AMAC Exclusive – By Andrew Abbott
Republican leaders looking to retake the House and Senate next year would do well to start reminding Americans of a chapter of recent political history. It’s a story that would help Republicans explain to voters who are worried about the economy that their only hope is a GOP victory this fall—which would send a powerful signal to both markets and consumers.
Bill Clinton likes to brag that he brought prosperity in the 1990s. The truth is that after promising a middle class tax cut, he passed the biggest tax hike in history and threw the economy into reverse. In addition, he spooked the economy by aggressively pursuing another giant threat to small businesses and family incomes—the big government healthcare takeover known as Hillarycare.
After an economic downturn from 1989-1991, George H.W. Bush’s final year had seen a strong recovery with 3.63% GDP growth. Thus, in January of 1993, Clinton had inherited a booming economy. But Clinton’s big government policies rapidly put the breaks on this resurgence. Job and wage growth slowed while trade deficits soared and productivity was low. Economists began to feel that the rosy predictions of the early 1990s were suddenly looking less and less realistic.
Once Newt Gingrich and Congressional Republicans won in 1994, however, all of that began to change—and quickly. First, Gingrich’s Republican Revolution transformed the morale and the culture of the country. Businesses and consumers relaxed because they recognized there would be no more taxes and little new regulation—and as a result, they were willing to invest and spend once again. That was the first big step in rebuilding the economy Clinton had destroyed.
Almost as quickly, the new Republican Congress began to implement the policies they had run on and won on—the plans laid out in the platform known as the Contract with America. The Contract promised a balanced budget, tax cuts for families, welfare reform, a rollback of crippling government regulations, a crackdown on violent crime, and more. This was the common-sense agenda that had swept Republicans into unified control of Congress for the first time since 1952, with the GOP picking up 8 Senate seats and 54 House seats, and even the incumbent Speaker of the House, Democrat Tom Foley, losing his re-election bid.
Upon becoming Speaker in 1995, Gingrich and the new Republican majority set to work fulfilling their promises to the American People with unprecedented speed. When their policies kicked in—including the largest capital gains tax cut ever—they spurred the economy even further.
In addition to these historic legislative accomplishments, Gingrich’s Congress achieved something else: they forced Bill Clinton back to the political center. Seeing the success of the Contract with America—both politically and economically—Clinton executed one of the most spectacular reversals in the history of American politics.
After spending his first two years governing from the hard left, Clinton shamelessly declared that “the era of Big Government is over” by his 1996 State of the Union Address one year into Gingrich’s new Congress. For the remainder of his term, he pursued an agenda that was largely dictated by or ripped off from Congressional Republicans—leading to the only balanced budgets in our lifetimes.
The economic results of these developments are well known: From 1997 to 2000, GDP grew at over 4% in an extraordinary economic boom. But the achievement was not Bill Clinton’s. Seen properly, it was Gingrich and Congressional Republicans’.
Today, Republican leaders should explicitly remind Americans of this history, and point out to voters that they have a similar opportunity before them. Just as George H.W. Bush handed his predecessor an economy that was rapidly recovering from recession only to have it wrecked by a Democrat president tacking left, Donald Trump gave Biden the strongest economic recovery in history. As we know, Biden proceeded to quickly squander it.
Just as in 1994, however, the election of large Republican majorities in the House and Senate would produce an immediate change in the national morale and economic culture. Biden’s weak economy would begin turning around the day after the election. The results would be seen instantly. Coupled with a legislative agenda of strong pro-growth policies, a Republican Congress could go a long way toward saving the U.S. economy, creating jobs, and producing a rapid return to prosperity. And who knows—perhaps Biden would even have the sense to take a page out of Bill Clinton’s book, and race back to the political center to save his presidency, and the economy along with it.
Andrew Abbott is the pen name of a writer and public affairs consultant with over a decade of experience in DC at the intersection of politics and culture.
Let’s see if this comment can be posted without the AMAC moderator flagging or deleting it outright.
To answer the question posed by the article’s author, the answer is NO for the following reasons:
1) Neither McCarthy nor McConnell are of the same caliber as Gingrich in terms of commitment to getting the right things done. Both men talk a good game, in order to get re-elected, but neither is actually a fiscal conservative in any real sense of the definition. Both McCarthy and McConnell are “go along to get along” types, that are primarily focused on maintaining the dysfunctional status quo of Washington, D.C. As such, they would not seriously commit to any sort of truly fiscally conservative agenda once they get control of both chambers of Congress. They would both need to be replaced by people such as Jim Jordan in the House and someone of actual constitutional and fiscal conservatism in the Senate. Based on recent polling data from Republican members of Congress as to who they want in leadership positions, that doesn’t appear to be on the table.
