Nov 17 2006
The Bush Conservatives
It seems I and many other conservatives need to just step back and re-assess the political landscape. As I mentioned in the post below on immigration, I do not see the Republican Party offering a very palatable form of conservatism any more. So let me describe what I think is an attractive conservative vision. It begins with supporting and respecting our President and all his accomplishments. And since I and many others still have unflinching support and admiration for the man, I decided to steal some from the commenters here and dub this conservative view “Bush Conservatives”.
Bush Conservatives not only believe in Reagan’s 11th commandment to not speak ill of fellow conservatives – we live it. From the Gang of 14, to Harriet Miers, to Dubai Ports World and to the immigration issue – there has been a brand of Republican which eschewed the 11th commandment. So let the Republicans be defined by that group – Bush Conservatives will be defined by their antithesis. Bush conservatives are not afraid of the word ‘compromise’. They despise the word ‘failure’. If there is a good idea, we do not care what party gets credit – we care that the good ideas get enacted. It is not Party uber America anymore.
Bush Conservatives, like Bush himself, are for lower taxes and focused government (someplace between liberals and libertarians is the proper role of government). They are not for destroying the public education system, they are for making it work. And they understand private school access is one option. They understand that a prescription drug benefit for Medicare/Medicaid will reduce overall costs and provide a respectable end of life for our seniors who came before us. Yes, it costs a lot to care for our elderly. But it doesn’t represent big government. It represents a big heart. I am not for throwing money away. The prescription drug benefit was a nice optimizing solution to a broken system. It was consumer driven (which is why the liberals should not be allowed to go in and insert bureacratic price controls) and it will save money that was being wasted in emergency room treatments for normal problems.
Bush Conservatives respect the immigrant worker in the sense we understand people need to make a life (not just a living). We do not want the broken current system to stay hostage to the “Fence Only” crowd. The illegal immigrant worker will pay a penalty in back taxes and lost time towards citizenship. That level of penalty is sufficient for the crime of missing paperwork. We respect those who are trying to do nothing more than raise a family. The Republicans can now have the mantle of harshness towards otherwise good people. They can focus on their vision of the few bad apples representing the entire immigrant population. They can ignore the more realistic, broader images that include aliens fighting for our country – the other immigrant worker. The only people who get my support will embrace Bush’s comprehensive vision of workers who are registered, background checked, working in the open economy, and who must avoid criminal activities if they stay here. They will not become citizens immediately, and in fact will not be able to apply any time here as illegal aliens towards citizenship. They will become our neighbors working by our side, raising their children with ours. And like the good neighbors we are, we will reach out and help them assimiliate to our society. The Reps can be the party of rounding up aliens for deportation. They are apparently clinging to that image with a death grip anyway.
Bush Conservatives do not see failure in Iraq, they see the long hard, generational fight we were warned was coming. Bush conservatives will not ally with liberals to find an exit and let the terrorists follow our troops home. Bush Conservatives do not blame Bush for Al Qaeda’s tenacity. We salute Bush for his tenacity.
Bush conservatives see success in the Gang of 14, who paved the way for some of the largest shifts to the federal bench in a generation. And we would welcome a repeat of the Gang of 14 in the upcoming senate to quelsh the partisan bickering between Reps and Dems. Go for it Gang – with my blessing. If they can keep the results going like they did in the last Congress, true conservatism will be able to flow into our court systems – as opposed to imposing Republican versions of the Liberal activism in the courts now.
Bush Conservatives are not necessarily Republicans – though obviously they are welcomed. Bush Conservatism is the broad-tent conservative movement that can include a McCain, DeWine, Snowe, etc. The only litmus test for Bush Conservatives is there is no litmus tests. There are no ‘real’ conservatives or ‘pure’ conservatives. Republicans can have their purity tests. Bush Conservatives will strive for enhancing the conservative vision and making progress towards those ends.
