What the Republicans promised in the campaign

As Republicans take control of the U.S. House, we thought it would be helpful to provide an overview of their campaign promises, which we’ll be tracking on our GOP Pledge-O-Meter.

We’ve identified 57 individual promises from the speeches of Reps. John Boehner and Eric Cantor and the Pledge to America, the campaign platform for Republican candidates.

Of the 57 Republican promises, more than one-third address economic issues, from taxes and spending to trade and regulation.

Some specifics:

* We found only one promise involving transportation — Boehner”s pledge that he will fly commercial airlines rather than government planes.
* Several promises involve issues of transparency such as providing a webcast of all committee hearings and publishing the text of bills three days before a vote by the full House.
* Three promises involve taxes, including the pledge to make the Bush tax cuts permanent for all incomes.
* 13 involve health care, including the vow to repeal the Democrats’ health care law.
* Six of the promises involve market regulation, and they reflect the GOP goal of reducing regulations on businesses.
* The Republicans have vowed to make government — and Congress — more efficient. The government efficiency promises include limiting the commemorative resolutions that Congress often passes and voting on post office names just one day a month.

Ratings
We expect some early ratings on many of the promises because House leaders have promised quick action on the health care promise and several others. We’ve already rated four promises In the Works, including the one on the Bush tax cuts.

If you know of a promise that we missed, please let us know by e-mailing us at theobameter@gmail.com.