WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 -- Hundreds of Republicans dreaming of winning a majority in Congress this November gathered at the Capitol Tuesday and pledged to pass 'real congressional reform,' including tax cuts and spending controls, if they wrest control from Democrats for the first time in 40 years. Calling it a 'Contract With America,' the House Republican leadership vowed to enact its legislative agenda within the first 100 days of the 104th session of Congress if Republicans come away from the midterm elections with a majority of seats. The Republicans, including some 200 House candidates who traveled to Washington at the request of House GOP Whip Newt Gingrich of Georgia, unveiled the proposal at a euphoric gala complete with a band and flag- waving supporters on the steps of the Capitol building. Optimistic party members touted the event as a 'preview to January.' 'We make this explicit offer: Give us a majority control of the House of Representatives for the first time in four decades and we will bring to the House floor on the first day real congressional reform,' Rep. Dick Armey, R-Texas, said. The GOP plan, which Republicans estimate would cost $148 billion over five years, consists of 10 specific bills aimed at controlling spending and cutting taxes including: -- A constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget. -- An anti-crime package. -- Strict welfare reform that would prohibit benefits to minor mothers. -- A 'family reinforcement act.' -- A $500-per-child tax credit. -- A repeal of U.N. authority over U.S. troops.
-- An increase in Social Security earnings and a repeal of taxes on benefits to wealthy seniors. -- A capital gains tax cut. -- A 'loser pays' law to reform product liability laws. -- Term limits for lawmakers. Comparing the so-called contract with Vice President Al Gore's 'reinventing government plan,' Gingrich said the balanced budget amendment is the 'best example of a clearer, decisive change.' He said the Clinton administration 'will tax and borrow from you and your children but they will not take away from the federal budget' and he called Gore's plan 'a cosmetic face lift of the old order.' Gingrich warned that Americans 'have become in danger of losing our own civilization,' and painting a bleak picture of the future, said, 'If America fails, our children will live on a dark and bloody planet.' But he invoked the words of the late Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt, saying, 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself.' Democrats overwhelmingly and resoundingly criticized the GOP plan, first and foremost for its estimated cost, which they said would actually add more than $1 trillion to the federal budget deficit. Rep. Robert Wise, D-W.Va., said the contract holds more of what President Ronald Reagan's economic policy did for the nation: 'cut taxes but increase spending and then wonder why you have a $4 trillion dollar deficit.' 'If you liked the Reagan supply-side economics, you will love this river boat gamble,' he said. 'This is not a contract for America, this sort of a hit job on America's middle class is a contract on America.' On Monday, White House chief of staff Leon Panetta derided the plan as a 'flim-flam' that proposes tax cuts without proposing a replacement method for the lost revenues. He said such reductions will surely result in deep cuts in Social Security and Medicare. Butler Derrick, D-S.C., called the plan a 'pre-arranged contract for cash' and criticized the GOP candidates for not waging independent campaigns but, rather, traveling to Washington at Gingrich's request simply to 'sign a blood oath.' Derrick pointed out that the candidates who signed Gingrich's contract will 'pick up a check tonight from Newt's wealthy contributors' when they attend a $500-a-plate political fundraiser. Referring to Gingrich and Armey, Rep. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said, 'Don't let a couple of ambitious politicians from Georgia and Texas tell you how to represent your district.' The Democratic National Committee, meanwhile, scrambling to counter the GOP punch, began airing 60-second radio ads in 14 markets around the country where Democrats face particularly competitive races, including Gingrich's district in Atlanta. Even some Republicans, however, calling the event at the Capitol 'symbolic,' conceded the contract initiative was unlikely to produce any significant change for their party's outlook in November. 'It might make a slight difference in a very close race,' Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., said, but added, 'the contract itself is more than anything else just to say that this stuff about gridlock is not true.'
