Contract From America

[70Chip]

FYI, the original Contract with America was conceived by Newt Gingrich, not Nancy Pelosi.

[Trample the Elderly]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

FYI, the original Contract with America was conceived by Newt Gingrich, not Nancy Pelosi.

He should've written Contract on America.

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

FYI, the original Contract with America was conceived by Newt Gingrich, not Nancy Pelosi.

Thanks, not sure where i got the idea Pelosi put it together?

[tryfuhl]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

While it could be a backlash against both parties, their views, "principles", and rhetoric are mainly aligned with Republican ideology. There's no question about that. I would also ask myself, where was the Tea Party when the previous administration grew the size of government, passed legislation (namely Medicare Part D) without paying for it, and funded the Iraq war almost entirely through debt and budgetary supplements? All of which added significantly to the current deficit. So for them to suddenly come out and rail against big governement, the ballooning deficit, and universal healthcare is curious at best.

On a separate but somewhat related note, it appears as though Sarah Palin is making her bed with the Tea Party, which is just fine by me. The only problem -- a major problem -- with that strategy is that at some point she's going to have to tact to the middle on some issues be considered a serious candidate.

Great question. The tax cuts + increased spending definitely didn't do us any favors.

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

While it could be a backlash against both parties, their views, "principles", and rhetoric are mainly aligned with Republican ideology. There's no question about that. I would also ask myself, where was the Tea Party when the previous administration grew the size of government, passed legislation (namely Medicare Part D) without paying for it, and funded the Iraq war almost entirely through debt and budgetary supplements? All of which added significantly to the current deficit. So for them to suddenly come out and rail against big governement, the ballooning deficit, and universal healthcare is curious at best.

On a separate but somewhat related note, it appears as though Sarah Palin is making her bed with the Tea Party, which is just fine by me. The only problem -- a major problem -- with that strategy is that at some point she's going to have to tact to the middle on some issues be considered a serious candidate.

I honestly think it is a backlash against both parties. I think while GW was in office during his second term, there was a sense of you cant really do anything right now except wait for him to leave. There was a lot of disgust and outrage by republicans while he was in during his second term because of the over spending, privacy intrusions, and his foreign policy intervention.

I think the start of the Tea Party stuff can be linked to Ron Paul's success during the Republican primary's. Because he was saying so many things that resonated with Goldwater type Republicans. I also think that by some states banning his participation during the primaries (i think S. Caroline), and by conservative media personalities largely dismissing him it helped flame the fire.

So while nowadays the Tea Party movement can be called a backlash against Obama's spending spree and socialist ideology i think it all started as a backlash against the Republicans because they embraced what GW was doing and offered GW Jr. type candidates for the 2008 election, all the while dismissing a fiscally conservative and socially liberal candidate that struck a cord with Goldwater Republicans and young people.

[tryfuhl]

Exactly mlmpetert, that's why I'm still very cautious.

[tryfuhl]

Every dept of the government should find ways and submit reports on how they can help the overall budget reduce

Everything from less expensive furniture, travel and entertainment expenses, etc

If we expect it from the banks that we bail out, we should expect it from the fed that we're bailing out as well.. states shouldn't be exempt either

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by tryfuhl

Every dept of the government should find ways and submit reports on how they can help the overall budget reduce

Everything from less expensive furniture, travel and entertainment expenses, etc

If we expect it from the banks that we bail out, we should expect it from the fed that we're bailing out as well.. states shouldn't be exempt either

The way the goverment budgets money has to be changed first before we can expect them to save any money. They reward spending and punish saving. For example if a goverment department has a budget of 1 milion and at the end of the year they have only spent $800,000 then their next year budget is $800,000 plus a % for inflation. Now if they spent the entire 1 million then their following budget would be 1 million plus a % for inflation. There is no incentive to cut cost. We need some type of incentive or bonus plan for people who can find ways to cut cost. I say just cut every program by a certain % and they will learn to make do on what they have. We have to start somewhere but no one wants there program cut so start by cutting all of them first.

[tryfuhl]

Originally Posted by firstdown

The way the goverment budgets money has to be changed first before we can expect them to save any money. They reward spending and punish saving. For example if a goverment department has a budget of 1 milion and at the end of the year they have only spent $800,000 then their next year budget is $800,000 plus a % for inflation. Now if they spent the entire 1 million then their following budget would be 1 million plus a % for inflation. There is no incentive to cut cost. We need some type of incentive or bonus plan for people who can find ways to cut cost. I say just cut every program by a certain % and they will learn to make do on what they have. We have to start somewhere but no one wants there program cut so start by cutting all of them first.

Exactly, which is why finding a better operating budget is important. Making them fit within a guideline would be fine.

I have a friend whose aunt works for a state agency in VA and to keep their budget up they replace their entire office carpet and some furniture every single year. Something tells me that if you need to spend all of your budget just to keep it, you didn't really need it, so I more than agree with you.

