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Newt Gingrich
In 1932 the American electorate, unhappy with years of economic depression and a Republican Congress
that would not take decisive action to attack the issues, swept Democrats into control of the national
government for the first time in decades. Responding to this mandate and the urgent needs of the American
people during the Great Depression, Congress passed numerous key pieces of legislation during the first
100 days of their 1933 session. The legislation attacked the banking crisis, the needs of business and
industry, labor and the unemployed. The amount of action taken, and its ability to win popular support,
made the concept of the "first Hundred days" the standard by which all Congresses are measured.
The election of 1994 gave the Republican Party control of Congress for the first time since 1954. The
leaders of the 104th Congress, especially House Speaker Newt Gingrich, promised to enact their legislative
program, entitled The Contract With America, within the first Hundred days. The Contract was
created as a campaign tactic, with which Republicans promised to remake the government and change the
nation if elected, But what was the CWA, and did it really have support of the American people—or
even a majority in Congress? Only 20 percent of the electorate actually voted for Republican candidates,
and exit polls showed most of them did not know what the CWA promised. Can you identify the ten
parts of the Contract With America before reading them on the following page? When you read the
ten clauses, determine how each could affect you if enacted. Are they really reforms as Speaker Gingrich
declared, or paybacks to special interest groups for supporting the Republican election efforts? How many
of the reforms actually help you or the majority of the American people? Will any part of the Contract
With America help you or your family [especially if school lunch programs, college loan programs,
etc. are eliminated?] Do they represent the most important issues facing the nation as a whole? Can you
suggest any more-important issues not considered here?
Consider the clauses carefully. The line-item veto is considered more later. Should increasing the defense
budget—a traditional Republican pork measure—be linked to detaching ourselves from the United Nations?
Every political party talks about tax cuts, because talk is cheap and the idea is usually popular until
you start working out the details. Welfare reform has been enacted, but questions remain over how effective
[and humane] the changes are. Would a reduction in the capital gains tax really help all Americans, or
just those in the highest income brackets? Should there be restrictions on your right to sue irresponsible
manufacturers, doctors, etc.? Term limits were the rage, the most promised reform of the new Republican
majority in 1994. Where are they now?
We do not hear too much about the Contract With America anymore. House Republican leaders forced
most of it through and claim it is still a priority today. However, real politics interfered with the
Contract from the start. When parts began being debated, many Republicans heard from constituents
who were opposed to major sections. Senate Republicans believed many of the clauses were either poor policy
or political suicide, and refused to even consider voting them into law. As a result, very little of the
Contract ever went further than the House of Representatives. The line-item veto, welfare reform,
increased defense spending and talk of tax cuts go on, and most are considered later in this reader.
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