US Republicans hoping to gain control of the House of Representatives in the November 2nd election vow to slash spending and stop "job-killing tax hikes" in a campaign manifesto set to be unveiled today.
The agenda, a draft of which was obtained by Reuters yesterday, proposes scaling back federal spending to 2008 levels, although with large exceptions, and ending government control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Their wide-ranging 'Pledge to America' also calls for tougher border security, putting suspected terrorists on trial in military rather than civilian courts and repealing President Barack Obama's landmark and unpopular overhaul of the US healthcare system.
"This agenda came from the American people, it came by listening to the American people. It's their agenda," House Republican leader John Boehner told reporters after privately briefing a meeting of Senate Republicans on it.
While Mr Obama is unlikely to sign many, if any, of the proposed reforms into law, they set markers in what is certain to be a rough-and-tumble fight if Republicans take the House from his fellow Democrats for the final two years of his term.
Many opinion polls have predicted Republicans are likely to win control of the House in the November election amid voter anger at Washington over a 9.6 per cent jobless rate and a record federal deficit.
White House communications director Daniel Pfeiffer dismissed the Republicans' pledge as "a plan to take America back to the same failed economic policies" that caused the recession.
"Instead of charting a new course, Congressional Republicans doubled down on the same ideas that hurt America's middle class," Mr Pfeiffer wrote on the White House blog last night.
House Democrats blasted the Republican agenda, particularly for promising to extend tax cuts permanently to the wealthiest Americans. Mr Obama wants to let those tax cuts expire at the end of the year, while extending tax cuts for middle- and low-income people.
"Congressional Republicans are pledging to ... blow a $700 billion hole in the deficit to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires," said Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat.
Republican Representative Candice Miller said the plan would give voters "a high level of confidence ... that we will address what needs to be addressed to get our economy back on track."
Republicans plan to formally roll out their agenda today at a lumberyard and hardware store in Sterling, Virginia.
"It's not Washington, DC," Mr Boehner said when asked why he picked the suburban location.
The agenda is reminiscent of the 'Contract with America' that House Republicans announced on the steps of the Capitol in 1994. It helped them win control of the House during the second year of Democrat Bill Clinton's presidency.
The new Republican agenda resulted from an online initiative announced in May to hear suggestions and policy proposals directly from the American people.
Republicans have battled criticism from Democrats that they have become the "party of no" by rejecting Mr Obama's agenda rather than bringing ideas to the table that would help reach a compromise.
Republicans reject such criticism, saying Americans disagree with Mr Obama's agenda.
Republicans said their plan would permanently stop "job-killing tax hikes" and bolster small businesses.
Like many campaign documents from both political parties, the Republicans' draft plan was big on promises and short on details. For example, the House Republicans touted their "plan to put government on a path to a balanced budget".
But for a budget expected to be about $1.3 trillion in the red just this year, there were few details about how they would end the deficit spending.
Besides the $100 billion savings Republicans said they could achieve by rolling back spending to 2008 levels for some programs, they said they would put a "hard cap" on new spending for a slice of the federal budget and would achieve relatively small savings to other programs.
In their draft agenda, House Republicans said they would offer a plan "to repeal and replace the government takeover of healthcare with common-sense solutions focused on lowering costs and protecting American jobs".
Reuters