Despite its stated purpose, the vague and cynical “Commitment to America” that top House Republicans unveiled with fanfare last week wasn’t actually intended to tell the country what the GOP would do if it regains power. The party’s list of platitudes revealed more about its intentions than it intended to. The manifesto provides the latest evidence that the party stands for consolidation of its own power — and pretty much nothing else.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s “Commitment” is an unabashed attempt to recapture the midterm momentum similar to what Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., did in 1994 with his “Contract with America,” which helped Republicans win the House that year.
Gingrich’s contract was a list of catchy phrases that appealed to conservative voters’ emotions (most of which, thankfully, never made it into law), but it had the virtue of specificity. For example, it promised to require a three-fifths House majority to pass tax hikes, impose the first-ever term limits on House members, prohibit welfare to minor mothers and pass a balanced-budget amendment. The plan included 10 fully written pieces of legislation addressing fiscal policy, crime, job creation, tort reform, House rules and more.
