The Contract with America, lead by Newt Gingrich in the 1994 midterm election, was rooted in three core principles: accountability, responsibility, and opportunity. Accountability basically said the government was too big and spent too much. Responsibility said bigger government and federal programs usurped individual responsibility. Opportunity said that it was too hard for most Americans to achieve the American Dream and that needed to be addressed.
In the Contract with America, they proposed 10 pieces of legislation that had at least 60% of American's support and didn't touch controversial issues
1. The Fiscal Responsibility Act: balanced budget/ tax limitation amendment
2. The Taking Back Our Streets Act: an anti-crime package with additional law enforcement
3. The Personal Responsibility Act: prohibited welfare to minor mothers to discourage illegitimacy and teen pregnancy
4. The Family Reinforcement Act: Child Support Enforcement, tax incentives for adoption, strengthening the role of the family overall
5. The American Dream Restoration Act: a tax credit for each child of $500, the repeal of the marriage tax penalty, and American Dream Savings Account for middle class tax relief
6. National Security Restoration Act: No US troops under UN command and more national security funding
7. Senior Citizens Fairness Act: Raise social security earning limit, tax incentives for private long term care insurance, and repeal of tax hike on Social Security
8. The Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act: gains cut and indexation, neutral cost recovery, risk assessment/cost-benefit analysis, strengthening the Regulatory Flexibility Act and unfunded mandate reform to create jobs and raise worker wages
9. The Common Sense Legal Reform Act: "Loser pays" laws, reasonable limits on punitive damages and reform of product liability laws to stem the endless tide of litigation
10. The Citizen Legislature Act: Make the House Budget Committee report to the floor and enact more budget savings
This was very revolutionary because it lead to the first Republican majority in Congress since 1953 and it was the first time specific legislation was being brought up for debate for a midterm election.
Interesting to see how American "contracts" have evolved over time. Our first "constitution" was the fundamental orders of Connecticut, and that was to create organization. Later, this Contract with America was to realize and establish political ideals. I wonder what other documents have been as impactful as these.
ReplyDeleteThis was interesting! I originally thought this was just a fiscal contract, but it is now clear to me that this contract was much more conservative than I originally thought.
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