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.
but Congress will not be able to pass the nonsense of the past two years
yes they will be on defense until 2024
But. the house funds government.
They can cut the funding..if they have the GUTS to do it that is.
Blah... Blah... Blah...
Do they think we have forgotten their same statements about obamycare... Over & Over & Over & Over again!
You got it.
Yes they can, and it’s not enough. And I don’t know if they have the votes to even do that.
RE: Where have you been? Trump must be the next Speaker.
Good grief. The DOJ will indict him first before that happens ( if it ever will ).
RE: we don’t need Kevin to do this....
But we still need Democrats NOT controlling congress as a forward step.
Yeah. Blah blah blah. He can’t do it and he knows it.
They DON'T! Xiden will threaten to stop SS checks and McCarthy and the rest will roll over and pee like puppies.
Get a Trump or a DeSantis in, and they will pull their balls up between their legs and prance like Nancyboys.
If he was serious about winning l, he would say if Republicans win we only allow bills to come up with one issue. No more thousand page bills passed in the middle of the night. Here are our top issues: get rid of those unneeded IRS agents, build the border wall, etc. just all yes or no votes. No horse trading needed. No pork added. But he won’t, because there’s too much money too be skimmed for politicians.
4 words. BRING BACK THE HUAC.
An empty promise. Biden will veto.
But since the house has the power of the purse, it can refuse to appropriate any money to hire them and prohibit Biden from spending money to hire them.
If they do that, we will know they are serious. Otherwise, it’s just assistant democrat arm waving. Like when they were going to repeal Obamacare first thing.
McCarthy is not a man of principle. It is clear from his actions over the past several years that he is a man of political expediency … of political convenience (i.e., he is nothing more than a damn political hack; a typical “professional politician”.) It is clear that he is not to be trusted, even in matters that go to the heart of defending our Republic, to preserving our Constitution, to honoring his oath. McCarthy is nothing more than a phony (i.e., a political hack; a “professional politician”.)
“Only to be vetoed ….. uniparty in action”
Congress doesn’t have to fund anything.
Veto all you want, but if you don’t have money you can’t pay employees. They won’t stick around.
If these RINOS have any balls, just don’t fund anything, or perhaps don’t fund the GSA at ALL!
Military, Social security,medicare, will still work. but most everything else, even your “essential” personnel can only go so long without income.
Draw the line and hold it till the Democrats starve.
Bingo! Lot's of talk, but no results. The GOP needs to purge itself of RINO's. Until that happens, the uniparty reigns supreme.
How fitting this is from Hot Air.
More nonsense from the stupid party.
It’s going to take 67 Senators and 292 Members of Congress to repeal this, and the last time Congress had majorities like that was 1937.
they need to pull all funding starting with the 87,000 agents.
Sure they will /s.
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