Republicans have spent the last two years opposing President Obama's plans, but now they are saying yes to a new pledge, the "Pledge To America."
"It's important to try and change the direction the country is headed," said U.S. Representaive Mac Thornberry, (R) Clarendon, via satellite. The 21 pages of the pledge include a pledge to shrink the government, cut taxes, extend the Bush tax cuts, repeal the health care bill, provide for stricter border enforcement, and slash government spending, including the roughly $250 billion in unspent stimulus funds.
"It does not solve all problems, but it does put us on a different path," continued Thornberry. It's a path based on the "Contract with America," the 1994 promise that caused a GOP landslide during the mid-term elections. "The goal of the contract with American was to show voters, here's what the democrats have been doing for the past 40 years, controlling congress, and here the new plan, you elect U.S. Republicans and we'll make all those changes," said Dave Rausch, a political science professor at West Texas A&M University.
But Democrats said these changes are just recycled ideas. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said," "If it sounds familiar, it's because it's the same litany or catalog of failed policies that got us into this mess. Tax cuts for the very rich that cost trillions of dollars. Putting banks and insurance companies back in charge of Wall Street and your health care. You know, I think, I think John Boehner said, and I think most of the American people will see, that this is very much in line with what the Republican Party has proposed for the past many years."
It's something Republicans hope will be solved by this pledge. "Pretty much every provision in the pledge is linked to a specific bill, a bill that has already been introduced in congress. So we're asking the speaker {of the house} to bring these things up for a vote, before the election," said Thornberry.
An election could decide which party controls Congress. "Here is what the Republicans say, here is what the Democrats say. The voters can go pick which platform they believe will be the best one for American in the next two years," said Rausch.
