While I like the idea of listing what they will work for I see a new contract as a loser unless your party has the Presidency. They don’t need both houses, just one, but if things are not signed into law then they are worthless.

McQ – Any suggestions?

Oh, yeah…

— An unequivocal statement of support for our Constitution, our traditions of liberty, the rule of law, the free market economy, individual responsibility and achievement, and American exceptionalism.

— An unequivocal statement that the government exists to serve the people, uphold the rule of law, and protect our nation from foreign aggression, not to order or structure their lives or turn them into wards of the state.  To this end, our Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to limit its potential for corruption and abuse.  The pledge should explicitly state that the “general welfare” clause of the Constitution does not give the government power to appropriate or spend funds for the benefit of any individual American or group of individual Americans.

— A pledge and plan to rebuild our military and intelligence forces not only to defeat al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations but also any other threat or potential threat to our national interests.  This will include explicit statements that we will have the best military force in the world; that we will provide the finest training and equipment to our military and intelligence forces; and that America will accept nothing short of victory in war. 

— A pledge and plan to reduce the size and intrusiveness of the federal government by eliminating departments, agencies, laws, regulations and programs that have no explicit basis in the powers enumerated in Constitution.

— A pledge and a plan to eliminate federal budget deficits and eliminate our national debt by 2050, by constitutional amendment if necessary.

— A pledge and a plan to simplify the legislative process by eliminating “omnibus” bills and generally reducing the size and scope of any bill by requiring that all legislation be read in full and in a single sitting of the Congress prior to voting.  All members of Congress will be required to be present in the chamber during the entire reading unless excused for illness.

— A pledge and a plan to require all members of Congress to vote “yea” or “nay” on all pieces of legislation unless excused from voting due to illness.

—  A pledge and a plan to enhance the transparency of the government by requiring that all bills under consideration by the Congress be available in writing and in searchable electronic form for one full week prior to voting except in cases of national emergency.

— A pledge and plan to enact laws strengthening penalties for corruption on the part of federal elected officials and a transfer of the investigation of charges of corruption or other malfeasance from congressional committees to the Department of Justice.  This will include an explicit statement that corruption is an individual crime that will be punished under the rule of law, not a collective problem that will be “eliminated” by trampling or limiting or regulating the rights of the American people.

— A pledge and plan to reduce taxes and simplify the tax code, eliminating the brackets, credits, and other devices that allow increasing numbers of people to avoid paying federal income taxes.  This pledge will include a promise that any new taxes, including tax increases, rate increases, penalties, fines, or other devices to raise money for the federal government must be approved by 2/3 majorities of both houses of Congress and approval by the president.

— A pledge and plan to reduce the federal government’s role in the health care system and the economy in general to eliminate its ability to distort the market or allow politicians to favor or punish various people and groups.

— A pledge and a plan to eliminate the federal government’s role in labor relations to one of enforcing interstate contracts or providing arbitrators WHEN ASKED BY BOTH PARTIES in a labor dispute.  

— A pledge and plan to enact laws regarding the capture, interrogation, prosecution and punishment of terrorist suspects and other unlawful combatants.  This plan should include and explicit statement that foreigners committing acts of war / terrorism against the United States are NOT to be considered common criminals entitled to constitutional protections.

— A pledge and plan to eliminate the federal government’s ability to interfere with the First Amendment right to free speech by interference or regulation of broadcast media, the internet, or any other means of communication.

— A pledge and plan to eliminate special perks given to members of Congress, including elimination of special Congressional retirement plans and medical benefits.  Members of Congress shall be responsible for providing for their own health care and retirement.

The devil will be in the details, of course, but if the Congress can do these things AND WE MAKE SURE THAT THEY DO, then I think it’ll make a very good start toward getting our country back on the track our Founding Fathers intended.

We can come up with a nice list of things, but I’m skeptical that it will do any good. No such items will be enacted without boldness and the completely willingness to face up to Obama and tell him he gets nothing – nothing at all – until he gives some ground on those items. I don’t think the current GOP, even with some new blood, is up to the boldness required.

Obama may not be much like George Bush in most respects, but he is stubborn, especially about his religious faith, i.e., collectivism. So he’ll fight until and maybe beyond the point where his re-election is in serious jeopardy. I don’t think he will bend the way Clinton did and actually do something productive like welfare reform.

The result is an impasse, where nothing much gets done. Establishment Republicans will be scared to death of such a result, because those meanies at the New York Times and the Washington Post will do their darndest to blame it all on the Republicans. Newt Gingrich will tell them how he got screwed by the media, and counsel them to be more flexible. Bill Frist will explain to those fire-breathing new representatives that he was once like them but he had to bend to reality, etc. etc. ad nauseum.

I personally don’t believe those arguments should carry much weight. The media landscape is vastly different from 1994, and mistrust of government has grown dramatically. I think Republicans would be rewarded in 2012 for standing firm. But they certainly won’t be hearing that from lobbyists, the media, grand old men of the party, or their own political consultants.

Of course, that group comprises the same people who encouraged Bush the Elder to go back on his “Read my lips” pledge, and got us George Bush the Younger’s Compassionate Conservatism (which is very hard to distinguish from Compassionate Collectivism, at least for me). That group is determined to ignore that the biggest successes for the Republicans in the last fifty years are when they unabashedly stand up for limited government. Reagan did it best and was re-elected in a landslide.

Though it’s impossible for blithering idiot political science professors cosseted in faculty lounges to see, there is a critical mass of people in the United States who are ready for a signicant change. If the GOP has the courage to effect that change, they will come out in control for a long time. If they don’t, we’ll be back to effective one-party-with-two-factions rule, we’ll continue to see expansion of government and even worse expansion of debt, and the next debt crisis will be far worse than 2008.