So how can Republicans (or Democrats) attract Bush Conservatives? Show respect to the President. Don’t blame Bush for your problems or mistakes. Allow processes to unfold without vitriol and panic. Admit the errors made on Miers (she should have been heard, then rejected), Dubai Ports World (not all Muslim Arabs are our enemies, especially ones willing to fund our outer defenses), and immigration (support the guest worker program for all the immigrants now here in this country). Failure to admit the mistakes means failure to correct the mistakes. These minimum changes could woo the Bush Conservatives back into the Republican tent – but there as to be unmistakable shift on these matters. No sliding around these examples of what we do not want to see more of. In many of these cases Dems and Reps both have some atoning to do.
Stop blaming the Gang of 14 and support the results they gave us on all those new judges and justices we are blessed to have. Look positively on efforts that are bi-partisan and are rolling back liberalism’s last vestiges: the liberal courts.
Don’t surrender on Iraq. Don’t pull a Kerry. We went into Iraq and made commitments. Honor those commitments and strive for nothing short of success. We do not follow people who go back on their word. Reps and Dems can tolerate that – Bush Conservatives never will.
Be positive, show respect, and use decorum. And this is not a Chinese menu. We are not looking for ideaological purity. But we are looking for a common vision, a common goal, something we can work together towards. We can debate the details of how to achieve these, but there is no doubt we need to do these things.
Here is the alternative: Reps and Dems can be against fixing immigration. Reps and Dems can be for bashing Bush. Reps and Dems can run from Iraq even though they supported the effort going in. The parties can continue to go their partisan ways. If they do, then I hope a moderate new party can arise from the ashes these scorched earth partisan efforts have been producing. We are at war, and these partisan are fighting us, not our enemies. America’s patience with these two squabbling camps will run out.
Addendum: I forgot one important subject – Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR). Bush opposes the killing of human beings, as do Bush Conservatives. This is why Bush Conservatives are not soft on life issues. Arlen Specter would not be a Bush Conservative. ESCR is snake oil compared to the Adult Stem Cell Research (ASCR) results which keep poring in. Even one of Michael J Fox’s top scientists who studies the full range of stem cell options has leaned towards faster, better cures coming from ASCR than ESCR. Bush is very pro-life. From his Stem Cell stance to parental notification to partial birth abortion, he has successfully moved the country towards the pro life side in a massive way. That is why Reps who bash Bush are just not being true to conservatism, they are only being true to their pet issues at the expense of conservatism. How many ways did Reps hurt the conservative cause? They stayted home. They turned on Bush when they did not get one thing their way. They never refused to acknowledge all Bush did, only what Bush did not do for them, they refused compromise, they refused progress, they refused to participate, they refused to be civil. Now all Bush did accompolish is at risk while the losers keep blaming him because they turned on him. The Reps have a lot to learn. Too much, in my opinion, to be ready for 2008.
Addendum II: I must also point out why Bush bashing without any thought is really, really bad. I am now of the opinion that the Democrat wave was much, much higher than what we ended up with. There could have easily been more House seats lost and one more Senate seat gone. I can easily see Bush’s last minute push taking some of the force out of the political tsunami that hit, along with Kerry’s last minute gaffe. We did see a turn to the reps in the last weekend’s polls. If I am right, and people were returning to Bush in some small way, the Bush bashing/blame we see now is really destructive. It is pushing those who DID turn back to the reps off and making them doubt, if not regret, there last minute change of heart to the right. Reps will react like this, without thinking. Bush Conservatives are much less volatile.
Addendum III: I would like to also add zero tolerance for pork barrel spending and ear-marks. The runaway spending was not pushed by Bush, it was done by Congress. They demanded a price to support Bush’s goals and inflated the budget with useless bridges, etc. There was no way Bush would have vetoed SLIMMED DOWN budgets. That one is all at the feet of the Reps in Congress. Ed Morrissey does this subject great justice today.
