SON OF HARRY HOPE
2006-09-06 22:18:30 UTC
The American Eleven: A Values-Led Plan for Victory in November
by Newt Gingrich
Welcome to a special 2006 election edition of "Winning the Future."
The fall 2006 elections are now just two months away. Although the
conventional wisdom is that Republicans will have a tough time this
fall, I believe that we can still win -- but not without substantial
changes.
In this edition of "Winning the Future," I outline 11 values-led
policies that are both morally right and that enjoy (not
coincidentally) the overwhelming support of the American people. These
are the values and the policies that Republicans should embrace this
fall.
Here's the key:
Republican victory in 2006 depends on a return to the American values
that twice elected Ronald Reagan and returned the House to a
Republican majority with the Contract with America.
Republicans in 2006 must return to the pattern that allowed the
center-right majority to win decisive elections for President Reagan
in 1980 and 1984 and win with the Contract with America in 1994.
President Ronald Reagan was successful because as governor, as a
candidate and as President he spoke for and advocated the values of
the overwhelming majority of Americans.
The Contract with America succeeded because its core solutions
(standing on President Reagan's shoulders) reflected deeply held
American values. It is vital that Republican leaders understand these
were American values not Republican values.
92% of the American people favored welfare reform.
88% of the people on welfare favored welfare reform.
83% of the American people favored a balanced budget.
On issue after issue the Contract with America represented the values
of the American people. The left was defeated in 1994 because it had
lost touch with the American people.
The Reagan-Contract Rule: Change Starts With the People
For the last few years, Republicans in Washington have forgotten the
Reagan-Contract rule that successful change starts with the American
people. There is a real danger that Republicans will lose the House
and the Senate this fall because they have strayed from this core
principle of starting first with the concerns and values of the
American people and then developing effective policies.
Consultants are working overtime to convince the American people to
favor Republican policies. This is exactly backwards.
What really works is what happens when Republicans identify themselves
with the American people and against the values of the left-wing
establishment that dominates the media, the bureaucracies and the
lobbying community.
11 Ways to Say: "We're Not Nancy Pelosi"
Republicans should spend the next two months focused on 11
straightforward, morally grounded issues about which the American
people have clearly defined beliefs.
Some of these issues will make Republican elitists uncomfortable, but
these were the same elitists who were uncomfortable with President
Reagan and who scoffed at the Contract with America and rejected its
bold proposals.
A Republican majority in the House that spent the next two months on
these eleven issues would go a long way toward clarifying the choice
between the San Francisco values of Nancy Pelosi and those of a GOP
majority. This refreshing approach would reject the "incumbentitis" of
relying on pork-barrel spending for reelection and return to the basic
populist conservative values which gave us a majority in the first
place.
These 11 issues are all clear and all doable.
Make English the Official Language of Government. The House should
pass a bill making English the official language of government,
abolishing multilingual ballots and reaffirming that new citizens
should be required to pass a test on American history in English. The
Rasmussen poll reported that support for English as the official
language was 85%. The Zogby poll had it at 84%. Why do Republican
leaders find it so hard to side with more than four out of every five
Americans? How many liberal Democrats who currently assume they are
unbeatable would suddenly have a hard time explaining a series of
votes against English to their constituents? Remember, at 85%, there
are no anti-English congressional districts no matter what the elite
media says.
Control the Borders. The House should pass a narrowly focused bill to
ensure that the United States can control the border. The current
Senate bill is a disaster. It is impossible to pass a "comprehensive"
immigration bill in the next two months. The American people
overwhelmingly want the borders controlled and every act of terrorism
reminds us that having the borders uncontrolled makes us more
vulnerable to attack. The House should immediately pass a
border-control bill and conservative Republican senators should move
every day to bring it up in the Senate. Let Democrats and elitist
Republicans block controlling the border and make that a referendum
test for Election Day.
Keep God in the Pledge. Congress should take two steps to preserve the
right to say "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, a
right which is supported by 91% of all Americans. The American people
feel deeply that our Declaration of Independence is correct in saying
that each of us is endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights.
Beginning with the Supreme Court's 1963 decision outlawing school
prayer, the courts have waged a 43-year assault on the core values of
American liberty. It is time to return to a balanced Constitutional
system. There is no Constitutional case for five lawyers' on the court
being a floating majority for a permanent Constitutional Convention.
The American people would rally to the elected branches' taking steps
to rebalance the Constitution. First, the House should pass a bill
suspending the recent federal district court decision in California
outlawing the words "one nation under God" in the Pledge of
Allegiance. Second, the House should pass a law blocking the Supreme
Court from reviewing the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance
(a power of the Congress expressly granted in the Constitution).
