The Contract From America

Remember the 94 contract with America, how did that work out and how many of those contracted items did that Congress with veto proof majority accomplish? To me this is a gimmick just like Newt's contracted. My fundamental problem with this is it is one big surrender flag. 1) Protect the Constitution: Require each bill to identify the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does. So if Congress shows where they get the power does that instantly make it right? So all they have to do is just find the power under the Constitution. 2) Reject Cap & Trade:Stop costly new regulations that would increase unemployment, raise consumers prices, and weaken the nation's global competitiveness with virtually no impact on global temperatures. Yeah reject cap and trade, but what would be more important to reject cap and trade or the power that allows Congress to create things like cap and trade. 3) Demand a Balanced Budget: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax hike. Problem with this is that I would have to say that government spending is a good thing as long as it is paid for. 4) Enact Fundamental Tax Reform: Adopt a simple and fair single-rate tax system by scrapping the internal revenue code and replacing it with one that is no longer than 4,543 words -- the length of the original Constitution. This is implying the any taxation that uses pay or go to jail is fair. No matter how simple the tax it is still a form of theft. I am going to stop copying and pasting the parts in question because this is starting to get long. 5) So we create more government to make government smaller? I am not getting the whole blue ribbon commission. 6) This is kind of redundant. If everything works the way it is suppose to, we already have a balance budget that has to be paid for. If government cannot pay for it, it is already capped. 7) Defund, repeal and replace, replace it with what? Now I actually agree with the whole part about insurance purchase across state lines. 8) I have no problem with allowing the free market to be the energy policy, my problems is the motive. Energy independence is unnecessary, and is not a free market principle. If Saudi Arabia can sell me gasoline cheaper than a company drilling in Alaska, I am going to buy from the Saudis. 9) This is a bit redundant too. We have already capped spending to only what we can pay for. Also we would have to ignore my point about the evils of government spending. What makes pork any less moral than any other kind of government spending. It is still taking from one person and giving to another. 10) If tax hikes are unjust then why are simple so called fair taxes any better. I know that I am being unreasonable, I have no problem with anyone saying that I am. I guess I am tired of the concept of we just have to make government smaller. It is still government.

I agree with most of these and won't go through them item by item. I doubt any/many will be passed/adopted, but at least you know what the Tea Party Movement is about. (I didn't make it to my Tea Party event today at the park...)