2) The Democrat Party has moved much farther left than where it was under Bill Clinton. Today’s Democrat Party is fully committed to ramming socialism down the throats of the American public whether they want it or not. There is NO DESIRE by the Democrats to compromise on their current agenda.
3) The last and most important aspect is the Biden administration is NOT interested in moderating any of its policies or positions. It took two parties, Gingrich and Clinton, to agree to the sort of changes that saved Clinton’s second term in office from being a dumpster fire and instead delivered significant economic growth and prosperity. Biden has ZERO interest in changing any aspect of how his administration is operating. Biden and his people have already stated numerous times that, if necessary, Biden will do exactly what Obama did when there was a Republican controlled Congress in place. That being rule by executive actions and weaponize the regulatory processes of the Executive Branch to impose Democrat policies. As such, absent any serious change by the Biden administration post elections, a Republican controlled Congress led by McConnell and McCarthy would accomplish little.
Real change would have to wait until we had the type of pro-growth, pro-prosperity, pro-American type of POTUS in the WH, that we had before Biden was installed. That is of course assuming there is anything left of the United States economy to save by the time 2024 rolls around.
Red Wave would overtake the 1994 Wave alone
AMEN!!
Yea but the American people have been brainwashed by the Colleges and the leftist media. Also 51% of the people are to dumb to realize what the Dems are doing to them.
NO… B/c most “red” politicians are neocons, RINOs, Globalists, pro-Globalists, and worse. They talk big to get our votes & donations, but once in office, either cave to the pressure or reveal their true colors of Socialism/Communism/Fascism…
And, aside from that, DC is the “SWAMP”… The swamp creatures are mostly unelected bureaucrats who pretty much do as they please. And, most of those in place now – elected, selected, and unelected – are all-in on the destruction of the USA. Perfect example – Victoria Nuland. Who should be charged with treason, sedition, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. But, that’s not likely to happen, is it?
Where there is a will there is a way is there a will and determination ?We sure don’t see much of it just a blather to save the own skin
It will take an overwhelming majority of conservative-minded representatives being elected to the House and Senate to defeat not only the Democrats but also the establishment Republicans that cannot and do not want to end the decline of the USA.
Can a November Red Wave Save U.S. Economy Like Gingrich’s 94 Win ? Y E S ! ! !
Because , by November , we will have exchanged , via our Primary Elections , Real men & real women for neocons and Rinos .
Many of the new GOP candidates seem to be veterans , and novice Pols who are not (yet) corrupted . And , the new crop of GOP women is very pleasantly surprising . Women like Boebert , Green , et al . And, many are victorious Primary challengers who have been endorsed by Trump .
It would have to be a MASSIVE majority of the vote to have any hope of overcoming the cheating, if we are even still allowed to vote by then. Folks, the impending WHO treaty, that is to be voted on in just a couple of weeks, is the plan to take our whole country away from our control! And the Buyden admin sent modifications to speed it up and make it worse. We need to do whatever we can quickly!
A Republican victory in the House and Senate is our only hope to save our country now. We will be lucky to undo all that Biden has done to destroy America. Biden is a tool of the Global Elites and HATES all Americans.
Bumbling Biden is clearly not calling the shots and making critical decisions for the country. His communist handlers are clearly setting their agenda and the survival of this country is not part of it!
It will take more than one legal election to get this country back.
stamp out marxist-leninist communism in America by taking control in 2022 elections with a wipeout of commiecrat candidates. we’ve already permitted the commies to much room in OUR country. give them orange onesies every week, a 6-by-9 with a secure front door and three “vegans” a-day of purina. very inhumane because they’re already crazy.
What are the GOP legislative priorities? Outside of Send. Scott, nobody is putting their ideas on the table. Anti-leftist is not enough! What are GOP politicians FOR?!!
I wish I could share your optimism about a “red wave”. Remember that the Democrats STOLE the 2020 election. That is a PRESIDENTIAL election, so imagine the gargantuan effort the Miscreant Party exerted to effect that. What’s worse, they got away with TOTAL IMPUNITY … *TOTAL*. Does anyone really think they won’t try again in future elections?