Require a Voter ID Card. The American people overwhelmingly support
(85% in one poll) having a voter id card so we can be sure only legal
citizens are voting. Passing a bill to require this in all federal
elections would be a big step toward more honest elections.
Repeal the Death Tax, for Good. The American people have consistently
supported the total repeal of the death tax and the House should
simply pass it once a week and attach it to various Senate bills to
force the Senate to deal with it again and again. Let liberals explain
why they oppose something that more than 70% of the country favors.
Restore Property Rights. The American people are deeply opposed to
local politicians' being able to seize a citizen's home or business.
The Supreme Court's Kelo decision on eminent domain is one of the most
unpopular in recent years and is also one of the most dangerous.
Anyone who knows the history of local government corruption in America
knows it will not be long before some corrupt developers engage some
corrupt politicians and this power is exploited at the cost of most
Americans. Members of the Black Caucus have been among the most vocal
in pointing out that it is poor people who will be the most victimized
so rich developers and greedy politicians can make the money off their
homes and businesses. The House should pass a powerful bill returning
the constitutional law to the pre-Kelo rules and blocking the Supreme
Court from reviewing it.
Achieve Sustainable Energy Independence. The country is eager for a
straightforward new energy strategy for national security,
environmental and economic reasons. The combination of $3 gasoline,
watching Iran, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Russia get more of our
money, and concerns about the environment come together to require
real change. The House should meet that need. Starting with Rep. Jim
Nussle's (R-Iowa) bill on renewable fuels, adding to it clean nuclear
power using new technologies that are safe and produce little waste,
developing more clean coal solutions, investing in a conversion to a
hydrogen economy, incentivizing conservation, providing tax credits so
the auto industry can invest in the new technology and new
manufacturing equipment needed to produce revolutionary new vehicles,
creating the tax incentives to build the distribution system for
biofuels, hybrids, and hydrogen, providing deeper tax incentives for
radically better cars (imagine a substantial tax credit for cars
exceeding 200 miles to the gallon of petroleum through a combination
of E-85 or biodiesel, hybrid use of electricity and hydrogen), and a
bill to create state flexibility in exploring off shore with a 50%
split in revenue so state legislatures and governors would have an
incentive to develop environmentally sound methods of exploration and
production.
Control Spending and Balance the Budget. The House should pass new
budget legislation to control spending, leading to a balanced budget
in seven years (the length of time we gave ourselves in the Contract
with America and which led to the first four balanced budgets since
the 1920s), with special focus on programs liberals will fight to
increase spending. Let the country see who is really committed to
smaller government with lower taxes and who is committed to bigger
government with higher taxes.
Tie Education Funding to Teacher Accountability. A major result of the
No Child Left Behind legislation has been the clear revelation that a
number of schools systems are crippling and destroying children. When
the Detroit school system only graduates 21% of entering freshman on
time, it is clear the children are being cheated. The American people
strongly support reforms designed to save the children. The first step
would be to insist that federal funds only go to school systems which
require teacher competency and accountability. A clear choice between
those who want to save the children and those who want to save the
bureaucrats would mobilize the country in favor of dramatic education
reform.
Defend America From the Irreconcilable Wing of Islam. Terrorism is a
real threat. Congress should hold hearings on the recent terrorist
activities in Canada, the U.K. and Morocco. The House should move
bills that strengthen our security from terrorists with increased
powers for surveillance, an overruling of the disastrous Hamdan
decision and a series of other steps.
Focus on Iran and North Korea. The American people are very prepared
to believe we face extraordinary threats from a nuclear North Korea
and an Iranian regime actively seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Any
actions in Iraq need to be recast in terms of their impact on Iran. A
weak America in Iraq will be unable to stop Iran. Stopping Iran is
potentially literally a matter of life and death. Congress should hold
hearings on the scale of the Iranian and North Korean threat, the
statements of their key leaders and the requirements for action to
replace these dictatorships before they succeed in killing millions of
Americans. The Santorum Iranian democracy bill should be forced out of
the Senate in the context of these threats. Everything about Iraq
should be debated within this larger and much more dangerous context.
These eleven steps focus on the House because Republicans have
practical control of the House and can move legislation in the House
in a timely manner.
The Senate is so hard to manage and the confusion in the Senate is so
great that it is impossible to imagine a clear message coming from the
Senate.
The House of Representatives, however, has the opportunity to set the
agenda for the fall and to define the issues in terms which will have
overwhelming support from the American people.
House Republicans have two months to change history. They can go one
of two ways.
They can continue to ignore the lessons of history, and forget the
fact that real change must begin with the American people, not the
media or Washington elite.
Or House Republicans can learn from history. They can listen to the
American people and return to the center-right populist majority which
President Reagan and the Contract with America gave them. The choice
is theirs -- and ours.
