I want to second everything my colleague Carrie Lukas said about the GOP’s just-released Pledge to America-especially what Carrie said about old ideas being effective. Not that I mind new ideas. But it’s not the vintage of the idea that makes it a good or bad idea. The pledge appears to contain old ideas that, if tried, could bring back jobs and prosperity.
Like Carrie, I haven’t yet gone through the pledge yet. But the editors of National Review have and they compare it favorably with the late great Contract with America (which was great but never got fulfilled). The editors ask how the contract and pledge differ:
The answer is: 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.
The pledge divides its policy commitments into five parts. The first concerns jobs. The Republicans promise to stop tax increases, to require congressional approval of regulations with a large economic impact, and to give small businesses a tax deduction. To our minds, this section of the pledge is the least impressive. The first two policies would merely prevent government from destroying jobs, and the rationale for the third is elusive. (We like small businesses, but other companies generate jobs, too.) Still, these are better economic policies than we are getting from the administration or the current congressional leadership.
The NR editors say that the long-term items in the pledge are even more compelling, including-my favorite-a promise to repeal the administration’s health care legislation.
Something tells me that I want to see this pledge fulfilled.