that is not the type of approach that really gives you the kind of mandate of unifying the country behind your governing agenda. my personal opinion, it s wishful thinking that anyone comes out of the election with a mandate. gregg: just before the president spoke, john boehner had this to say. problem with raising tax rates on wealthiest americans, more than half of them are small business owners. we know from ernest & young, 700,000 jobs would be destroy. we also know would it slow down our economy. raising tax rates will slow down our ability to create the jobs that everyone says they wanted. gregg: in fact, twice during his first term the president agreed with that saying that raising taxes would hurt the economy. actually, when he said that, growth was at 5.6%. now its even worse.
right now, no matter how many speeches he does, he s not going to get their support right now. it s not that it s wrong, it s just that everybody hates it. what do you think? i think the integral question to ask is, what is it exactly we want to change? i mean, two years ago we had a message put forward centered around the concept of hope and change, no one really stopped to ask, what is it we re trying to change? they were trying to change george w. bush. i think you re exactly right, there was this issue, the words themselves were a governing agenda. that is not the case. the agenda people did want, sensible people investments that will create jobs in a tax structure that produces investment, education, things that aren t nitty-gritty, that are the passion of the words of the campaign. the president feels he s been doing that is his frustration. i understand his frustration. the problem with this elliott, and why barack obama hasn t been able to find his footing this year,
gigot. house republicans unveiled their so-called pledge to america this week, calling it a governing agenda. they plan to pursue if they reagenda control of congress in november. the pledge includes proposals to permanently extend all the bush era tax cuts, including those for high earners, and give small business owners a 20% tax deduction on their income. canceled all unspent stimulus funds and roll back spending to pre-stimulus and pre-bailout levels and repeal obama care. replace it with proposals that include limits on malpractice lawsuits among other things. the pledge is widely seen as an effort to do what the republicans did when they won the house in 1994, with a contract with america. so, will it work? joining the panel this week, wall street columnist dan henninger, john fund and washington columnist kim strassel. some conservatives are out
that would really throw a wrench into the second two years of president obama s first term. many experts agree that republicans are favored now to take the majority. they came out on thursday with their pledge to america. they want to cut spending to 2008 levels. they want to repeal and replace that controversial health care law that when it pass inside march, many democrats thought would be a public attribute. kevin mccarthy, a relatively new member, one of the young guns of house republicans. he s from bakersfield, california. he had a response today to what the president said in his web address. as a result of the economically disastrous policies of the current administration, millions of americans are out of work today. and our children will be saddled with the deficit and debt that is by every definition out of control. this pledge is a governing agenda. it koubld implemented right now if the powers that be in washington would allow it. and what s unspoken the
majority in the house in november s election as they re expected to, they have a blueprint of how they re going to govern. tomorrow they re unveiling a pledge to america. a 21-page document calling for smaller government, rolling back the economic stimulus plan and repealing the health care reform law. cnn obtained a copy of it. some language bears a resemblance to tea party rhetoric. in a self-governing society the the only bulwark against the state is the consent of the governed. and regarding the policies of the current government, the governed do not consent. it goes on to say, an unchecked executive, a compliant legislator and overreaching judiciary have gone on to thwart the will of the people. they go on to say we invite fellow citizens and patriots to join us in forming a new governing agenda for america. house democrats as you would expect have already denounced the plan as a pledge to wall