Appearing sans neckties, House Republicans showed up at a lumber company in Sterling, Virgnia, where they released their 21 item agenda if they were to take over the House in November, in an attempt to rebuke complaints from Democrats and others that they are simply of the Party of No.
The big sexy features include repealing the federal health care law – which is doubtful to happen next year since it would require the signature of the President but could with a GOP president in 2012 – as well as stop t any additional spending under the TARP program and the stimulus plan. It also calls for the end to government control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The document also lists giving small businesses a tax deduction equal to 20% of their business income. It would also require congressional approval for any regulation that "has an annual cost of over $100 million or more. And it would make government programs terminate on a specific date unless extended by Congress (You can read a good sense of all of their plans with analysis from the Washington Post, and read Jonathan Allen of Politico analyze the actual chance of any of the GOP's plans actually happening here) .
Though it may never become more famous than Newt Gingrich and company's Contract With American from 1994, it's actually a more specific document, and in touching on the health care plan and the stimulus, reflecting what polls say are major programs that have yet to resonate positively with the American public.
The reviews have been harsh from some quarters, including those most conservative. From Red State, blogger Eric Erickson wrote:
It's dreck — dreck with some stuff I like, but like Brussels sprouts in butter. I like the butter, not the Brussels sprouts. Overall, this grand illusion of an agenda that will never happen is best spoken of today and then never again as if it did not happen. It is best forgotten.
This article appears in Sep 23-29, 2010.