Will the Tea Party Usher In a More Limited View of Government?

The Weekly Standard ^ | July 8, 2010 | Jim Prevor

[JimPrevor]

William Kristol has noted that conservatives may have to be ready to govern sooner than many expected: “A year and a half ago, it seemed that conservatives would have years in the wilderness to lick their wounds and gather their forces. Now, suddenly, conservatism is being called on to be intellectually robust and politically adept.”

We simply can’t count on having principled politicians in the mode of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. Typically, presidents of both parties come to the office as politicians, not ideologues. Yet it seems somewhat unsatisfying to say the difference between conservatives and liberals is that conservatives will only abandon their principles if something really big is at stake, whereas liberals don’t believe in the same principles at all.

Somewhere in this ambiguity is the Tea Party movement, seeking to express coherently a dissatisfaction with the policies of President Obama, but well aware that the last Republican president in office, though different in inclination, did not, when the chips were down at the time of the Bear Stearns debacle, feel either constrained in what he could do, nor hesitant in what he should do – namely, whatever it took to avoid a bad outcome.

An intellectually robust and politically adept conservatism has to come down against the kind of ad hoc machinations that characterized the end of the Bush term as it relates to the economic crisis – and continue to characterize the Obama administration. The answer has to be that, although giving politicians occasional free rein to act might work, on balance, such freedom will lead to crony capitalism and a stratification of society as the power of government is put behind whoever is the existing interest group.

[JimPrevor]

The question is, to a large extent, whether the Tea Party movement can acquire the intellectual coherence and distinctive voice to go beyond expressing dissatisfaction and toward articulating rules of conduct for both political parties and the government itself.

[unixfox]

Will the Tea Party Usher In a More Limited View of Government?

We don't want a limited "view" We want a limited government.

PERIOD! END OF STORY! GET IT?

[dalebert]

the teaparty isnt any one group...its people wanting the coutry run by the constitution ..not crooks..or that was the genreal idea in the bigining...

[DennisR]

Hopefully, but we need people in office who will not only prevent it from getting bigger but to go one step farther and cut it down to size.

richter2010.com

[Misterioso]

Then Lincoln raised his hand and said “Seven nay, one aye” ... "The ayes have it."

Our first NeoCon president. Champion of "limited government."

[LALALAW]

We want the Constitution restored. We already have the rules. We need to root out the FDR / liberal left bastardization of our social compact.

[TigersEye]

Will the Tea Party Usher In a More Limited View of Government?

No, but economic collapse and extreme hardship will.