Addendum IV: Reader Luker noted these fine additions to the list:
– habeas corpus reserved to US citizens and not granted to the foreigners, especially the terrorists and the GITMO detainees.
– Balance between civil liberties and security of our own country and its assets, namely the preservation of the NSA foreign terrorist surveillance program.
– Tax reform, especially the abolishment of the death tax.
– Social Security reform.
Note that the last two REQUIRE compromise so we can attract democrat support. The first two will be salvaged by folks like Lieberman (and hopefully Harman) putting national security above partisanship. We will now be indebted any democrat who helps save these items.
Retire05,
No – we are Bush conservatives. You folks are Reps. And we like it that way. Reps lose elections and cannot get anything done. We are Bush Conservatives because we still stand by him. Reps don’t. Fine. We shall see who makes progress in the next two years!
Squiggler, you and AJ seem to be deaf. I have never said that I am a “fence only” proponent. I am a ardent “fence first”.
You call fences usless. Then pray tell me, why are there fences around your back yards? Why is there a fence around the White House? And why is there a fence around Area 51? It is because they do work. Fences make good neighbors.
So you live in So. California? So what? I live in the battle zone in Texas. Do you think that because you have neighbors that are illegals and have managed to build lives that afford them a house that costs $500,000 (which would cost around $235,000 or less in Texas) is the norm? You are fooling yourself my friend. They are the exception to the rule, not the norm. Yes, it is possible to build a taco stand into a restraurant chain like Ninfi’s, but it happens less than you would have us believe. And please, tell me what lending agency will give you a morgage on a $500,000 home if you make $40,000 a year?
Of course, you had to throw in the “racist and bigot” canard. It is the only way you can argue against rationale.
And I guess because it is inconvenient, you would prefer to just throw away our laws such as it being illegal to enter our nation without permission and hiring illegals? Then what? Do we then make it legal to rob someone’s home because they have property that you want and you just need to feed and support your family?
Do you really want millions of people who come from a nation they are not willing to stay in to make better? Mexico is a crappy nation, from bottom to top. So they come here. And Mexico, and most other nations where the illegals come from, remain crappy nations because their citizenry do not have the will to throw out the bad guys and institute a government that takes care of it’s people. Did you not get the hint when all the protesters were marching with foreign flags that their loyalities lie with their native lands, not our nation?
I am all for a guest worker program. I want to see people from other nations enter ours to benefit not their countries, but ours. I want them to come here for a specific time limit and then go home or become a citizen. And I want them to care enough about their host nation to do it legally. But the bottom line is that those who are pro-illegal are pandering to a potential voter. The whole purpose of immigration is to make the host nation better, not relieve the problems of the nation sending their unwanted to us.
If you want to enter the U.S., do it legally. Go through the proceedures just as our ancesters did. Learn English. Pay taxes. Be productive and not a drain on our society as the situation now stands. If you cannot afford the United States that small amount of respect, stay out.
Retir05,
If you were only a Fence First type then you would right now back the guest worker program for all immigrants here now. No sending immigrants out for only making a living. Otherwise your distinction is pointless.
Gut check time.
Manifesto Time…
What’s the way forward for Republicans who want to stay true to their principles and win back the vital center? AJ has a big piece on the state of conservatism and its future here…much of it I agree with (lower taxes, resoluteness on the Wa…
Let me add one other thing about Bush Conservatives. We are loyal. I am not sure if this base we keep hearing about is simply loud voices that are heard on talk radio, Cable News and the internet.
I do know this. This base is very shallow in a way. They demand x from Bush but because of one or two disagreement they are willing to toss him over the ledge. Are not some the Congressman that were elected to House leadership postions today also the ones that did the base’s bidding on the Dubai Port Deal. Remember when that was the do or die issue. But now they are Rinos. Isnt this the same leadership that made sure immigration reform would not get a hearing in ther House because the base demanded it. But now I am hearing if its not Pence its unacceptable.
