Posted on 11/07/2005 2:09:35 PM PST by mdittmar
The Republican Revolution refers to the triumph of Republicans in the 1994 US interim elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats for the GOP in the House of Representatives, and a pickup of eight seats in the Senate. Republicans successfully defended all thirteen GOP-held Senate seats up for election; but even more significant was the fact that the Republicans had not held the majority in the House for forty years, since the 83rd Congress (elected in 1952).
Although this is subject to debate, the election results have been widely attributed to a sense on the part of the American people that the previous two years of undivided government had shifted the country too far leftward. Indeed, even Democratic President Bill Clinton would eventually concede in his January 1996 State of the Union Address, "The era of big government is over." Nonetheless, later that same year, Republicans would fail to unseat President Clinton in the national election, suggesting to some at the time that Americans were simply wary of entrusting a single party with the reins of power.
After being sworn in, House Republicans voted former Minority Whip Newt Gingrich – the chief architect of their historic victory and author of the Contract with America – Speaker of the House, while the new senatorial Republican majority chose Bob Dole, previously Minority Leader, as Majority Leader. With their newfound power, Republicans pursued an ambitious agenda in accordance with their conservative beliefs, but were often forced to compromise with President Clinton, who wielded veto power.
For the first time in 40 years, the Republican Party wins control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate in midterm congressional elections. Led by Representative Newt Gingrich of Georgia, who subsequently replaced Democrat Tom Foley of Washington as speaker of the House, the empowered GOP united under the "Contract with America," a 10-point legislative plan to reduce federal taxes, balance the budget, and dismantle social welfare programs established during six decades of mostly Democratic rule in Congress.
Gingrich's House of Representatives, home to the majority of the Republican freshmen, led the "Republican Revolution" by passing every bill incorporated in the Contract with America--with the exception of a term-limits constitutional amendment--within the first 100 days of the 104th Congress.
"We were hired to do a job and we have to start today to prove we'll do it."
(U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C., January 4, 1995)
On January 4, 1995, for the first time in forty years, Congress convened with the Republican Party in control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. At the heart of the "Republican Revolution"--as the November 1994 election that brought the party to power was known--was the "Contract With America," a ten-point legislative plan to cut federal taxes, balance the budget, reduce social welfare programs, and increase congressional efficiency. The platform was spearheaded by Representative Newt Gingrich of Georgia, the House minority whip who replaced Democrat Tom Foley of Washington as House speaker on January 4. With little apparent irony, Speaker Gingrich promised a flurry of congressional activity not seen since 1933, when the Democratic-controlled 73rd Congress passed Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal into law. Within the first 100 days of the 104th Congress, Gingrich's House of Representatives succeeded in passing every bill incorporated into the Contract With America, with the exception of a term-limits constitutional amendment. However, with a democratic president in the White House, the Senate altered a number of these bills considerably before President Bill Clinton agreed to sign them into law.
I miss it.
I came to school the next day and all of my liberal teachers were mortified. I loved it!
And, as with the British treatment of Winston Churchill, the Republican revolution's beneficiaries repaid its prime mover, Newt Gingrich, with blue-nosed ignominy.
I was 10 years old at the time. I can only enjoy it vicariously through the Rush Limbaugh CNN show archives!
Frightening colorization. That's really something.
That is something else.
And the Revolution was brought to you by the best the left can throw up: Hilary Clinton. With her bid for President in 08, we can expect 10 more years.
The MSM never recalls what a political disaster Hillary care was.
Is that Ted Turner hiding in those bushes?
http://www.abrahamlincolnartgallery.com
It completely blew my mind the first time I saw it, for example the one gray hair in Lincolns beard.. It looks like he examined the hell out of every pixel and judged what was the best color...Here is the entire pic... 
It`s amazing, but like a friend of mine was saying, we still live in a time where all we have for our past history is primitive photograpy. 200 years from now people will be looking at digital photos that will look like they were taken yesterday.
I remember those days well...there was a story that Boris Yeltsin saw Newt's picture on the cover of TIME magazine and thought there had been a coup (I wish) and even called Washington to find out if Bubba was still President!
Wow. Lincoln looks so old in his photographs, even though I believe he was only 50 or so when he was elected...the fact that he was able to maintain his legendary good humor and disposition, not to mention his dignity, during one of the most trying periods in American history, is a testament to his character.
We have Ross Perot to thank for the Republican Revolution, too. His appeal based on reducing spending and the size and responsibility of government, etc. resulted in the defeat of George H.W. Bush. Perot forced the issues that were important to grass roots Americans and gave Republicans ideas to run with. Clinton and his fellow 'Rats were so far to the left the choice to elect Republicans and their "Contract with America" was a no-brainer. We need another election-wrecking Perot to get conservatism back on track.
You want to see something really frightening, if you have a photo editor, flip that photo into a mirror image where Lincoln is facing east.
In a mirror image he looks just like someone you would see on the Bowery, he looks like a crack head. This is the image Lincoln saw everytime he looked in the mirror.
If he ran today, Lincoln wouldn`t even win an election for McDonalds hamburger flipper never mind President.. It just goes to show how looks are really meaningless. Back then everyone was basically blind to that as all you had was drawings and descriptions of candidates in the papers. Today you get whole elections based on whether someone looks like Tom Cruise or not or even Elvis. I mean just think about that, the majority of women voted for Clinton based solely on his looks. My own MOTHER told me that! She actually voted for that guy because he "is a good looking guy".. that is some scary stuff.
If you don't have it,get a copy of
Author; Paul M Angle
I will..Please don`t tell me that is the book that claims he was gay?
And the picture is great too, for all that he looks like he's got coal dust in his eye sockets.
Many years ago I was in a library looking for books on President Lincoln and saw one titled "The Democrat Lincoln" by Mario Cuomo!
Talk about trying to rewrite history.
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