February
17, 2010 · Vol. 5, No. 07![Follow us on Facebook]()
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The
Contract From America: Why CPAC Matters Now More
Than Ever
Dear Friend,
Tomorrow, for the 37th time, conservatives will
gather in Washington to discuss, debate, and forge
new solutions at the Conservative Political Action
Conference, or CPAC. For those who may be tempted
to despair about the state of the limited government,
pro-market and pro-family movement, a little history
is in order.
In 1975, then-Governor Ronald Reagan inspired
a dispirited conservative movement to revolution
at CPAC. In a message that resonates to this day,
President Reagan proclaimed, "Our people
look for a cause to believe in," and then
asked: "Is it a third party we need, or
is it a new and revitalized second party, raising
a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors,
which make it unmistakably clear where we stand
on all of the issues troubling the people?"
President Reagan's first speech to CPAC
was in its inaugural year in 1973. According to
CPAC organizer David Keene, that year, 125 Americans
came to CPAC to hear Reagan speak. This year,
attendance is expected to top 10,000.
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Excitement about the Return to the Bold Colors of
Conservative Leadership
There is a palpable sense of excitement about the
prospects for a return to the bold colors of conservative
leadership in America today. This excitement
isn't just due to the vulnerability of the
left, although it is vulnerable.
And it's not just because of the American
people's disavowal of the Obama-Reid-Pelosi
liberal agenda, although Americans have repudiated
it.
It's because of the strength of the solutions
being generated by a concerned American public,
solutions that are being taken up and championed
by conservatives.
Excitement about the Return to the Bold Colors
of Conservative Leadership
This Thursday at CPAC, the Tea Party Patriots
will unveil a grassroots-generated, crowd-sourced,
bottom-up call for real economic, conservative
and government reform.
It's called the Contract From
America. It's not the handiwork of me or
any public official. It is the genuine voice of
the American people. Unlike the current political
dynamic, in which the will of Washington is forced
on America, this is the voice of America coming
to Washington.
The idea of a grassroots-generated call for reform
came from Ryan Hecker of the Tea Party Patriots.
Here's how Ryan explains why he started
the process of giving citizens the power to change
Washington:
"We started this to give every American
the opportunity to make a difference and to tell
elected officials that it's now time for
them to listen to the people. We also see this
as a way to help unite the Tea Party movement
and transform it from a purely protest movement
to one calling for proactive and positive reform."
Hundreds of Thousands of Americans Submitted Ideas
for the Contract
From the idea of the Contract came a website, launched
in September 2009. At www.ContractFromAmerica.org
hundreds of thousands of Americans have submitted
and debated thousands of solutions for creating
jobs, securing liberty and reclaiming our government.
After much debate and a series of surveys, the
list of solutions has been narrowed to 22.
Tomorrow at CPAC, nationwide voting will begin
to refine this list of 22 down to ten solutions
for real change. Voting will be open for a month.
Then, the ten winning solutions, which will comprise
the Contract From America, will be unveiled at
the next round of nationwide Tea Parties on April
15.
At that point, candidates and elected officials
from both parties will be asked to sign the Contract
and commit themselves to the American people's
solutions.
Cast Your Vote to Determine the Contract From America
Here, for the first time, are the 22 solutions to
be voted on beginning tomorrow:
DEMAND A BALANCED BUDGET:
Begin the Constitutional amendment process to
require a balanced budget with a two-thirds
majority needed for any tax hike.
STOP THE TAX HIKES: Permanently
repeal all tax hikes, including those to income,
capital gains, and death taxes, currently scheduled
to begin in 2011.
COMMIT TO REAL GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY:
Every bill, in its final form, will be made
public seven days before any vote can be taken
and all government expenditures authorized by
any bill will be easily accessible on the Internet
before the money is spent. (Proposed by: Steve
Kulik, Gonzales, Texas; and Steve Hollis, San
Francisco, Calif.)
