The GOP has launched their Pledge to the American people.  The night of the release, I received a call from CBS radio asking me to comment.  I stated that while I appreciated the effort, this  new "pledge" was insufficient in its stated goals and objectives.  It seemed to me to be a muted effort to somehow show that Republicans were responsive to the aspirations of the Tea Party and at the same time create a politically safe statement of how they might lead.  While I had not read the details of the plan, I was able to review the highlights.  In the end, I came to the conclusion that this was a timid effort at best.

In fact, it was clear that much of the "pledge" would not be passed into law due to the veto pen being in the hands of President Obama.  And in this context, it seemed nothing more than a rallying cry for the November election.   This was not a bold strategy, an aggressive approach or an attempt to radically reform government.  None of those things would be achieved within the pledge as written.  And it certainly did not capture one's imagination!

Looking at this another way, we can consider how America has performed through the last decade.  And we'll reference those very "conservative" organizations, like the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Federal Reserve and the Washington Post!  Oops, well, maybe not the Washington Post, but we can thank them for the graphic.  As we can see, it is apparent that across all measures, our country has "lost the decade" in terms of the economy and individual economic performance.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts; U.S. Dept. of Labor,  Business Employment Dynamics (BED).  Estimates based on Census data and BED trends.

And in this recession alone, over 6 million jobs have been lost!  And all the while, government has grown, spending has increased, departments have expanded, our deficits and debt have ballooned.  Would it be so radical to assume that government begins to look like the general economy?  Departments come and go, legislators come and go, regulations come and go while layoffs occur, downsizing takes place and spending is reversed.  Just like in the private sector - just like real life in America.  So in evaluating this proposed pledge, one can only look at it as being reasoned and appropriate.  And what would this new pledge look like?  Read on and consider that like the American people, the federal government needs to lose the decade.

The Pledge: Lose the Decade

The people of the United States have experienced a lost decade by measures of financial wealth, economic development, job creation, security and freedom.  The Pledge, offered by the Republican leadership is insufficient in reflecting this reality while also addressing the key concerns of the Tea Party movement.  In this context we are proposing - Pledge: Lose the Decade. 

• Lose the budget:  All budgets cut back to 2000 levels
• Lose the earmarks: Eliminate any use of earmarks in any legislative action
• Lose the bureaucracy:  Repeal or remove those departments created during the decade that expanded the federal bureaucracy, including Homeland Security, which has become too large
• Lose the departments: Terminate the Departments of Energy, Commerce, Education, National Endowment for the Arts while reducing the EPA and the IRS
• Lose the wages: All federal workers would be cut back to a basket of private sector salaries and benefits, within + or - 10%
• Lose the taxes:  Keep all Bush tax cuts in place and eliminate the capital gains tax while reducing corporate tax rates
• Lose the regulations:  Repeal and replace the Healthcare bill, simplify the tax code, EPA regulations and the Financial Reform Act to include repealing the provision “no funding repeal” of the newly created consumer advocacy department
• Lose the ignorance:  All bills will be read by the Congress and signed as being read, under threat of perjury; all bills will be certified as to their constitutionality
• Lose the control:  No further erosion of personal rights through new regulations, acts, laws that create greater control over the lives of our citizens
• Lose the power:  Those seeking executive and legislative office will agree not to join or consult to any lobbying group for five years after their departure from their elected or appointed offices

The people of the United States have lost a decade.  They have lost their jobs, their wealth and their security.  All the while, the federal government has grown and created further complexity.  This intrusion into our lives demonstrates a lack of fiscal responsibility, Constitutionally limited government and reduces the functioning of free markets.  We, the people, expect government to reflect the realities of our lives through an aggressive change in that government’s power and spending.  To do less would continue to sustain the arrogance of our leadership and their power over our lives.

In conclusion, this "unrealistic, radical, impossible and out to lunch" proposal might just result in a stronger America, a responsive and responsible federal government and a return to the kind of pragmatism our founders understood,  government of, by and for the people.  And once again, we might just find our American values in that lost decade renewed.  The monster that government has become would be slain, the people who represent us held accountable and the renewal we want be realized.  In contemplating the adoption of such a pledge, I am reminded of a stanza in the hymn Amazing Grace which states,  ...once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see.