'Pledge To America' sees Republicans vow to cut role of government

Echoing long-standing rhetoric, party promises to cut spending and repeal healthcare reforms in bid to woo voters for midterms
House Republicans' leader John Boehner unveils A Pledge To America, in Sterling, Virginia.
John Boehner, leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, unveils A Pledge To America at the Tart Lumber shop, in Sterling, Virginia. Photograph: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

The Republican party has launched a mid-term election manifesto designed to play on voter anger at big government and what is seen by many as a Congress corrupted by corporate money and vested interests.

With the Republicans poised to take control of the House of Representatives and to cut the size of the Democrats' majority in the Senate in November, A Pledge To America makes dozens of commitments including slashing taxes, severely cutting government spending and repealing Barack Obama's health reform law.

The Republicans would also scrap the economic stimulus programme that the Democrats say saved the US from a far more severe recession. But at the heart of the document, which is modelled on the party's "Contract with America", which helped it to win control of the House in 1994, is an attempt to portray the Republicans as being radically against big government.

The pledge promises "to do away with old politics" and "reform Congress and restore trust".

"In a self-governing society the only bulwark against the power of the state is the consent of the governed, and regarding the policies of the current government, the governed do not consent," the pledge says.

"An arrogant and out-of-touch government of self-appointed elites makes decisions, issues mandates and enacts laws without accepting or requesting the input of the many.


"The American people are speaking out, demanding that we realign our country's compass with its founding principles and apply those principles to solve our common problems for the common good."

The Republicans launched the pledge at a hardware shop in Virginia in an attempt to suggest that the party is no hostage to Washington politics, even if it is widely seen as having contributed to making Congress a hostage to corporate lobbying and money.

"Putting spending, putting the policy of economic growth in place and cleaning up the way Congress works is not only a stark contrast to this president and this Congress," congressman Paul Ryan told the Associated Press. "It's a contrast to the way we conducted ourselves a decade ago. We spent to much money. We lost our way."

The pledge is short on specifics, such as what government spending the Republicans would cut and how they would fulfill a commitment to balance the federal budget. A large part of the deficit is accounted for by social programmes such as healthcare and pensions.

Pete Sessions, a Republican congressman of Texas and head of the Republicans' House campaign committee, said the agenda was drafted to answer the public's scepticism about government and give them a "deliverable".


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