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.
PASS REAL HEALTHCARE REFORM:
Greatly improve affordability of health insurance
by permitting all Americans access to all health
insurance plans sold anywhere in the United
States through the purchase of insurance across
state lines and allow small businesses and associations
to pool together across state lines to buy insurance.
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.
END RUNAWAY GOVERNMENT SPENDING:
Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth
in total federal spending to the sum of inflation
rate plus the percentage of population growth.
LET US SAVE: Allow all Americans
to opt out of Social Security and Medicare and
instead put those same payroll taxes in a personal
account they own, control, and can leave to
whomever they choose.
PROTECT INTERNET FREEDOM:
No regulation or tax on the Internet.
GIVE PARENTS MORE CHOICES IN THE EDUCATION
OF THEIR CHILDREN: Improve American
education by reforming the broken federal role
through eliminating ineffective and wasteful
programs, giving parents more choices from pre-school
to high school, and improving the affordability
of higher education.
PASS AN 'ALL OF THE ABOVE' ENERGY POLICY:
Authorize the exploration of proven energy reserves
to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources
from unstable countries and reduce regulatory
barriers to all other forms of energy creation,
lowering prices and creating competition.
PROTECT FREEDOM OF THE PRESS:
Prohibit the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) from using funds to reinstate the Fairness
Doctrine in any form, including requiring "localism"
or "diversity" quotas.
RESTORE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY &
CONSTITUTIONALLY LIMITED GOVERNMENT:
Create a Blue Ribbon taskforce that engages
in a complete audit of federal agencies and
programs, assessing their Constitutionality,
and identifying duplication, waste, ineffectiveness,
and agencies and programs better left for the
states.
PROTECT PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS:
Block state and local governments that receive
federal grants from exercising eminent domain
over private property for the primary purpose
of economic development or enhancement of tax
revenues.
REJECT CAP & TRADE: Prevent
the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing
costly new regulations that would increase unemployment,
raise consumer prices, and weaken the nation's
global competitiveness with virtually no impact
on global temperatures.
STOP THE PORK: Place a moratorium
on all earmarks until the process is fully transparent,
including requiring a 2/3 majority to pass any
earmark.
NO CZAR REGULATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION:
All "lawmaking" regulations must
be affirmatively approved by Congress and signed
into law by the president, as the Constitution
requires for all laws.
AUDIT THE FED: Begin an audit
of the Federal Reserve System.
NO MORE BAILOUTS: The federal
government should not bail out private companies
and should immediately begin divesting itself
of its stake in the private companies it owns
from recent bailouts.
STOP CAREER POLITICIANS & CURB
LOBBYIST POWER: Begin the Constitutional
amendment process to require Congressional term
limits. No person shall be elected to the Senate
more than twice or to the House of Representatives
more than four times.
SUNSET REGULATIONS: All regulations
will be "sunset" after ten years
unless renewed by Congressional vote.
LET US WATCH: Broadcast all
non-security meetings and votes on C-SPAN and
the Internet.
Thirty-five years ago at CPAC, a call for "bold
colors and no pale pastels" came from one
of America's greatest leaders.
Today, that same call comes from the American
people themselves.
To cast your vote for the 10 solutions that will
comprise the Contract From America, go to www.ContractfromAmerica.org.
And if you're in the Washington area, come
to CPAC and add your voice to the debate. Just
like this 37-year-old gathering, it's needed
now more than ever.
Your friend,
![Newt Gingrich's Signature]()
Newt Gingrich
P.S. How should health reform be accomplished?
On February 25, President Obama is calling on
lawmakers to put their best ideas forward during
televised, bipartisan negotiations on health reform.
Join the Center for Health Transformation [www.healthtransformation.net]
and its panel of experts beginning Wednesday,
February 17 for an ongoing, online dialogue discussing
the best solutions to transform our country's
healthcare system. To
learn more click here.
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