Also, Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor to discuss college's future relationship with the city, and some North Country health providers are short on flu vaccines.
View full sizeHouse Minority Leader John Boehner, of Ohio, holds up a copy of the GOP agenda, "A Pledge to America," Thursday at a lumber yard in Sterling, Va. From left are House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, of Virginia, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Boehner and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.From Time magazine:
In a lumber warehouse 30 miles from Washington, House Republican leaders on Thursday unveiled "A Pledge to America," the most revealing look yet at how the party claims it would lead if it regains control of the lower chamber in November. "This new governing agenda, built by listening to the people, offers plans to create jobs, cut spending and put power where it belongs: in the hands of the people," said minority leader John Boehner. By giving voters a peek at their playbook six weeks before the midterm elections, Republicans attempted to neutralize charges that the GOP had become the "party of no." But it remains unclear how Republicans intend to implement some of their central ideas — or whether doing so would solve the problems they have identified.The pledge evokes the 1994 Contract with America, which helped unleash a Republican wave that returned the party to power two years into Bill Clinton's presidency. It was hashed out with input from an energized electorate that submitted scores of suggestions on the Internet. "The proposals House Republicans will put forward today are clear proof that, unlike Democrats in Washington, Republicans have been listening intently to Americans over the past year and a half," said Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader. The pledge also appears to draw some inspiration from the Contract from America concocted this year by Tea Party leaders. "The 'Pledge to America' is a great first step in the campaign for limited government and fiscally sound economic policy," said Ryan Hecker, a Houston Tea Party leader who organized the Contract from America.
» Read the story: Will 'Pledge' Get Republicans to the Promised Land? [Time magazine]
» GOP's Pledge to America has lots of new ideas, or does it? [The Christian Science Monitor]
» A closer look at GOP 'Pledge to America' [The Washington Post]
» Republicans’ ‘Pledge to America’ Is A Stack of Bumper Stickers [U.S. News and World Report]
In other news:
» Chancellor Nancy Cantor to lay out future relationship between SU, Syracuse in speech on Saturday [The Daily Oranage]
» Romulus breeder who admitted to killing dozens of dogs is charged, fined [WSYR-TV Channel 9]
» Latest poll: Cuomo up by 19 over Paladino [The Buffalo News]
» Some North Country health providers short on flu vaccine [Watertown Daily Times]