The short answer is Yes, removing the marxist democrats along with their failed policand destruction of America ,can be fixed when we throw them out!
EVERYTHING the traitor democrat party has forced is BAD for Real Citizens and Our Country!
The solution is THROW THEM OUT!
short answer. No
THERE WILL BE NO RED WAVE. THE CANCEROUS, ANTI-AMERICAN, LYING , CHEATING, libs WILL CHEAT ON THE ELECTIONS AGAIN
Republicans will have to DEFINE their Principles and not just fight Democrat proposals. Strong military, fiscal responsibility and common sense rules and regulations are required. Review all entitlement programs for economy and effectiveness.
If there were a red wave and the blues stepped to one side and allowed majorities for us in the house and senate, the GOP selectees would stagger around doing nothing that didn’t fill their pockets. It’s like pushing P up a hill trying to get the Republicans to do something beneficial or constructive for us. We don’t need democrats going against us, the Republicans do just fine.
We have to oust the Dems in a November Red Wave in any case, in order to at least start the process of recovering our Republic. If it happens, the GOP at all levels has to be unified in their assembly and in their message, so if another election cycle is needed, there will be little room for RINOs to hijack things. I can see the MSM and Swampers pressuring the GOP by holding their popularity in DC circles hostage in the event of a November Red Wave, so the GOP has to just accept this fact and move on. The GOP needs to govern and educate the voters at the same time. Hopefully they can do it.
Not if nearly every “R” now holding office is re-elected. Of the current 262 “R”s currently in Congress, maybe…just maybe 10-12% of them are worth their salt. To effect change, mcconnell and mccarthy BOTH HAVE TO GO. Both were blatantly ant-Trump. Both have refused to speak out against the coup, nor have they spoken out against the ongoing unconstitutional travesty of the J6 political hostage taking. These two put the “R in RINO. The only way things will change is if the vast majority of “R”s in Congress are staunch conservatives. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see that happening. The days of Newt and the “Contract with America” ideology are over.
Biden is nothing more than a tube; a pipe that others pass material thru. Like him or not, clinton was able to adapt and ride the wave, like lbj in the 60s regarding race. As to impeachment, even if the cheating does not overwhelm the midterms and the Rs win congress, institutional memory will stop them along with the overt threats of violence. So, as has already been remarked, biden the tube will issue blizzards of executive orders allowing his handlers to rule by decree.
What an optimist! Do you really suppose that the idiots are going to vote with an “R” just because? There is no group available such as that was there for Gingrich. Too many “RINOS” It doesn’t matter what letter you use “R” or “D”. Who the hell matches your beliefs??? Screw left or right. What is better for you? Those elected idiots are only for themselves. There is no way that they care about you.
A famous person once said that ” The quality of government is equal to those elected.”
I believe that this is an unprecedented opportunity for more “R’s” to be elected so that there will be more “R’s” to become speed bumps for the DCP, who will run over them at will at any speed necessary.
Remembering how bad pedo nee womanizer/assaulter traitor Globalist Clinton was…not only passing biggest tax hike in history (ooooh wait, traitor Commie Obamie said, hold my beer, and passed ObamaNOcare/just high premiums), but also spent like a HELLy drunken sailor “robbing Peter to pay Paul” decimating the military budget (allowing weapons to fall to lowest inventory), while spending on graft-giving c r a p they manageing to get their filthy paws on a portion of. Ginormous spending bills…what greedy and corrupt DemoncRats, who have become fully Commie D corrupt thieves destroying our Republic, do. Due to a stolen election and installation of the fraud puppet figurehead backed by traitor comrades running the show, our Republic, and our freedoms and opportunites are hanging by a thread.
Call me a pessimist…but I think we have already passed the point of no return……..next stop recession and then depression as far as the economy goes…..and not just in America……so buckle up people, the crap is going to hit the fan……and the GOP is to date powerless to change a thing……my observation alone.
Not as long as worthless RINOs McConnell and McCarthy remain in leadership.
Getting rid of the democatric party control will help but there will be no great recovery without Trump. Clearly, President Trump made all the difference for 4 years, There are too many republican anti-Trumpers who did not give him the support he needed to fight against the democrat and medias accusations and lies.
