“A critical flaw of the Contract for America was that it was only a House of Representatives “contract”. The Senate Republicans basically did nothing with the House Republicans’ initiatives.”
the “checks and balances” have become a pissing contest, unfortunately...I think there are some good thoughts and starting points here; how to get them out there is a bigger problem...
Simply NOT true! The CWA reduced federal spending per GDP, passed an anti-crime package, passed welfare reform, gave a child tax credit, passed adoption and other child support laws, Social Security earning limits were raised, cut in captial gains tax and regulatory relief for small businesses.
From the Heritage Foundation:
The ten items in the Contract were all acted upon in the first 100 days of the new Congress, which is what the signatories had pledged. Nine of the ten items in the Contract passed the House: Only the constitutional amendment on term limits (which required a two-thirds vote) was defeated. Out of a total of 302 roll call votes on issues related to the Contract With America, the conservatives prevailed on 299 of them. A balanced budget amendment passed in the House by a 300-123 margin but was subsequently defeated as it fell one vote short of the two-thirds needed for passage in the U.S. Senate. The overall margin by which the items in the Contract were passed averaged about 70 percent despite the fact that the Republicans only held a 12-seat margin over the Democrats (52-48 percent, the smallest House majority margin in 40 years). Given the notorious lack of party discipline in the American Congress, the passage by a large majority of nearly all of the items in the Contract was a remarkable achievement.
"You know, 65 percent of the Contract with America ultimately got signed into law. All of it passed the House, except for term limits..." ~~~ Speaker Newt Gingrich, November.20,1996
"The House of Representatives should be able to vote on many issues that had been kept cloistered in committees and the "Contract with America" allowed those votes. Sixty-five percent of those issues were signed into law by the president. I voted for 65 percent of those issues." ~~~ Rep. Connie Morella, Republican, Maryland’s 8th District, Montgomery County