At some point, I wonder if the “base” is the type of person I would want to be a foxhole with
I am really disgusted with a lot of people on the right. And I am not just talking about immigration either.
Take spending, well what exactly do people want to cut? Earmarks? Fine, but most people are not in the slightest concerned with that and most people are not really concerned with smaller government either. Reagan knew that. People keep trying to compare Bush and Reagan and it seems most of the people who do that do not really remember Reagan. He was not a fiscal conservative. He was not all that socially conservative either and yet now to hear people tell it the man was constantly vetoing spending bills.
Not so. The point is if we do not come up with programs like the drug prescription plan the Democrats will come with another version of Hillary care and considering the way health care costs have risen the voting public just might go for it. That is a reality.
I think that a lot of people blogging on the right really screwed up in this last election. They lost touch with average people and spent too much time listening to each other.
Malkin and people like her are not the average mainstream person anymore than Kos is.
So while we need to cut waste we also must keep in mind that most people do not consider health care and education to be areas where spending is a waste because these things matter to them.
Just like keeping their families safe matter to them.
Razzing Bush about Baker being on some commission when it is obvious that Bush is still standing firm is just petty and silly. And constantly bitching about everyone and everything from who gets what position to some speech Condi Rice made to whether or not Bush is going to nuke Iran just wears most people out. They tune out. They do not even want to watch the news much less read blogs and so more and more people start to think that if all conservatives do is complain…why bother with them, after all they do not even like each other.
Pence has changed. he has gone from being sort of rational to being pig headed. Fine, maybe he can be the next Congressman from Indiana who is replaced by a Democrat. Hostettler was a fence only guy too, got beat anyway.
I think the point is that some people are confusing the base with the loud people. Loud does not always mean most. The Democrats learned that when Lamont got whipped.
Well said. Its nice to know we are not alone out there!
Scott Moon
Your argument makes no sense. You don’t want to fence the entire perimeter of the United States like I have fenced my back yard. You want to fence one-tenth of what would be needed — 700 miles of 7475 miles of land border, and no provision for those that come in by air or sea either, which would add even more to the border total.
How does allocating billions of dollars help stop the flow at the border when most of that is going to be eaten up with costs of rounding up all these people you are so hot over and transporting them somewhere, although I’m never sure just where?
We cannot even convince the majority of the electorate that voter IDs are a good idea because it might deny a single vote to an African American. Yet, you want to round up millions of people, house them, feed them, find transportation for them, take precious Border Patrol resources away from enforcement to police them, to guard them, and transport them. Apparently you think that Mexico and Central American countries will open their borders to planeloads of U.S. illegals and their guards swooping in to be dropped off, day after day, after day, after month, after year. It is so unrealistic as to guarantee failure from the git go. And how ’bout all the Asians who come into our ports? Where do the resources come to round them up and take them back to Indonesia, Vietnam, China, etc. Or on the East Coast, who polices and patrols and guards and transports all those from Carribean countries or from Pakistan, Saudia Arabia, or other Middle Eastern countries? And how many Canadians are you going to round up?
I want strict enforcement, I want strict laws and good sensible solutions.
It is the idea that is bigoted and racist. The idea being that the working illegal is somehow so 2nd class they can not succeed and will never succeed. You are still defending this idea.
Do you print your ballots in multiple languages? Do you have ads running in your classifieds for work that specify “must be bilingual,” do you have signs of instruction posted in multiple languages, do you wash your hands at a restaurant and see “lave sus manos” posted on the restroom mirror above the sink? If you say yes to any of these then you are encouraging illegal immigration.
Strata combines the worst of two worlds. Pie-in-the-sky avoidance of the fact Iraq was lost by 2004…and he calls those who recognize it
“surrender” advocates. And SURRENDER ADVOCACY on his part to the invasion which can yet be thwarted, that coming from the
South.
