Former Republican Representative (GA-6) and Speaker of the House
Bailout combines bad policy with worst of Detroit's decay
"In an amazing display of historic ignorance, economic destructiveness, and ideologically driven dishonesty, Washington politicians are in the process of combining the worst of the 1970s bad economic policies with the worst of Detroit's economic and
(America's) educational decay. We are in grave danger of turning all of America into the kind of declining economy and bureaucratic mess which Detroit became over the last forty years." --Newt Gingrich
Source: Saving Freedom, by Jim DeMint, p.124
Jul 4, 2009
1995 budget: cut taxes, regulations, & spending
After the 12-year siege of Reagan-Bush, I thought the plague of Reaganism had passed. How was I to know that a more virulent strain, personified by Newt Gingrich and the Contract With America, was about to lay us low? It was rolled out, like a big
legislative Trojan horse, just six weeks before the congressional elections. It was fiendishly brilliant; in the end we lost 54 seats.
The guts of that Trojan horse were taken nearly verbatim from Reagan's 1985 State of the Union speech. The core of
that speech, the heart of Reaganism, venerated the new Republican mantra of cutting taxes on wealth and slashing government spending on entitlement programs. "Entitlement" became identified with a newly-revised, all-purpose political scapegoat: the
undeserving poor.
The massive budget cuts in the Gingrich Congress in 1995 were the cutting edge of Reagan's 1985 vision of boosting growth and balancing the budget by cutting regulation on corporations, taxes on the wealthy, and spending on the poor.
Negotiated 1998 budget: first one balanced since 1969
Economic growth in the first quarter of 1997 was reported to be 5.6%, which pushed the estimated deficit down to $75 billion, about a quarter of what it was when I took office. On May 2, I announced that, at long last, I had reached a balanced
budget agreement with Speaker Gingrich and Senator Lott and the congressional negotiations for both parties. Senator Tom Daschle also announced his support for the agreement. Dick Gephardt did not, but I was hoping he would come around once he had a
chance to review it.
I met the Republicans halfway on the amount of Medicare savings. The Republicans accepted a smaller tax cut, the child health insurance program, and the big education increase. We had produced the first balanced budget since
1969, and a good one to boot. Senator Lott and Speaker Gingrich had worked with us in good faith, and Erskine Bowles, with his negotiating skills and common sense, had kept things going at critical moments.
[One of the] basic principles that I believe form the heart of our civilization [is] pragmatism and the concern for craft & excellence, as expressed most recently in the teachings of Edward Deming.Deming’s name is not familiar to most Americans. But
he embodies so many of the traits of the American character that he deserves a place in the nation’s mythology. He is already honored in Japan, where the highest annual award bestowed upon a Japanese company each year if the Deming Award for Quality.
Although Deming’s work defies any easy summary, his teachings generally focus around four basic points:
The customer should be the focus of any business.
Systems, rather than individuals, should be the focus of improving production.
There has to
be a theory or hypothesis before each change or action. Prediction is the key to management.
Every employee can be a key player in improving a process or product. Employees should be treated as knowledgeable contributors to their activities.
To achieve a balanced budget by 2002, both Democratic and Republican governors will tell you it's doable, but it's hard. I don't think it's doable in a year or two. I don't think we ought to lie to the
American people. This is a huge, complicated job.
I think the baby boomers are now old enough that we can have an honest dialogue about priorities, about resources, about what works, about what doesn't.
I think on a bipartisan basis, we owe it to our children and our grandchildren to get this government in order to be able to actually pay our way. I think 2002 is a reasonable time frame and
I would hope we can open a dialogue with the American people.
The Contract from America, clause 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.
Source: The Contract From America 10-CFA03 on Jul 8, 2010
Limit federal spending growth to per-capita inflation rate.
Gingrich signed the Contract From America
The Contract from America, clause 6. End Runaway Government Spending:
Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of the inflation rate plus the percentage of population growth.
Source: The Contract From America 10-CFA06 on Jul 8, 2010
Supports balanced budget amendment & line item veto.
Gingrich wrote the Contract with America:
[As part of the Contract with America, within 100 days we pledge to bring to the House Floor the following bill]:
The Fiscal Responsibility Act: A balanced budget/tax limitation amendment and a legislative line-item veto to restore fiscal responsibility to an out-of-control Congress, requiring them to live under the same budget constraints as families and businesses.
Source: Contract with America 93-CWA3 on Sep 27, 1994
Click here for definitions & background information on Budget & Economy.
