Sep. 22, 2010 (United Press International) -- U.S. Republicans plan to issue a "Pledge to America" focusing on taxes, spending and rolling back healthcare reform, an advance draft of the document indicates.
CBS News said Wednesday it had obtained a final draft of the agenda House Republicans plan to announce Thursday.
"The need for urgent action to repair our economy and reclaim our government for the people cannot be overstated," the document says in an introduction.
The GOP agenda calls for stopping "job-killing tax hikes," allowing small businesses to take a tax deduction equal to 20 percent of their income, and requiring congressional approval for "any new federal regulation that would add to the deficit," CBS said.
It calls for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law this year, to be repealed and replaced, and specifically for the repeal of small business mandates.
In addition, the Republican agenda will call for rolling back non-discretionary federal spending to 2008 levels, before the adoption of the Troubled Assets Relief Program enacted under former President George W. Bush, and for establishment of "strict budget caps to limit federal spending going forward."
The document calls for requiring all bills enacted by Congress to "have a citation of constitutional authority."
"With this document, we pledge to dedicate ourselves to the task of reconnecting our highest aspirations to the permanent truths of our founding by keeping faith with the values our nation was founded on, the principles we stand for, and the priorities of our people," the final draft of the pledge says.
