Gingrich on 30th anniversary of GOP Contract with America: Balance budget, less 'fiscal stupidity'

On the 30th anniversary of the Contract with America, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich urged current House GOP leaders to "build a consensus" and work toward a balanced budget, as the deficit and debt sour to new records.

"People who were tired of being in the minority were willing to cooperate and build a consensus in a way that seems to elude the current House and Senate GOP. Even though some of us disagreed on specific policies, we could set those disagreements aside and work together to achieve mutual goals," Gingrich wrote on his official website Friday ahead of a formal celebration of the 30th anniversary at the U.S. Capitol.

"House Republicans passed major reforms. We shifted the system from welfare to work. We passed the largest capital gains tax cut in history. We created Medicare Advantage and reformed the Food and Drug Administration. We also reformed the Telecommunications Act, which enabled the modern internet to evolve," he added.

Gingrich said Republicans had. "balanced the budget for four straight years for the only time in a century," which "should be a lesson for those seeking to fix today’s fiscal mess."

The 2012 GOP presidential candidate noted that when he left the speakership, then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan projected that the U.S. would pay off the total national debt by the year 2009. Today, the national debt is racing toward $36 trillion.

"Our success in balancing the budget should offer hope to a generation which seems to be drowning in debt and fiscal stupidity. It can be done. Tax and regulatory cuts can spur dramatic economic growth. Major reforms can produce better results at lower costs," Gingrich wrote.

"The cuts and reforms can be combined with careful frugality in spending. The money belongs to the American people – not politicians and bureaucrats. Do these things, and the budget will balance," he added.

Since the House GOP won the House in 1994, Republicans have "controlled the House for 22 years and the Democrats for eight years," representing a "historic shift in control and influence," Gingrich also said.