Congratulations, AJ . You just might be the most in-adept
( purposely coined to match your trait) escapist siteowner
in conservative cyber space on the big two.
AJ, once again you and your ilk like Terrye, who do not agree with what I think, must label me. No, I am not a fence only proponent. How many times must you be told that? But I am also not a proponent of giving law breakers a free ride, and no matter how you chose to classify the violation of federal law (equating it to a speeding ticket) it is STILL a violation.
Immigration is, like most things, a two way street. We allow immigrants in because, on good faith, we think they will benefit our nation as it always has. They, on the same hand, must act in good faith by having respect for our laws. In a Pew Hispanic Research study done last year, most illegals said that they were aware it was illegal to enter the United States without permission. Now how in the hell, by any stretch of your wildest imagination, can you say that that immigrant was acting in good faith when they were fully aware that what they were doing was illegal?
I do back a guest worker program. But I do not have to back a guest worker program that becomes a reward for breaking and entering our nation and managing not to get themselves deported in the meantime. I back a guest worker program, sped up for those who played by the rules, to meet our needs, NOT THEIRS.
And who will pick up the tab? Others on this board have complained about the cost to deport those who have entered illegally. What about the cost our socieity is now bearing? For schools, medical treatment for a simple cold, incarceration, food stamps, housing? Who is now paying that? And what about the cost that is down the road when you legalize 20 million people? You have to have agencies that can make sure they have no contagious diseases, issue visas and work permits, do background checks. How much do you think that will cost the American taxpayer?
You refuse to answer my questions but chose to label me as a hard right-winger who seems to have no humanity. You are dead wrong. I am a realist that realizes that granting amnesty will only open the flood gates so those who follow, as in the 80’s, will come on the hopes of another amnesty.
The cost to my state alone was staggering last year. $5 BILLION was needed to provide services to illegals in the form of health care, education, social services and incarceration. It did not take in the additional cost to law enforcement agencies that had to track down the illegal criminal who murdered, robbed and raped.
And what do you do when it is time to do background checks for criminal history and nations like Mexico refuse to comply? What then? Do we then see massive amounts of law suits by the ACLU who say that even if we can’t verify that we are admitting a hardened criminal into our society, we should allow them anyway?
Here is another small problem for you.
There is no doubt in my mind that a raise in the minimum wage will be enacted by this Democratic congress. Then what? What happens when we make all those illegals legal, and they are then paid $8.00 an hour? I can tell you. Businesses will either hire more illegals (creating a vicious cycle of illegal immigration) or they will go out of business or move to China or Mexico. Then what? What happens when we have 10 million underpaid illegals out of a job that are now eligible to stay in the U.S.?
We are a sovereign nation. We have a right to say who enters and who does not. We have the right to allow into our nation those who will benefit our nation. We do not have the responsibility to take the undesirables of another nation off that nation’s hands. Why is Mexico imp0rting farm workers from South America if the very farm workers that are coming here are so great? Why do we not see doctors, lawyers, scientists and professors sneaking across our borders?
I have great respect for you, AJ. I don’t think you can find a time where I have tried to insult you (as you have me) and enjoy your posts. But when it comes to IL legal immigration, you are just wrong headed. You have labeled me a hardliner but for you to say that if I support a guest worker program I must also support granting amnesty to law breakers who have shown my nation no respect, is wrong headed.
I obey speed limits and do not speed. I pay my taxes on time. I have never knowingly violated any law because I realize that laws were created for the common good. Do I not have the right to expect the same from everyone else? And if someone is from another nation and enters my nation illegally, why do you think it is a form of punishment to make them return to their native land?
Yes, AJ. For all your brilliance, you are wrong headed on illegal immigration.
AJ,
That was a terrific post! I agree.
Some on the right blame him for the prescription drug plan. But they don’t recognize it was “privatizing.”
