The Contract from America was the idea of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

-based attorney Ryan Hecker. Hecker states that he developed the concept of creating a grassroots call for reform prior to the April 15, 2009 Tax Day Tea Party rallies. To get his idea off the ground, he launched a website which encouraged people to offer possible planks for the contract. Hecker told ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', "Hundreds of thousands of people voted for their favorite principles online to create the Contract as an open-sourced platform for the

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defi ...

. The agenda had the imprint of everyday citizens every step of the way (in the

online voting Electronic voting (also known as e-voting) is voting that uses electronic means to either aid or take care of casting and counting ballots. Depending on the particular implementation, e-voting may use standalone ''electronic voting machines'' ( ...

process)." Hecker said the Republicans' 1994

Contract with America The Contract with America was a legislative agenda advocated for by the Republican Party during the 1994 congressional election campaign. Written by Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey, and in part using text from former President Ronald Reagan's 19 ...

represented the nation's last intellectual economic conservative movement, but the new list, he said, was "created from the bottom up. It was not crafted in Washington with the help of pollsters." From the original 1,000 ideas which were submitted, Hecker reduced it to about 50 based on popularity, then to 21 items with the help of former House Republican Leader

Dick Armey Richard Keith Armey (; born July 7, 1940) is an American economist and politician. He was a U.S. Representative from Texas's (1985–2003) and House Majority Leader (1995–2003). He was one of the engineers of the "Republican Revolution" of t ...

, whose conservative group

FreedomWorks FreedomWorks is a conservative and libertarian advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. FreedomWorks trains volunteers, assists in campaigns, and encourages them to mobilize, interacting with both fellow citizens and their political representat ...

has established close ties with many Tea Party activists around the country. After releasing the 21 ideas at CPAC on February 18, 2010, a final online vote was held to narrow the 21 ideas down to the final 10 to be included in the Contract from America. Over two months, 454,331 votes were cast. The resulting document, including the vote percentages for the statements, was posted online on April 12, 2010. The Contract lists 10 agenda items that it encourages congressional candidates to follow:Contract From America Web Site

# Identify constitutionality of every new law: Require each bill to identify the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does (82.0%). # Reject emissions trading: Stop the "cap and trade" administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants. (72.2%). # Demand a balanced federal budget: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax modification. (69.7%) # Simplify the tax system: Adopt a simple and fair single-rate
tax system A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or ...
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. (64.9%) # Audit federal government agencies for constitutionality: Create a
blue ribbon The blue ribbon is a symbol of high quality. The association comes from The Blue Riband, a prize awarded for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by passenger liners and, prior to that from Cordon Bleu, which referred to the blue ribbon w ...
taskforce that engages in an audit of federal agencies and programs, assessing their
constitutionality Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
, and identifying duplication, waste, ineffectiveness, and agencies and programs better left for the states or local authorities. (63.4%) # Limit annual growth in federal spending: Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of the
inflation rate In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
plus the percentage of population growth. (56.57%). # Repeal the health care legislation passed on March 23, 2010: Defund, repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (56.4%). # Pass an 'All-of-the-Above' Energy Policy: Authorize the
exploration Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
of additional energy reserves (see Oil reserves in the United States) to reduce American dependence on foreign
energy source Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse ...
s and reduce regulatory barriers to all other forms of energy creation. (55.5%). # Reduce Earmarks: Place a moratorium on all earmarks until the budget is balanced, and then require a 2/3 majority to pass any earmark. (55.5%). # Reduce Taxes: Permanently repeal all recent tax increases, and extend permanently the George W. Bush temporary reductions in
income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
,
capital gains tax A capital gains tax (CGT) is the tax on profits realized on the sale of a non-inventory asset. The most common capital gains are realized from the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals, real estate, and property. Not all countries impose a c ...
and estate taxes, currently scheduled to end in 2011. (53.4%).

The

Tea Party Patriots The Tea Party Patriots is an American conservative political organization founded in 2009 as part of the Tea Party movement. It is known for organizing citizen opposition to the Affordable Care Act during the presidency of Barack Obama, and more ...

have asked both Democrats and Republicans to sign on to the Contract. No Democrats have signed on, and the contract has met resistance from some Republicans who have since created the Pledge to America. Brendan Buck, former Speaker of the House John Boehner's Communications Director for Special Legislative Initiatives (while Boehner was House Minority Leader), explained that the Contract is too narrow in focus, and not exactly what the Republican Party would include in its own top 10 list of priorities. "We just want to have as big and open process as we can," he said, while making sure to add that " e tea party people will have a seat at the table." Candidates who have signed the Contract from America include Utah's

Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Lee began his career as a clerk for the U ...

, Nevada's Sharron Angle, Sen. Coburn (R-OK), and Sen. DeMint (R-SC).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Contract From America American political manifestos 2010 in American politics Tea Party movement 2010 documents

See also

References

External links