OPINION:
For the average American, 1994 may bring back memories of O.J. Simpson’s infamous Bronco chase, the Major League Baseball strike, or the Winter Olympics. In 1994, at the box office, monster hits like The Lion King and Forrest Gump dominated the charts, while shows like Seinfeld, E.R., and Friends ruled TV before Netflix had even started renting DVDs.
But to those of us with a political bent, 1994 was the year a revolution took place. It was the year Republicans struck a chord with an electorate fed up with big government, high taxes, and a political class disconnected from everyday Americans. Under Newt Gingrich’s leadership, the GOP flipped 54 seats in the House and 8 in the Senate, winning control of both houses of Congress and breaking a 40-year Democrat hold on the House of Representatives.
It was the year of the Republican Contract with America. And as we approach this historic election’s 30th anniversary in November, we must be sure to look back on its lessons.
Just like then, our nation is at a crossroads. Inflation is crushing families; eight in ten Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and overreaching government regulation has left business owners uncertain if they can survive beyond 2024. Voters are once again looking to the Republican Party for real leadership, just as they did in 1994.
The Contract with America succeeded because it offered clear, focused solutions to the issues voters cared about most. Today’s Republicans must do the same, and their agenda must be as clear.
Before the 1994 election, I experienced my own political transformation while at Yale, realizing that the entrenched liberal dominance of the time was leading the country in the wrong direction. Like many other Republican candidates, I wanted to bring core conservative principles like restoring fiscal responsibility, establishing a more limited government, and increasing personal accountability in Congress back to the forefront.
The 1994 Contract with America movement allowed us to realize this conservative vision that Ronald Reagan had so eloquently championed. As I’ve said before, this election was a referendum on the big-government policies of Clintonism versus the conservative values that Reagan and Dan Quayle had championed. Ultimately, Americans chose our platform: Lower taxes, less government, and a return to American values.
Looking back, it’s easy to see how the Contract reshaped Washington. Congress balanced the budget - that has not been done since. Its proposals delivered several key legislative victories, such as historic welfare reform that required recipients to work and set time limits on benefits, the Congressional Review Act that started to bring regulations back to Congress, as well as measures that reined in federal overreach and held Congress to the same standards as everyday Americans. Unfortunately, not every provision of the Contract became law. While efforts for a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment and congressional term limits fell short, parts of other initiatives like spending cuts, tax cuts, and crime reforms were later incorporated into other bills.
However, while not every goal was achieved, the mere act of introducing the Contract revolutionized the way Republicans approached governance. And the principles embedded in that document continue to guide conservatives today, from spending reductions to tax cuts. We may not have achieved everything, but we shifted the debate, and that’s no small feat.
Looking back after all these years, I do not think it is a prideful exaggeration to state that the Contract was a historic component of our victory and many others down the line. It reshaped the Republican Party’s legislative agenda and influenced U.S. politics for years, framing much of the GOP’s platform for smaller government, fiscal conservatism, and accountability.
Now, as we approach another critical election day 30 years later, the stakes are higher, the divide deeper, and the voters’ trust weaker. Our opponents now present an agenda fraught with reckless spending, record-high taxes, and excessive government overreach. Their social policies threaten free speech, parental rights, faith and family values. In short, the Democrat party platform of 2024 actively threatens the American way of life.
With so much at risk, today’s Republican party cannot afford apathy or disunity.
The good news is that we already have a roadmap in hand. The Club for Growth Foundation’s Freedom Forward Handbook offers a series of policy proposals that, much like the Contract with America, aim to reduce taxes, cut excessive regulation, and streamline government. It advocates for policies such as ending tax code penalties on capital investment and cutting the $350 billion annual regulatory burden on manufacturers. It also supports the REINS Act, rolling back excessive Clean Air Act requirements, deregulating American energy, and expanding school choice and Right-to-Work laws to boost economic growth and educational achievement. Our vision reinforces the same principles that drove the Contract with America, promising a commitment to pro-growth, limited government policy and unwavering support for American values.
The Contract’s success was built on an agenda rooted in common-sense conservativism that resonated deeply with voters’ concerns. We must offer the same kind of agenda to voters today. In the months ahead, we need to channel the same clarity and conviction that drove us 30 years ago and use it to drive us toward victory once again.
- David McIntosh is a former Congressman from Indiana and President of Club for Growth Foundation.
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