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Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Where next?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today marks the first full day in the wilderness for Republicans and for conservatives — the start of the long process of defining the principles on which the party stands. And, when that is done, finding a way to frame the message to a nation that has begun to divide roughly 50-50 on whether we want more or less government.
Those who carry its financial burden want less, as do those who accept the responsibility to provide for themselves and their families. Those who want more see government as the second provider to the family — or in many cases the first — as well as the co-signer on every note, whether the note is a mortgage or a business loan.
Dependency has grown to the point, too, that banks, auto companies, developers and others in the private sector are lining up to transfer risk and bad debt to taxpayers. Pocket profits, pawn off risk. Not a bad deal if we’re all willing to pay the ultimate tax burden that’ll be required.
There are many ways to read President Barack Obama’s inaugural address of Tuesday, specifically as it relates to the economy and to the government activism to come. One way is to read it as a free enterprise system call to action. Another is to read it as a blueprint for a federal government of gigantic proportions. You decide:
“Everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and the digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.
“We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.”
U.S. House Republicans, while too few to represent any real check on a Nancy Pelosi majority determined swiftly to enact and to expand her vision of government social programs, have begun to develop and promote alternatives. That’s a start.
Conservatives in defeat can’t stop everything they find objectionable — such is the consequence of losing elections. But they can, as House Republicans are doing on the proposed $825 billion “stimulus” proposal, begin to use alternatives to define again what conservatives stand for in government.
And if the majority Democrats over-reach, as is their custom, the public will embrace the alternative ideas of the party in exile.
