Posted on 09/24/2022 3:44:09 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Live from Monongahela, Pennsylvania, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy rolled out the GOP agenda to be put in place when Republicans take back control of the House in the November midterm elections. Surrounded by a stage filled with Republican members of the House, including House Republican Whip, Steve Scalise, Republican leaders officially kicked off the roll-out of their “Commitment to America.”
Think back to the days of the Republican Revolution in 1994. That year the midterm elections produced an earthquake in American politics. Voters gave Republicans a net gain of 54 seats in the House of Representatives, and a gain of eight seats in the Senate. For the first time in decades, Republicans held the majority in the House and the Senate. A large part of that upheaval is due to the Contract with America, for which then-Georgia congressman and House Republican whip Newt Gingrich is credited. It was introduced six weeks before that year’s midterm elections and a decision was made by Republicans that they would rally behind a single national program and message instead of campaigning on issues in individual districts. It worked and the Republicans then spent their first months in the majority checking off items listed in the Contract with America.
Fast forward to today. House Republicans are hoping to capture lightning in a bottle again. Will it work in 2022? It’s hard to say. The country is more deeply divided and more equally divided than it was, politically speaking, in 1994. Republicans were desperate in 1994 to gain control of Congress after so many years wandering in the political wilderness. In 2022, Republicans have held majorities in the House and Senate in past cycles. Frankly, though they got off to a good start in the Gingrich years, many Republicans eventually morphed into Democrat-lite. The whole reason that Trump won in 2016 was largely due to the fact that voters had been frustrated for years over a uni-party governance. Too often, Republicans in leadership voted to get along with Democrats. That began to change in the Trump years and now we are where we are. Will voters be inspired by the Commitment to America?
The strategy by Republicans this year has been to punch Democrats over their destructive policies that have created all kinds of crises. The Biden administration has been so incompetent and inept in handling the economy, domestic policy, energy policy, national security, and pretty much anything you can think of that they have provided a target-rich environment for Republicans to criticize. However, elections are about the future, not the past, and voters need a reason to vote for a candidate, or a party. Simply criticizing the current officeholders isn’t enough. Republicans have to give voters a reason to vote for them. This Commitment to America provides a roadmap, should Republicans be as victorious in November as many observers expect.
McCarthy and Scalise and other Republicans speaking in Pennsylvania this morning hammered home the problems that most American households are experiencing. And, they noted that the tone-deaf Democrats voted to approve legislation that allows the hiring of 87,000 additional IRS agents instead of Border Patrol agents. The Biden administration priority is on auditing middle class Americans in hopes of finding additional tax payments to support their expensive spending agenda instead of securing the southern border. That is not the same priority of most voters.
It’s important that Republicans remind voters of things like this.
The Commitment to America promises that Republicans will fight inflation and lower the cost of living, curbing “wasteful government spending that is raising the price of groceries, gas, cars, and housing” as well as increasing take-home pay, creating jobs that pay well, and stabilizing the economy through “pro-growth tax and deregulatory policies.”
Republicans also committed to maximize the production of American-made energy, reduce gas prices, strengthen the supply chain, and end American dependence on China.
In efforts to make the United States a safe nation, the Republicans promised to secure the border, combat illegal immigration, reduce crime, protect public safety, and defend the United States’ national security by supporting troops and investing in an “efficient, effective military.”
Part of the “Commitment to America” also focuses on a “future that’s built on freedom”—including efforts to promote student success and giving parents a say in their children’s education and defending fairness in women’s sports. And as part of this focus on a future that’s built on freedom, lawmakers also promised to confront Big Tech and demand fairness, as well as to help Americans achieve longer, healthier lives.
To hold the government accountable, Republicans promise to uphold free speech, protect the lives of both unborn children and pregnant mothers, and to protect religious freedom and the Second Amendment.
It’s a good start. It will be important for Republican candidates to be able to talk about how these promises will be kept and how it benefits voters. They can’t just toss out generalities, Republicans need leaders who can articulate the message to voters. Gingrich was good at communicating. McCarthy and Scalise are good but they need to up their game. Elise Stefanik is good and should be given the opportunity to connect with as many voters as possible. She’s young, a new mom, and she comes off as someone who knows how voters live their everyday lives.
As I said, it’s a good start. Republicans need to hit the campaign trail and hammer home positive messages on what they plan to do if they win the House back. Oversight and investigations are important to talk to voters about but most want to know what politicians are going to do that affects their everyday lives. Investigate Biden, Inc. as much as they like (and they should) but don’t solely focus on Hunter Biden’s computers. There are plenty of other things to talk about. Joe Biden deserves to be shellacked as badly as Bill Clinton was in 1994. Perhaps more so.
Only to be vetoed ….. uniparty in action
A si.ple law: Repeal every Xiden EO.
The best commitment McCarthy can make to America is that he will stand down in the contest for Speaker of the House. Enough fickle leadership and RINO shenanigans.
RE: Only to be vetoed
Precisely. All we will be getting the next two years is essentially gridlock.
Brandon still holds the veto pen and whoever controls him will pull his strings to stop any laws a Republican Congress present to him.
Since the idea is to bring in money with these new IRS Agents, what will McCarthy do if the increased IRS revenue is needed to assure another 100,000 Ukrainians die fighting Russia? Does he then renege, so that the money will be available to assure the deaths of 100,000 Ukrainians, or does he support the conservatives who DO NOT WANT more IRS agents?
Time will tell.
America has lurched hard left while McCarthy has been in congress. Nothing will change with a Republican majority.
RE: The best commitment McCarthy can make to America is that he will stand down in the contest for Speaker of the House.
If he does stepdown, who do you favor to replace him?
Wow - the GOP leadership is actually trying to fight back - six weeks before the election!
Who saw this coming?
By the way, I read that Liz Cheney just voted for a bill that allows Democrats to keep voting for five days - after the election is over!
Total....effin....BS.
I won’t begin to list the reasons.
“Fast forward to today. House Republicans are hoping to capture lightning in a bottle again. Will it work in 2022?”
If we win, it won’t be because of this weak tea version of the 94 Contract with America. One, it’s lead by that simp McCarthy. Two, it is not nearly as specific... it’s just a bunch of platitudes.
We don’t need someone who made a statement, and had a less senior leader (Cheney) come up and directly contradict him.
Then he let her and Kitzinger go to Pelosi’s committee without the slightest punishment.
He’s too weak as a man. And he lives with Luntz, a prominent homsexual.
I’ll believe it when I see it. Which means I’ll probably never believe it.
Big govt never votes to limit big govt’s power. Not in my lifetime. This IRS expansion is really just a big govt power grab.
Right you are, just like they repealed Obamacare. Does he have a veto proof majority to repeal it, I think not.
All they can do is DEFUND the IRS drastically!!
When I read about this a day or two ago my first thought was that, “Oh yea, he waited till NOW!” He’s going to lurch right when it will hardly matter. To me it’s just an attempt to save his rear or advance his career. We all know his heart isn’t in anything that will help conservative Americans. He’s had plenty of time to demonstrate who he is and what he stands for. Sorry, Kevin. This isn’t exactly a risky move and you are not our hero.
we don’t need Kevin to do this....
a good step would be to watch all of Kari Lake’s game tapes
to see how to handle questions
i have not seen her fumble once
do not accept the false premise in the question
loaded questions are the LEFT’s specialty
they will pick what they consider a vulnerable candidate
play gotcha
and extrapolate the misstep to all of the Republican candidates
be prepared and always be on guard for that “gotcha question”
Sure they will; and I am the queen of England. With this bunch of RINOs like McCarthy, I am not holding my breath.
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