the Contract was that no American troops would ever be under United Nations command. It also restored essential parts of our national security funding to maintain our national defense.
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