In an attempt to strong-arm Republican and Tea Party candidates, and in an effort to claim a mandate to act if their candidates are elected, Dick Armey of FreedomWorks and Tea Party Activists are putting out a new Contract From On America.
A glimpse into the 20 highest rated ideas for the Contract From On America is below the fold. Let's take a look...
Republicans on Capitol Hill are developing an election-year alternative to the Obama administration's agenda. But a Tea Party activist in Texas says the politicians in Washington - including the out-of-power Republicans - don't have the "credibility" to offer a contract.
The first Tea Party convention kicks off with a tone of anger and confrontation.His solution? Use the Internet, develop a "Contract from America," and make the politicians come to him.
"You are going to be held accountable by us," said conservative activist Ryan Hecker, offering a preview of what Tea Party activists are going to tell congressional candidates later this year. "We have a plan - a proactive reform plan - for you to follow and not the other way around."
~snip~
To get his idea off the ground, he launched a website, "ContractFromAmerica.com," which encourages activists to offer possible planks for the contract.
From the original 1,000 ideas which were submitted, Hecker whittled it down to about 50 based on popularity. He is currently in the process of narrowing it to 20 ideas. He is being aided in this process by former House Republican Leader Dick Armey, whose conservative group, FreedomWorks, has established close ties with many Tea Party activists around the country.
When the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), convenes later this month in Washington, DC, Hecker says he will launch an on-line voting phase which will take his document from 20 ideas to the final 10 to 12 most popular.
The completed "Contract from America" will then be presented to the public on Tax Day, April 15, 2010.
~snip~
http://abcnews.go.com/...
From Contract From America Tea Party Patriots:
Welcome to the Contract From America initiative, where you can join your fellow Americans in a collaborative grassroots effort to create a document that offers real change in Washington, D.C. and the state capitals. This website provides you with the opportunity to offer your innovative free market, limited government solutions to our nation’s pressing problems and to vote and comment on the ideas of others. We believe that the result of this grassroots-generated marketplace of ideas will be a document that not only represents the will of the American people, but promotes unique ideas that will breathe new life into the economic conservative movement. We will have a Contract From America for which we are all responsible and in which we feel a sense of ownership. And politicians will have a stark choice: accept and therefore be held accountable to the terms of the Contract From America, or face loss of their seat in 2010.
The Tea Party's 20 Highest Rated Ideas as of Feb 8, 2010 include Abolishing the Department of Education, Repealing the 16th Amendment and Repealing the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, among other things:
20 Highest Rated Ideas
Implement the Fair Tax
8787 rating
Legislation shall contain no unrelated ammendments
4479 rating
Congressional Term Limits
3956 rating
Abolish the Department of Education
3516 rating
Pass Nationwide Medical Malpractice Tort Reform
3128 rating
No lifetime salary or benefits for Congress
2971 rating
Congress shall not exempt themselves
2964 rating
An Official Language of the United States
2921 rating
Drill Here, Drill Now
2861 rating
Interstate Health Insurance Competition
2792 rating
cite Constitutional authority for creating laws
2218 rating
Repeal the 16th Amendment
2165 rating
Birth-Right Citizenship
1839 rating
Defund Activist Groups (eg: ACORN)
1779 rating
Nuclear Energy, reduce our dependance on foreign oil
1725 rating
Enforce Existing Immigration Law
1440 rating
Balanced Budget Amendment
1346 rating
Senators Should Vote "No" on "Cap and Trade"
1299 rating
Repeal the Federal Reserve Act of 1913
1226 rating
Free Market
1171 rating
FROM:
http://74.125.155.132/...
Update I: Added Tea Party to Title
Update II: Be sure to read the comment sections - they are very telling:
Found in the Abolish the Department of Education section:
Prayer should be allowed in schools, "one nation under God" should remain, and schools should teach a Christian-based value system. This nation was founded based on Judeo-Christian values -- one of which is tolerance, by the way -- and if we are to retain our national culture, we must stress retaining our spiritual/ethical basis. Obviously, our government representatives, an many of our citizens, have gotten significantly off course here, not becuase they are inherently evil, but due to a lack of accountability, one of the main precepts of the Judeo-Christian vaue system.
The "idea" for An Official Language of the US is comical:
The official Language of the United States ought to be English. in the early 1900s, my great-grandparents had to have learned the English Language within 4 years. Today, us giving this amnesty has disrespected my ancestors and everybody else that came here the right way, and worked for their citizenship. Every immigrant should do the same. This would also slow-down immigration, which what both parties wanted to enact immigration reform.
As I noted down thread, I couldn't have written a better satirical equivalent, given the subject.
Sounds just like how Sarah Palin talks. Hmmmm?
Update III: Dick Armey was the main author of the Contract with America.
According to his website, FreedomWorks:
By 1994, the public was disenchanted with Congress. Republicans, who were in the minority, believed that the American people were ready for a bold and dynamic legislative agenda. The result was the Contract with America, of which Armey was the main author.
The Contract was a collection of ten bills that Republicans would bring up for a vote during the first 100 days of a Republican-controlled Congress. The motto was: "If we don't keep our word, throw us out."
The Contract was a success. Republicans took control of the House for the first time in 40 years. Throughout the summer and fall, many of his colleagues and most of the press refused to take Armey seriously when he told them he was running for Majority Leader in the 104th Congress. Armey once again proved the conventional wisdom wrong. He was unopposed for the Leader's post.
Upon taking office Armey delivered the line he has repeated often since,
"The American people didn't give us power, they gave us responsibility."
The 104th was one of the most productive Congresses in recent memory. Fully 60 percent of the Contract with America was signed into law, including a historic welfare reform bill. Congress passed the first balanced budget in a generation as well as overhauls of telecommunications, farming, and health care.
http://www.freedomworks.org/...