“Fence first, fence last, long fence, short fence,” it doesn’t matter until we get a rational ID system, accessable computer database, and give those here, with a good record, a reason to self identify and openly join society. Only then, will it be possible to say “no ID, no work.”
We need the workers. Our birthrate is scarcely replacement level. Bush has placed the country first on this issue.
Bush has advanced the human life ideals like no one in our lifetimes. And he does it persuasively.
On the subjects of security and liberty, it’s enough to say “He looms large.”
Good job, AJ!
In this discussion it is also worth thinking about Bush’s governing style. He respects the three independent branches of governance. He ran on an agenda, lower taxes, “No child left behind”, individual responsibility, etc. and was elected. He set budgets. Congress filled in the items. Congress should take responsibility for their pork. Bush is not congress’s baby sitter. He allowed them to make their choices, and they did. Their electorate spoke. I wish Congress had the same respect for the office of the President. It would have made running this war and the outcome more positive. Congress has mixed up the principal of oversight with political gamesmanship.
I have yet to see anyone for the “fence” explain how 700 miles of fence is workable. I want the LOGISTICS of it.
Who will build it? Will they be “deputized” border patrollers?How strong will it be? Strong enough to keep a truck from ramming through it? Strong enough to withstand a fertilizer bomb? Dirty Bomb? How long will it take to build? Will they hire illegals to help build it, since they are predominently construction workers anyway?How many immigrants will stay away from the fence and enter from a different illegal point of entry? How many immigrants in and around the proposed fence will accelerate their “immigration” to enter prior to construction, during construction and right before completion?How many unscrupulous immigrant transporters will find a new point of entry for their cargo? Will Mexico print up new maps to illegal entry Points Of Interest? How many immigrants will be enticed by these unscrupulous persons to pay huge sums for green cards or other documents that turn out to be phony? Who is going to handle all these aspects of Illegal Immigrant Fencing Procedures?
The fence is a psychological bandaid. It just covers the ugly.
What about the LOGISTICS of finding illegal immigrants and deporting them?
Is there going to be a new Law Enforcement entity that will go house to house and ask suspected illegal immigrants for their papers? “hello, I’m officer John Public, are you legally in this country, can I see your papers?” Will these enforcement personnel be able to spot phony docs immediately? Maybe we can deputize the ‘hood, and have neighbors round up all the suspected illegals and send them – uh, hmm – somehwere.
Or should we send out a public bulletin:
“Attention all Illegal Immigrants Currently Within Americas Borders –
Leave now, don’t come back till your life is on track in your homeland country (who can not and will not help you) and you have enough money (from your non-existent job in your poverty stricken country) and then come on back to our country – legally.
While waiting to become legal in our country, (Pending Legal) you can’t work for any companies in the US. You can’t get help from Welfare. You can get cash-paying jobs, but keep detailed records for the IRS so you can pay taxes, and the company illegally hiring you for cash can go out of business at the same time. Don’t panhandle either, we already have enough homeless people without the Pending Legals needing money and shelter too. Once you have become legal (estimated to take 3-6 months) you can work at any company that you have the skills for. During your “Pending Legal” term, you must learn as much English as possible, but not at our schools, since you are Pending Legal – no funds for education – better you stay dumb for awhile. You must also be deloused for those Third World bugs you might have brought in, but not at our medical facilites. And don’t get sick or injured whatever you do because Pending Legals do not get emergency medical care (unless you got a wad of greenbacks from your cash-paying job) No having babies during your Pending Legal term! No.No.No. If mommy is preggers – no entry into US until bun is out of oven. If mommy gets preggers while in her Pending Legal term, make sure she can hold it till she gets her Papers. Can’t hold it in till she’s legal? Abort! Free legal abortions in America! Don’t try and drive while in your Pending Legal term – No Papers, No Drive!
