This look familiar to you?

In their first year in power [1995], the revolutionaries passed legislation to squeeze $270 billion from Medicare as part of a seven-year plan to balance the budget. Gingrich called it "a great victory of courage over fear," a slap at Democrats who said it would take money away from older people to pay for tax cuts for the rich.

When the legislation passed, Republicans cheered on one side of the House chamber while Democrats lined up on the other, waving farewell and mouthing the word "bye" as though GOP lawmakers had committed political suicide.

Clinton vetoed the bill. But Republicans held their majority in the 1996 elections, a critical first test at the polls.

Ironically, Clinton helped them. Not long before the elections, he decided to sign a Republican-crafted overhaul of welfare, calculating that would help him win a second term in the White House. Loathed by the liberals, the welfare bill marked one of the most fundamental changes produced by the 12-year Republican majority.

The spring after the election, Clinton and House and Senate Republicans agreed on a deal to balance the budget over five years. The conservatives won tax cuts and billions in savings, some of it from Medicare. They agreed to expand government by creating a new program of health care for children.

Gingrich told the GOP rank and file the deal was "the completion of the `Contract with America.'"