"Pledge to America" Unveiled by Republicans (Full Text)

CBS News ^ | Brian Montopoli

[GOPinCa]

House Republicans just released a draft of their legislative agenda for the next Congress, a 21-page "Pledge to America" that they will formally unveil Thursday morning at a Virginia hardware store.

"The need for urgent action to repair our economy and reclaim our government for the people cannot be overstated," the introduction says.

It continues: "With this document, we pledge to dedicate ourselves to the task of reconnecting our highest aspirations to the permanent truths of our founding by keeping faith with the values our nation was founded on, the principles we stand for, and the priorities of our people. This is our Pledge to America."

[Freddd]

It’s a good thing there’s a lot more in the Pledge than that then, eh?

[AvOrdVet]

All of the democrat’s abuse of powers, dereliction of duty and high crimes and misdemeanors are going to come spilling out into the public square!

Ok, now you got me excited!

[don-o]

I scanned the 21 pages and am more than less than impressed.

Say what???

[don-o]

An honest admission, is the first step of corrective measures in just about every aspect of life.

That's Step 1 of any 12 step program, such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Is there ANY doubt that the vast majority of our overlords are addicts?

[Cobra64]

"• Give Small Businesses a Tax Deduction: We will allow small business owners to take a tax deduction equal to 20 percent of their business income."

Weasles... typical compromise on principles.

If they want to spark a recovery, it should have read, "We will eliminate corporate income taxes."

[nesnah]

Sorry. I am expressing my opinion.

[Road Warrior ‘04]

Words without action are useless.
Shut up and act!

Absolutely agree! Nothing needed to be done or said at this time. The dummies were hanging themselves, without any help from the pubbies!

[don-o]

I thought so. I could not understand it. It made no sense. Do you like it or not?

[penelopesire]

Has anyone else been watching the La. judge impeachment hearings on capitol hill on CSPAN? I’ve seen some pretty heavy hitters watching it too. I wonder why? (wink)

[John Valentine]

Could you possibly speak up a bit? I’m having trouble making you out.

Maybe you could use a larger font? Or turn on the “bold”? That might help.

[DBrow]

“We will finally see how they ‘interpretate’ the Constitution.”

Yup, and one of their other planks is to replace one national health plan with another of their own making. Wonder how they’ll justify that on Constitutional grounds?

[DoughtyOne]

Nope! That almost deserves and resounding amen.

[lonevoice]

bfl

[don-o]

What’s this “almost” business? In your heart, you know I’m right!

[muddler]

It’s a good thing there’s a lot more in the Pledge than that then, eh?

It looks and sounds a lot like the last contract with America, that worked out real well for conservatives.

And it is from the GOP, they wouldn't be at all worried about their powerful, good paying jobs would they?

[plain talk]

a bit long-winded though. I liked Newt’s better. It cut to the chase without putting people to sleep.

[DoughtyOne]

Ooookaaay...

AMEN!

Actually I wasn’t sure if you would be offended by my inclusion of a straight-forward religious declaration in jest.

That’s why I mentioned it the way I did.

Take care.

[The Pack Knight]

With common-sense exceptions for seniors, veterans, and our troops, we will roll back government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels, saving us at least $100 billion in the first year alone and putting us on a path to balance the budget and pay down the debt. We will also establish strict budget caps to limit federal spending from this point forward.

I like the idea behind the Pledge in general, and I certainly was glad to see reference to the 10th Amendment, but I was quite underwhelmed by this part.

"Rolling back" spending to levels that already had Americans angry doesn't seem like a very bold pledge. The "common-sense exceptions" provide a rather large loophole as well.

So, basically, they're promising more spending than we saw under a Democrat Congress in 2007-2008. Given the current anti-spending mood in the country, I don't think it's wrong for us to expect more out of the GOP than that.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I would like to see them enact a law that would require congressional approval for ANY regulation that would affect the people outside of the agency proposing it.

[VanDeKoik]

Well, I suppose you cant top perfection.

Save the nation first, work on our prose soon after.