Pirate's Cove

Everyone else has chimed in on the subject, including much criticism from some Conservatives, so, my two cents

CBS News has obtained a final draft of House Republicans’ legislative agenda for the next Congress, a 21-page “Pledge to America” that they will formally unveil Thursday morning at a Virginia hardware store.

“The need for urgent action to repair our economy and reclaim our government for the people cannot be overstated,” the introduction says.

It continues: “With this document, we pledge to dedicate ourselves to the task of reconnecting our highest aspirations to the permanent truths of our founding by keeping faith with the values our nation was founded on, the principles we stand for, and the priorities of our people. This is our Pledge to America.”

Now, Erik Erickson has called this Perhaps the Most Ridiculous Thing to Come Out of Washington Since George McClellan. Doug Ross has called it “dreck” (he does have a great one-pager that he wrote). Others on the right have come out against it. And, of course, the left is doing their normal “make it personal” schtick. I do agree that it is a bit long, but it seems to be more of a platform for governance than an actual contract, such as in 1994. As for being dreck and ridiculous, I have to respectfully disagree with Erik, Doug, and the other conservatives. Does it include perhaps a bit too much on social issues? Yes. Some reach out to moderates? Yes. Does it contain some great ideas, and reach out to Conservatives? You betcha. Some of it is inside baseball, others should truly affect and be understood by everyone.

• Permanently stop job-killing tax hikes (many wanted the FAIR tax included, but, too many do not understand it)
• Require congressional approval for any new federal regulation that would add to the deficit (isn’t that the way it is now?)
• Repeal small business mandates in the new health care law. (good)
• Reign in the red tape factory in Washington, D.C. (something that is easy to understand as a talking point)
• Root out government waste and duplication
• Advance Legislative issues one at a time
• Cancel all future TARP payments and reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

And so much more. And much that was left out. Understandable, though. When putting a plan together (this doesn’t meet the standards of an action plan, unfortunately. Most is actionable, though, no time table or who is in charge. Nor a SMART plan), one doesn’t want to put too much into it, otherwise most does not get done.

Obviously, there is lots regarding the military and national security.

Here is a biggy: Repeal and Replace health care. This section contains some excellent ideas, though, they are missing a biggie, which is allowing nationwide pooling, which would decrease costs for everyone, from individuals purchasing health insurance up to the biggest companies. The bigger a pool, the more the costs for sick people are offset by those who are healthy. Can you imagine the benefits of allowing people from all 58, er, 50 states to band together? They would be tremendous.

Also included are measures to expand Health Savings Accounts, which ObamaCare destroys through caps. And, yes, they do include no denial of insurance for those with pre-existing conditions and previous sickness. Many Conservatives are upset about this, but, this mandate in ObamaCare is actually popular. When combined with other measures (nationwide pool, come one, GOP!), this would not hurt. Remember, many of the individual measures in ObamaCare are popular. Much of the problem stems from how they are implemented in ObamaCare along with the majority of the monstrous legislation. Of course, many of the popular provisions in ObamaCare were put in simply to attempt to move the country towards single payer popular.

Here’s another one missed: finding a way to allow people to put parents on their health insurance. A way to take care of our parents in their golden years.

Many Conservatives are rightly concerned about whether the GOP will stay true to the Pledge if elected. It is up to us, the Republican voters, to hold them accountable.

National Review says they will take the Pledge:

The pledge is bolder. The Contract with America merely promised to hold votes on popular bills that had been bottled up during decades of Democratic control of the House. The pledge commits Republicans to working toward a broad conservative agenda that, if implemented, would make the federal government significantly smaller, Congress more accountable, and America more prosperous.

Full text below the inline more tag

More: Dr. Melissa Clouthier likes the Pledge, but has some messaging ideas the GOP should have gone with. IMAO offers some ideas, including all foods approved by the FDA must contain bacon. Gay Patriot likes it. Michelle Malkin says actions speak louder than words. Dan Reihl‘s a fan. Doug Mantaconis is….unsure. Interestingly, there seems to be more links from lefties at Memeorandum than Conservatives.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU. Re-Change 2010!

GOP Pledge to America