Your friend,
Newt Gingrich
"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical
weapons throughout his country."
--Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002.
by Newt Gingrich
Welcome to a special 2006 election edition of "Winning the Future."
The fall 2006 elections are now just two months away. Although the
conventional wisdom is that Republicans will have a tough time this
fall, I believe that we can still win -- but not without substantial
changes.
In this edition of "Winning the Future," I outline 11 values-led
policies that are both morally right and that enjoy (not
coincidentally) the overwhelming support of the American people. These
are the values and the policies that Republicans should embrace this
fall.
Here's the key:
Republican victory in 2006 depends on a return to the American values
that twice elected Ronald Reagan and returned the House to a
Republican majority with the Contract with America.
Republicans in 2006 must return to the pattern that allowed the
center-right majority to win decisive elections for President Reagan
in 1980 and 1984 and win with the Contract with America in 1994.
President Ronald Reagan was successful because as governor, as a
candidate and as President he spoke for and advocated the values of
the overwhelming majority of Americans.
The Contract with America succeeded because its core solutions
(standing on President Reagan's shoulders) reflected deeply held
American values. It is vital that Republican leaders understand these
were American values not Republican values.
92% of the American people favored welfare reform.
88% of the people on welfare favored welfare reform.
83% of the American people favored a balanced budget.
On issue after issue the Contract with America represented the values
of the American people. The left was defeated in 1994 because it had
lost touch with the American people.
The Reagan-Contract Rule: Change Starts With the People
For the last few years, Republicans in Washington have forgotten the
Reagan-Contract rule that successful change starts with the American
people. There is a real danger that Republicans will lose the House
and the Senate this fall because they have strayed from this core
principle of starting first with the concerns and values of the
American people and then developing effective policies.
Consultants are working overtime to convince the American people to
favor Republican policies. This is exactly backwards.
What really works is what happens when Republicans identify themselves
with the American people and against the values of the left-wing
establishment that dominates the media, the bureaucracies and the
lobbying community.
11 Ways to Say: "We're Not Nancy Pelosi"
Republicans should spend the next two months focused on 11
straightforward, morally grounded issues about which the American
people have clearly defined beliefs.
Some of these issues will make Republican elitists uncomfortable, but
these were the same elitists who were uncomfortable with President
Reagan and who scoffed at the Contract with America and rejected its
bold proposals.
A Republican majority in the House that spent the next two months on
these eleven issues would go a long way toward clarifying the choice
between the San Francisco values of Nancy Pelosi and those of a GOP
majority. This refreshing approach would reject the "incumbentitis" of
relying on pork-barrel spending for reelection and return to the basic
populist conservative values which gave us a majority in the first
place.
These 11 issues are all clear and all doable.
Make English the Official Language of Government. The House should
pass a bill making English the official language of government,
abolishing multilingual ballots and reaffirming that new citizens
should be required to pass a test on American history in English. The
Rasmussen poll reported that support for English as the official
language was 85%. The Zogby poll had it at 84%. Why do Republican
leaders find it so hard to side with more than four out of every five
Americans? How many liberal Democrats who currently assume they are
unbeatable would suddenly have a hard time explaining a series of
votes against English to their constituents? Remember, at 85%, there
are no anti-English congressional districts no matter what the elite
media says.
Control the Borders. The House should pass a narrowly focused bill to
ensure that the United States can control the border. The current
Senate bill is a disaster. It is impossible to pass a "comprehensive"
immigration bill in the next two months. The American people
overwhelmingly want the borders controlled and every act of terrorism
reminds us that having the borders uncontrolled makes us more
vulnerable to attack. The House should immediately pass a
border-control bill and conservative Republican senators should move
every day to bring it up in the Senate. Let Democrats and elitist
Republicans block controlling the border and make that a referendum
test for Election Day.
Keep God in the Pledge. Congress should take two steps to preserve the
right to say "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, a
right which is supported by 91% of all Americans. The American people
feel deeply that our Declaration of Independence is correct in saying
that each of us is endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights.
Beginning with the Supreme Court's 1963 decision outlawing school
prayer, the courts have waged a 43-year assault on the core values of
American liberty. It is time to return to a balanced Constitutional
system. There is no Constitutional case for five lawyers' on the court
being a floating majority for a permanent Constitutional Convention.
The American people would rally to the elected branches' taking steps
to rebalance the Constitution. First, the House should pass a bill
suspending the recent federal district court decision in California
outlawing the words "one nation under God" in the Pledge of
Allegiance. Second, the House should pass a law blocking the Supreme
Court from reviewing the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance
(a power of the Congress expressly granted in the Constitution).
Require a Voter ID Card. The American people overwhelmingly support
(85% in one poll) having a voter id card so we can be sure only legal
citizens are voting. Passing a bill to require this in all federal
elections would be a big step toward more honest elections.