What if the suspected illegal produces docs that are obviously phony? Throw the “illegal” into a holding cell waiting for the deportation bus? Or maybe Malkin can figure out how to hold them before they can scoot back to their side, or deeper into our side. Or maybe Ray Nagin can finally utilize some of his magic yellow buses as temporary shelter. Just don’t park them in Mississippi. Who is going to drive a busload of angry deportees back to whence they came? Will the driver be armed? Will the deportees be shackled to assure a safe trip back home? What if they are from Nicaraugua? Will they be flown home? Or just escorted to the MEXICAN border and told to get on back to the homeland? Will we need covert air transportation? Secret airlines, secret flights, secret routes – wait! nevermind, no more secrets per the NYT.
Manpower- money, logistics and transportation – more money, racial profiling – despicable, but no other way to pick out the legals from illegals, legal babies- illegal mommies and daddies – send ’em all back! Head ’em up and move ’em out.
Maybe, just maybe – it makes more sense to treat them like humans, inform them of the new law/s, teach them the law that pertains to their status as soon-to-be Americans, or American Guests. Give them a specific time frame to accomplish the strict requirements willingly, allow them to keep their dignity and their possessions, inform them that moonbattery is not in their future (had to add that) make them all pay a lump sum based on a percentage of their 6-month projected earnings.
Compassionate Bush Conservatives understand that you attract more bees with honey than you do with vinegar.
“Do you have ads running in your classifieds for work that specify “must be bilingual,†do you have signs of instruction posted in multiple languages, do you wash your hands at a restaurant and see “lave sus manos†posted on the restroom mirror above the sink? If you say yes to any of these then you are encouraging illegal immigration. ”
Squiggler for goodness sake. Perhaps its because I am from Louisiana. I know people whose grandparents just speak Cajun French. Their kids are wonderful citizens. Has anyone met a person that GrandsMa still spoke just Italian. What about the Vietnamese older people on the gulf Coast.
Everyone needs to take a deep breath. If I see wash your hands in spanish on a bathroom wall that doesnt encourage illegal immigration. It prevents sickness. We have been throught this before. The is a rational way to handle it
Retire:
Ilk??? I am an ilk?
You know what? I was one of the minority of people in this district who actually voted for Hostettler in that damn election. I did not agree with his stance on immigration, but I voted for him anyway because there is a war on.
Remember the war?
Well he got his butt kicked in part because a lot of Republicans did not bother to vote for him. He was so soundly beat in this Repbulicans district that he has refused to take his pension.
So do not call me an ilk.
PonderingAmerican: I was making a point by being sarcastic.
One of the key features of a Bush Conservative is long-term thinking. The idea is not just to apply a band-aid or kick a problem down the road a few years, but to try to get at the underlying issues. This requires tremendous discipline and patience. I think that this Administration thinks in terms of decades and generations, and that fact — so rare in our politics — fills me with some admiration.
Whenever possible, it seems to me that W has tried to change the rules of a bad situation. On education, Social Security, immigration, the threat of Islamic fascism, free trade, etc., etc., he has opted to pursue strategies aimed at long-term alterations in the fundamentals. A new or enlarged government program can be a positive thing — IF it is done in a way that fosters essentially conservative goals (choice, self-sufficiency, accountability) in the long run. If you can change the rules now to something more favorable, then time is suddenly on your side.
I also think that W understands exponential processes like economic growth better than most. An extra 1% in GDP growth makes a whole lot of problems look less severe a generation hence, and it’s worth a lot to make that happen. That is a pretty Reaganesque attitude.
I Am a Bush Conservative…
Tags: Bush, conservatives, Republicans, GOP, Reagan, Congress, cannibals, neo-right, sore losers, spoiled brats
AJ Strata:
Bush Conservatives not only believe in Reagan’s 11th commandment to not speak ill of fellow conservatives – we live it. From t…
Squiggler yeah I figured that out after I posted this. Sorry, I am trying to defend this post on Free Republic as we speak and I was getting confused. Shows I shouldnt try to post in two places