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by tryfuhl

Exactly, which is why finding a better operating budget is important. Making them fit within a guideline would be fine.

I have a friend whose aunt works for a state agency in VA and to keep their budget up they replace their entire office carpet and some furniture every single year. Something tells me that if you need to spend all of your budget just to keep it, you didn't really need it, so I more than agree with you.

That scenario is not only commonplace in any agency that receives Gov't funding, it's the standard.

Infuriating. There are ALWAYS frivilous spending sprees in December so their next year of appropriations won't be reduced.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by tryfuhl

Every dept of the government should find ways and submit reports on how they can help the overall budget reduce

Everything from less expensive furniture, travel and entertainment expenses, etc

If we expect it from the banks that we bail out, we should expect it from the fed that we're bailing out as well.. states shouldn't be exempt either

Last year the President ordered such a review from Cabinet members and each government agency. It was met with skepticism, but at least he's trying to address the issue.

Analysis: Obama saving money the easy way - White House- msnbc.com

[tryfuhl]

Yeah that's just one tiny example of many no doubt, definitely disgusting.

[mlmpetert]

I got this email the other day and thought others may be interested:

Have your Representatives Signed the Contract fromAmerica?


Thank you all so much for taking part in our initiative to achieve real economic conservative and good governance reform in D.C. Our launch on April 15th was very successful, and in the last week, a number of candidates and elected officials signed the Contract fromAmerica, including Sen. DeMint (R-SC) and Utah Senate Candidate Mike Lee. However, we need YOUR help to successfully convince elected officials and candidates that they need to listen and follow our mandate.

Below are a series of activities you (and your membership if you are the leader of a grassroots organization) can do to make a real difference in this grassroots effort...

Get Candidates/Elected Officials to Sign the Document

1.) Call the members of Congress in your district and surrounding districts, as well as your Senator and candidates for Congress/Senate of all parties. Ask them to sign the Contract from America (which you can send to them by email, by cutting and pasting the Contract at www.contractfromamerica.orgor faxing/mailing them a pdf version of the contract at www.contractfromamerica.org/documents. Give them 2-3 days to review and then call again, asking if they will sign. If they say yes, have them return a signed copy of the Contract from America to you, which you should email to us. In addition, ask if they will take a photo of the signing or a video statement of support, which we will put on our website. Please let us know if an Elected Official/Candidate signs or says that they will not sign by sending us an email.

2.) If you are a director of a coalition group, and a candidate/elected official chooses to sign, you should request they send out a press release, and you should send a press release as well, with your name as the media contact person. A template for such a press release is available to download at www.contractfromamerica.org/documents. Again, please let us know if a candidate/elected official decides to sign.

3.) You can find the various candidates/elected officials in your district and State on this site: Politics1 - American Politics, Elections, Candidates & Campaigns. Most of the candidates' websites (where you can get contact info, etc.) are linked to that page.

Other Things you Can Do

1.) Write an op-ed/letter to the editor to your local newspaper. We will have a template op-ed which you can use and modify as you wish up soon at www.contractfromamerica.org/documents. You should mention in your letter that Sen. DeMint has signed the Contract, and that your congressman/candidates should follow in his grassroots conservative footsteps.

2.) VOLUNTEER! If you have some available time and would like to help us, please let us know. For this project to be a success, we need the help of thousands of people. Please let us know via email if you would like to assist.

3.) Call-in to your local talk radio show and discuss how congressmen in your area and state need to sign the Contract fromAmerica.

4.) Sign the Contract yourself at Contract From America and forward the link to your family, friends, and co-workers, for them to sign as well. Recruit your membership and others to make calls to the candidates and elected officials.

5.) Donate to our cause. Please click here if you wish to donate $5 or an amount of your choosing.


Thank you all for being part of this grassroots, bottom-up initiative. We will update you with further action items in the upcoming weeks and months.

Regards,

The Contract fromAmerica team
---------------------


Visit the Contract fromAmerica website at Contract From America for details.
Please also join our Facebook group at Contract from America | Facebook. Follow us on Twitter by clicking here.

[mlmpetert]

Okay it looks like the 10 with the most votes are:

Protect the Constitution
Reject Cap & Trade
Demand a Balanced Budget
Enact Fundamental Tax Reform
Restore Fiscal Responsibility & Constitutionally Limited Government
End Runaway Government Spending
Defund, Repeal, & Replace Government-run Health Care
Pass an ‘All-of-the-Above” Energy Policy
Stop the Pork
Stop the Tax Hikes

[mlmpetert]

I really wanted "Protect Internet Freedom" and either “Government Transparency” or “Let us Watch”.

Are any of these 10 principles all that demanding? Kind of shocking most of them are blown off in the first place.