Repeal the Death Tax, for Good. The American people have consistently
supported the total repeal of the death tax and the House should
simply pass it once a week and attach it to various Senate bills to
force the Senate to deal with it again and again. Let liberals explain
why they oppose something that more than 70% of the country favors.
Restore Property Rights. The American people are deeply opposed to
local politicians' being able to seize a citizen's home or business.
The Supreme Court's Kelo decision on eminent domain is one of the most
unpopular in recent years and is also one of the most dangerous.
Anyone who knows the history of local government corruption in America
knows it will not be long before some corrupt developers engage some
corrupt politicians and this power is exploited at the cost of most
Americans. Members of the Black Caucus have been among the most vocal
in pointing out that it is poor people who will be the most victimized
so rich developers and greedy politicians can make the money off their
homes and businesses. The House should pass a powerful bill returning
the constitutional law to the pre-Kelo rules and blocking the Supreme
Court from reviewing it.
Achieve Sustainable Energy Independence. The country is eager for a
straightforward new energy strategy for national security,
environmental and economic reasons. The combination of $3 gasoline,
watching Iran, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Russia get more of our
money, and concerns about the environment come together to require
real change. The House should meet that need. Starting with Rep. Jim
Nussle's (R-Iowa) bill on renewable fuels, adding to it clean nuclear
power using new technologies that are safe and produce little waste,
developing more clean coal solutions, investing in a conversion to a
hydrogen economy, incentivizing conservation, providing tax credits so
the auto industry can invest in the new technology and new
manufacturing equipment needed to produce revolutionary new vehicles,
creating the tax incentives to build the distribution system for
biofuels, hybrids, and hydrogen, providing deeper tax incentives for
radically better cars (imagine a substantial tax credit for cars
exceeding 200 miles to the gallon of petroleum through a combination
of E-85 or biodiesel, hybrid use of electricity and hydrogen), and a
bill to create state flexibility in exploring off shore with a 50%
split in revenue so state legislatures and governors would have an
incentive to develop environmentally sound methods of exploration and
production.
Control Spending and Balance the Budget. The House should pass new
budget legislation to control spending, leading to a balanced budget
in seven years (the length of time we gave ourselves in the Contract
with America and which led to the first four balanced budgets since
the 1920s), with special focus on programs liberals will fight to
increase spending. Let the country see who is really committed to
smaller government with lower taxes and who is committed to bigger
government with higher taxes.
Tie Education Funding to Teacher Accountability. A major result of the
No Child Left Behind legislation has been the clear revelation that a
number of schools systems are crippling and destroying children. When
the Detroit school system only graduates 21% of entering freshman on
time, it is clear the children are being cheated. The American people
strongly support reforms designed to save the children. The first step
would be to insist that federal funds only go to school systems which
require teacher competency and accountability. A clear choice between
those who want to save the children and those who want to save the
bureaucrats would mobilize the country in favor of dramatic education
reform.
Defend America From the Irreconcilable Wing of Islam. Terrorism is a
real threat. Congress should hold hearings on the recent terrorist
activities in Canada, the U.K. and Morocco. The House should move
bills that strengthen our security from terrorists with increased
powers for surveillance, an overruling of the disastrous Hamdan
decision and a series of other steps.
Focus on Iran and North Korea. The American people are very prepared
to believe we face extraordinary threats from a nuclear North Korea
and an Iranian regime actively seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Any
actions in Iraq need to be recast in terms of their impact on Iran. A
weak America in Iraq will be unable to stop Iran. Stopping Iran is
potentially literally a matter of life and death. Congress should hold
hearings on the scale of the Iranian and North Korean threat, the
statements of their key leaders and the requirements for action to
replace these dictatorships before they succeed in killing millions of
Americans. The Santorum Iranian democracy bill should be forced out of
the Senate in the context of these threats. Everything about Iraq
should be debated within this larger and much more dangerous context.
These eleven steps focus on the House because Republicans have
practical control of the House and can move legislation in the House
in a timely manner.
The Senate is so hard to manage and the confusion in the Senate is so
great that it is impossible to imagine a clear message coming from the
Senate.
The House of Representatives, however, has the opportunity to set the
agenda for the fall and to define the issues in terms which will have
overwhelming support from the American people.
House Republicans have two months to change history. They can go one
of two ways.
They can continue to ignore the lessons of history, and forget the
fact that real change must begin with the American people, not the
media or Washington elite.
Or House Republicans can learn from history. They can listen to the
American people and return to the center-right populist majority which
President Reagan and the Contract with America gave them. The choice
is theirs -- and ours.
Your friend,
Newt Gingrich
"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical
weapons throughout his country."
--Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002.