GOP Plans To Unveil New "Contract With America"

The Hill is reporting that the GOP, with prospects of regaining the majority in the House, is pulling a compilation of items from its “America Speaking Out” program to create an agenda before November’s elections.

Republicans plan to unveil a “Contract  with America” in Virginia Thursday as a response to Democratic criticism that the party is lacking an agenda.  

The new “contract” is said to include a two-year tax freeze and a reduction in spending to 2008 levels as hinted by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). Lawmakers on the right have also pushed for the repealing of healthcare reform, replacing it with a few reforms of their own and other GOP figures have also showed signs of repealing Wall Street reform as well. 

The GOP’s new “Contract with America” is said to be an attempt at reestablishing a 1994 “contract” that helped Republicans win the House and provided them with a base to hold the House majority until 2006. 

The unveiling of the new GOP agenda comes at crucial time and has led some Democrats to question why it took so long and argue that the timing is all too convenient.

A spokesman for Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee told The Hill that the GOP’s new agenda mirrors that which “caused the Great Bush Recession.”

“Washington Republicans are finally getting around to releasing an agenda for this Congress. What’s shocking is that it took them more than 20 months to repackage  a plan that is no different from the one that caused the Great Bush Recession,” he said. ” We have seen this movie before and the American people walked out on it, we don’t need a sequel.”

Sparring Over Economy Intensifies Between Obama And Boehner

During his speech on the economy yesterday in Ohio, President Barack Obama directly confronted House GOP leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) over his party’s accusations that the current administration’s fiscal policies have hurt the nation more than they have helped.

Obama spoke outside of Cleveland, a few miles from where Boehner delivered a speech two weeks ago, and referred to Boehner seven times throughout the course of his remarks, denouncing the Republican’s proposal to extend the Bush-era tax cuts.

It came as no surprise that the president’s impassioned speech, in which he took mulitiple shots at the GOP, coincided with the start of this year’s final campaign stretch run.

Obama accused Republicans of “rooting against the recovery,” and told the audience that a vote for the GOP this November would be a vote to take the country backwards.

“When these same Republicans, including Mr. Boehner, were in charge, the number of earmarks and pet projects went up, not down,” Obama said. “There are no new policies from Mr. Boehner. There are no new ideas.” 

Immediately after Obama finished speaking, Boehner and other GOP figures took to Twitter to instantly respond.

“Instead of focusing on me, @BarackObama should work w/GOP to cut spending & stop the tax hikes to help create jobs,” read a Tweet from Boehner.

“Guess [Obama] missed the $1.5 trillion [in spending cuts] we offered,” tweeted House Minority Whip Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) press secretary.

Senate Democrats Blame Stagnant Economy On Stalled Congress

Robert Hune-Kalter - Talk Radio News Service

A duo of Senate Democrats pointed their fingers the Republican party Thursday and accused Senate Republicans of stalling an agenda aimed at boosting the economy.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) posed a simple question to voters heading into the summer recess.

“Whose side are you on?” he asked.

Menendez asserted that more could have been accomplished this year had Republicans not repeatedly stalled legislation and denied the economy of countless beneficial provisions.

“As [Democrats] try to give those small businesses the tax breaks and incentives to be able to grow this economy and hire more Americans, Republicans, every step of the way, are impeding our ability to create those jobs,” he said.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said that it is frustrating to move legislation in the Senate because negotiations get delayed and are not made in good faith.

Menendez agreed, and said Senate Democrats will try to pass energy legislation, repeal tax breaks and help small businesses when the Senate reconvenes in September.

“What we want at the end of the day is to help middle-class families in this country get over this difficult time and realize their hopes and dreams and aspirations,” he said.

However, the lawmakers’ ambitious remarks were met immediately with skepticism.

“Senators Menendez and Whitehouse have imposed an immeasurable burden on small businesses with mountains of new spending and debt and countless new tax hikes under the failed Pelosi-Reid economic agenda,” said Parish Braden, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee (RNC).

In fact, 83,000 total jobs have dissapeared in Rhode Island and New Jersey since one of the Democrats’ biggest legislative achievements - the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - was passed in early 2009. Both states have also seen their unemployment rates rise considerably in that time.

“Democrat leaders pledge to support small businesses while at the same time are planning yet another job killing tax hike on the same businesses,” Braden added.

Democrats Attempt To Blur Line Between Tea Party And GOP

By Brandon Kosters - Talk Radio News Service

As November’s midterm elections approach, the Democratic Party is moving to link the GOP with the extreme elements of the Tea Party movement.

Speaking alongside a handful of Congressional Democrats at a press conference in the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters Wednesday, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said that in terms of policy, the GOP and the Tea Party are “one and the same.”

“Essentially, you don’t know where the Republican Party ends and the Tea Party begins,” Wasserman Shultz claimed.

While the Tea Party movement, essentially made up of a collection of conservative activists, has proven to be popular in some circles, it has at times walked a political tight rope. Tea Party favorites Sharron Angle (R) in Nevada and Rand Paul (R) in Kentucky both won their party’s Senatorial primaries due in part to their strict conservative platforms, but have taken a more moderate tone in recent months to garner centrist support.

The House Democrats who spoke at Wednesday’s conference criticized the Tea Party for their opposition to health care reform, Wall Street reform, the Environmental Protection Agency and the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, which gives citizens to directly elect their Senators.

“The Tea Party Republicans offer a retrograde, reactionary program for the American people that is extreme… [and] way out of the mainstream,” Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) said.

Unemployment Benefits Filibuster Frustrates House Democrats

A collection of House Democrats expressed frustration Wednesday with Senate Republicans over their continued push against the extension of unemployment benefits.

Speaking at a press conference, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), Chair of the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, called Republicans hypocritical for demanding that Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) be offset in the budget, while the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 were not offset by budget cuts.

The House approved the extension earlier this month by 270-153, despite concerns from Republicans over the extension’s $34 billion price tag.

Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) stated that the Senate will likely be unable to pass the package until a new Senator is named to replace the late Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.)

The package, if passed, will extend benefits until November.