Regardless of what Newt did in his personal time, he brought us this:
Contract with America.
And implemented the following bills:
The Fiscal Responsibility Act: An amendment to the Constitution that would require a balanced budget, unless sanctioned by a 3/5 vote in both houses of Congress.(Funny, we tend to think Clinton balances the budget...)
The Taking Back Our Streets Act:An anti-crime package including stronger truth-in-sentencing, "good faith" exclusionary rule exemptions.
The Personal Responsibility Act:An act to cut spending for welfare programs by means of discouraging illegitimacy and teen pregnancy.
The American Dream Restoration Act: An act to create a $500-per-child tax credit, begin repeal of the marriage tax penalty, and creation of American Dream Savings Accounts to provide middle-class tax relief.
The National Security Restoration Act: An act to prevent U.S. troops from serving under United Nations command unless the president determines it is necessity for the purposes of national security, to cut US payments for UN peacekeeping operations, and to help establish guidelines for the voluntary integration of former Warsaw Pact nations into NATO.
The "Common Sense" Legal Reform Act: An act to institute "Loser pays" laws (H.R.988, passed 232-193, 3/7/95), limits on punitive damages and reform of product-liability laws to prevent what the bill considered frivolous litigation. (Clinton veto'd this, surprise! His wife was a lawyer!)
The Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act: A package of measures to act as small-business incentives; capital-gains cuts and indexation, neutral cost recovery, risk assessment/cost-benefit analysis, strengthening the Regulatory Flexibility Act and unfunded mandate reform to create jobs and raise worker wages. (Yet we still think of Clinton being responsible for the tech boom!)
The Citizen Legislature Act: An amendment to the Constitution that would have imposed 12-year term limits on members of the US Congress (i.e. six terms for Representatives, two terms for Senators). (Rejected by the US House)