The question is did they cheat or not in the 2020 election. If they did, why would we expect any different results this round. Nothing has been done to clean up that mess. Do the democrats seem worried to you? They don’t to me. As they have always said, if you are not cheating, you aren’t trying to win. The red wave may come, but if the ballots are not counted honestly, I don’t like our chances. Oh and then we throw in the monkey wrench of ending abortion for, the women we might have picked up we lose again because they don’t want to give up rights they have had all of their adult lives. Abortion on demand is a big right for women in that age group. So all the sudden, the rights Biden has taken away from all of us seem minimal compared to the gov’t making you have babies you don’t want. The world is going to H*ll in a hand basket, we are just all along for the ride. God help us.
Sorry but I don’t see it because with the Rhino republicans help the liberals have blocked every attempt to properly secure our elections. That and with Biden flooding liberal judges in lower courts will make it next to impossible to stop any future election fraud from happening. Time has come to revolt.
ONLY IF WE GET RID OF THE PHONY REPUBLICANS.
A major GOP win can help save the sinking ship, but the damage done by Biden and the Democrats is extensive. It cannot be fixed easily or quickly. Anyone who thinks the midterms are all it takes to correct our current disaster are whistling in the wind. With our huge and nasty divisions in our society today which are fostered and exploited by the democrats, it may be beyond fixing. All we can do is vote for change and work to do what we can. But the headwinds from those determined to undermine and destroy our nation are strong. It’s hard to be overly optimistic today.
Lets just get the”slimy”stuff out of the way,impeach the democrats and rinos and help AMERICA recover from the nobamba and sloppy joey years.
FJB!……Let’s Go Brandon… Drill, baby drill!
some midterm election will not magically restore the United States .. The founders always said Clean house every 20 years. We are well over due..
We can only hope! GOD BLESS the USA
I pray that it does
If only we had a Gingrich waiting to accomplish this. What we have are a bunch of backstabbing, establishment sellouts.
Jaime Dimon! should change his name to Jaime Moron! Ceo is ultimately responsible for everything good and bad.
Phil Rosen 18 minutes ago, m
May 10,2022
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As Benjamin Franklin said to a woman who asked him; “What type of government do we be?” – “Madam, we be a Republic, if you can keep it.” Without a serious Red Wave in November we’re in serious trouble. The Red Wave, however, also needs to clean out the RINOS.
It literally never seems to matter. Every time the conservatives make America function our braindead, stupid voters put the demonRat Party right back in. Congress is so useless they ALWAYS fail to make these policies into Laws that would make these gains permanent.
Voters are braindead.
Politicians are corrupt and useless.
Not much to make us succeed.
President Cabbage Brain isn’t doing anything. Comrade Barack is running the things.
Stew Peters has said that he knows someone inside the “Cabbage Brain” White House
I pray to God the Father, God the Son(Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit that this red wave will happen. May the Lord God use Donald Trump to purify America of all types of sin and corruption. May Donald Trump be surrounded by God’s holy angels especially St. Michael the archangel. Amen.
Republicans need to develop a plan and be ready to implement it immediately. We cannot have another debacle like 2016. – both houses of Congress and the White House and they sat on their thumbs and did NOTHING that was promised. Trump delivered; McConnell
It is not 1994 anymore. The problems Americans face are far different now. Offering the solutions that worked in 1994 won’t work now. I want a congress that will do something about the problems we’re having with immigration, crime, and indoctrination in the public schools. I want a congress that will do something to make sure lockdowns never happen again. I want a congress that will not send $40 billion to Ukraine while Americans cannot put food on the table.
Like someone else mentioned, it’s almost fruitless when the voters re-elect a Democrat/s after the ship has been righted.
So….I have a better idea…/
I’ve said for a long time, and now it’s more important than ever…split this country into two. I’ll leave the details of presidents role, military and along what geographical lines, to people much smarter than me. However, we simply cannot go on living like this. It’s draining to go through this every single day. Let the leftists/communists have their cake. It’ll fail—it always does. The rest of us can live the simpler time tested lives that we want. What’s not to like?
Kevin McCarthy is no Newt Gingrich.
balanced budget, tax cuts for families, welfare reform, a rollback of crippling government regulations, a crackdown on violent crime, and more.
SOunds very much like the Trump agenda?
The GOP needs to come out with a new contract with America.
Right now they are promising nothing other than “we’re not Joe Biden”.
They need to spell out a pro-American, pro-energy agenda, and quickly.