Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Trump Promises 'Great Management' - We Need Limited Government
National Review ^ | January 23, 2016 | Yuval Levin

Posted on 01/23/2016 4:20:32 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

Donald Trump is no conservative. That's not a crime, it's just a reason to vote against him. Many fine people are not conservatives. But the reason Trump's candidacy should worry the Right runs much deeper than that: He poses a direct challenge to conservatism, because he embodies the empty promise of managerial leadership outside of politics.

Trump's diagnoses of our key problems - first and foremost, that America's elites are weak and unwilling to put the interests of Americans first - have gained him a hearing from many on the right. But when he gestures toward prescriptions, Trump reveals that even his diagnoses are not as sound as they might seem.

Conservatives incline to take the weakness of our elite institutions as an argument for recovering constitutional principles - and so for limiting the power of those institutions, reversing their centralization of authority, and recovering a vision of American life in which the chief purpose of the federal government is protective and not managerial.

Trump, on the contrary, offers himself as the alternative to our weak and foolish leaders, the guarantee of American superiority, and the cure for all that ails our society; and when pressed about how he will succeed in these ways, his answer pretty much amounts to: "great management."

The appeal of Trump's diagnoses should be instructive to conservatives. But the shallow narcissism of his prescriptions is a warning. American conservatism is an inherently skeptical political outlook. It assumes that no one can be fully trusted with public power and that self-government in a free society demands that we reject the siren song of politics-as-management.

A shortage of such skepticism is how we ended up with the problems Trump so bluntly laments. Repeating that mistake is no way to solve these problems. To address them, we need to begin by rejecting what Trump stands for, as much as what he stands against.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: biggovernment; liberal; trump; yugegovernment
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-64 next last
Trump said he'll make government more efficient, that he won't cut services (he'll cut waste).

Be a better manager.

EPA/Education: "No, I'm not cutting services, but I'm cutting spending. But I may cut Department of Education (Common Core)"...

(Common Core, by the way, isn't a federal mandate: and he will leave in place EPA services - as in dictates?)

See how he massages his position?

Jan 19, 2015: Trump calls for higher ethanol mandate

Donald Trump said Tuesday that federal regulators should increase the amount of ethanol blended into the nation's gasoline supply.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, Trump, a real estate mogul and the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ought to follow the ethanol volumes Congress set in 2007.

"The EPA should ensure that biofuel... blend levels match the statutory level set by Congress under the [renewable fuel standard]," Trump said........"

October 2015 - Trump isn't going to GUT the EPA, he's going to make it more efficient ..."I'm not cutting services, but I'm cutting spending,", Trump told Wallace...Trump Vows To Cut 'Disgraceful' EPA

1 posted on 01/23/2016 4:20:32 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
Trump on the Issues:

http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm

2 posted on 01/23/2016 4:23:51 AM PST by Helicondelta
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All

~~~FREE SPEECH~~~

http://therightscoop.com/shes-doing-a-terrible-thing-for-our-country-trump-blamed-pam-geller-for-garland-terrorist-attack/

TRUMP:

“This has nothing to do with free speech - this is taunting, and all it does is cause trouble.”

“[Pam Geller] should be much more responsible because what she’s doing is completely irresponsible!”

“She’s a person that is doing this for her own purpose and she’s doing a terrible thing for our country!”

“...if she went after, instead, JESUS, instead of the Muslim, went after JESUS, let’s see how long she’d last! If she went after the African-Americans, and went after the N-WORD, where she was positive on it as opposed to... let’s SEE how long she would last! That would also be freedom of speech! Let’s see if she has the guts to do that....”

“All she’s doing, she is a provacateur! All she doing is provoking and taunting people!!”

VERSUS:

TED CRUZ

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/241547-texas-shooting-showed-radical-islams-ugly-face-ted-cruz-says

“We saw the ugly face of radical Islam in Garland, Texas, recently,” Cruz said of last Sunday’s shooting at a “Draw Muhammad” event there.

“Thankfully, one police officer helped those terrorists meet their virgins,”..

“We can’t win a war against radical Islamic terrorism with a president who won’t utter the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism,’”

“This nation is in crisis,” Cruz said. “If we don’t pull our country back from the brink, we risk losing the greatest country in the history of the world.”

Cruz vowed that if he were elected, he would unabashedly protect freedom of speech and other liberties.

“We must defend our constitutional rights - all of them,” he said....


3 posted on 01/23/2016 4:26:55 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Helicondelta

?


4 posted on 01/23/2016 4:27:27 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Helicondelta

I like Trump because they hate and fear him.
If they hate him...He can’t be all bad :-)


5 posted on 01/23/2016 4:27:56 AM PST by Bobalu (I told you so!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Helicondelta
Donald Trump is a Libertarian-Leaning Conservative

That's funny. He certainly didn't in any way resemble one before he decided to run for president as a Republican. In fact, in some areas, he was to the left of Obama and Clinton.

6 posted on 01/23/2016 4:28:15 AM PST by EternalVigilance
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
Hey, like Trump says, you gotta be a little establishment.

I forget. What was the purpose of his campaign again?

7 posted on 01/23/2016 4:29:15 AM PST by St_Thomas_Aquinas (Isaiah 22:22, Matthew 16:19, Revelation 3:7)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bobalu
....If they hate him...He can't be all bad :-)

An amazing admission - pining for a dictator.

8 posted on 01/23/2016 4:30:26 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

Streamline government, make it more efficient, cut waste. Totalitarianism doesn’t just happen!


9 posted on 01/23/2016 4:30:36 AM PST by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

I pine for sanity!


10 posted on 01/23/2016 4:31:57 AM PST by Bobalu (I told you so!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: St_Thomas_Aquinas
Trump's praised Chuck Shumer, saying we should work with Democrats; He's praised and donated to the Clintons."

....."I mean, I've contributed to Schumer, I contribute - I've known Schumer for many, many years. And I have a good relationship with him. The fact is, that I think it is time maybe that we all do get along," [Trump] told Hannity."...Source

11 posted on 01/23/2016 4:32:14 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Bobalu

Like trains running on time.

That kind of order?


12 posted on 01/23/2016 4:33:09 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

Don’t forget! Trump can work a deal with the devil himself!

Better a deal than go along to get along....

1/2 a loaf is better than nothing.....


13 posted on 01/23/2016 4:34:59 AM PST by Bobalu (I told you so!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Bobalu

[In his 1987 book Art of the Deal, Donald Trump put it bluntly: “I play to people’s fantasies. ... I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration - and a very effective form of promotion.”]

****

.....”These weren’t centrist or conservative Democrats, either. The recipients of Trump’s largesse, as The Washington Post noted in 2011, made a veritable “Republican enemies list.” Besides Reid and Schumer, it included John Kerry, Charles Rangel, Edward M. Kennedy, and Hillary Clinton....”

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/07/21/why_donald_trump_didnt_run_as_a_democrat_127475.html


14 posted on 01/23/2016 4:37:46 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

I don’t doubt it at all!

Trump plays to WIN!

What else can save us????


15 posted on 01/23/2016 4:39:12 AM PST by Bobalu (I told you so!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Helicondelta

What an amazingly misleading, fatuous post. Having a photo made with Reagan does not make Trump Reagan. The two men have nothing in common politically. Trump wants us to believe what he has said about himself (but only recently) and not what he has done over the course of a lifetime.

Until a few months ago, Trump’s political positions were virtually indistinguishable from those of Hillary and Bill Clinton. I am amazed that Trump has any support among Republicans.


16 posted on 01/23/2016 4:40:09 AM PST by mconley22
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: mconley22

Going with Trump is the equivalent of a calling in an airstrike on your own position when being overrun by the enemy. You have no other choice.


17 posted on 01/23/2016 4:41:47 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: St_Thomas_Aquinas
I forget. What is the purpose of his (Trump's) campaign again.

To Make America Great Again. To define our borders and who is allowed in the US. To have US jobs go to US citizens. To stop unfair global trade made possible through monetary manipulation. To put education back into control of local and state governments.

That's a long list. To do that, he's going to have to find people in government who can get their priorities straight, of course. I would wager that a lot of folks in government would rather follow an inspirational leader than be beholden to DC sleazebags and the entities that own them.

18 posted on 01/23/2016 4:46:00 AM PST by grania
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

“Trump Promises ‘Great Management’ - We Need Limited Government “

The two things naturally go together. Most business people know that. Speaking of management, what management experience does Ted Cruz have?


19 posted on 01/23/2016 4:47:20 AM PST by McGruff
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: McGruff

A majority of Trump’s supporters have rallied to him exactly because he is a will-keep-things-in-place, Big Government guy.


20 posted on 01/23/2016 4:50:30 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-64 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson