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

Skip to comments.

Conservatives Need to Get Real
The Intellectual Conservative ^ | 02 February 2004 | Scott Shore

Posted on 02/11/2004 11:00:20 AM PST by Lando Lincoln

While President Bush may not be a conservative’s perfect president, the alternative should shake any discontents to active support of the President.

As a conservative, I agree with most of the criticism that has been leveled at President Bush amongst Republicans and conservatives. While I support the President’s foreign and defense policies, I think that the Administration has tried to do the impossible—preempt the Left on their own issues. Republicans were not put on this earth to increase the size of government, create massive new programs like Medicare, spend billions of dollars on AIDS in Africa, fund the UN renovation, expand the Federal role in education or pursue a reckless policy of granting amnesty to illegal foreigners working in the US. None of these initiatives by the President will, in the end, take votes from the Democratic core base. Democrats are much better and far more willing to outspend any Republican program that expands the Welfare State. The strong suit of Republicans is limited government, lower taxes, individual responsibility and strong national defense. Karl Rove may be right that some of the President’s big government initiatives may neutralize some independents. In any case, conservatives could have hoped for much more in a Washington where Republicans control both the White House and Congress.

Having said all that, I intend to do whatever I can to reelect President Bush. The reason is simple. The alternative is unthinkable. A tax increase by rolling back the President’s much needed tax relief will not go to reduce the deficit but to fund massive new social programs, especially some form of universal national health care system. The stimulus of tax relief will be gone and the deadweight of new taxes and government program will lead to a much larger deficit. Moreover, the hue and cry over the deficit is only logical if the deficit grows as a percentage of GDP over a period of years. Economic recovery can shrink the deficit in a relatively short time -- provided there is no new spending. A Democrat will give us the worst of both worlds -- higher taxes and higher spending.

A Democratic economic policy is also lethal to the American middle class and small business. The repeal of most taxes to the “wealthy” proposed by the Democrats are really to two-income families that are just getting by and are clearly the backbone of the middle-class and small business owners who pay income tax; their business is not a corporation but a family business that is a sole proprietorship. An increase in dividend taxation or capital gains will put the financial markets in a tailspin and further retard the growth of new or expanded business activity.

Universal health care has an interesting twist that few seem to be discussing. If people are concerned about possible invasions of privacy because of the Patriot Act, imagine the access to private information available to Big Brother when he gets his hands on your medical records. Once the government is subsidizing our health, how long will it take before certain health lifestyles or diets become a matter of government concern over its citizens? Should we expect a universal health care system to deliver the same value as our compulsory educational system? In fact, the Democrats are likely to create an even greater rift between the Haves and Have-Nots in healthcare by allowing only the wealthiest Americans to pay for private services. Besides this, universal health will either bankrupt the economy since the demand for healthcare is virtually without limit or it will require the government to ration healthcare. Do we really want the delivery of healthcare to become a matter of political bargaining? Imagine the hypocrisy of those who are adamant that the relationship between a doctor and patient is sacrosanct when it comes to abortion, but would make almost all medical procedures a matter of public policy mandates in the future. Imagine your worst nightmare of an HMO and then increase that exponentially and you begin to get the real meaning of Universal Health Care. As for the eventual bill for this service, look to the past at all other federal entitlement programs. To make matters worse, no Democrat is going to support Medical Practice Tort Reform which is contributing to the skyrocketed growth of healthcare costs.

How will Democrats deal with other issues of free market choice for individuals? No Democrat supports any level of privatization of Social Security for retirement. There is no support for school vouchers or alternatives to the monopoly of the public school system. Finally there is no support for private Health Savings Accounts among the Democrats. While Republicans will at least look for market-based solutions to public policy issues, the unions and bureaucratic constituencies of the Democrats virtually insures no such innovation.

On the matter of illegal immigration, the Democrats are more likely to pass a liberal new amnesty program than any GOP administration. The reason is that the Hispanic community seems to be “in play” and this is one constituency the Democrats really need to lock up in order to strengthen their position on the West Coast and in the Southwest.

One can only imagine the kind of social activist judges and Supreme Court justices that would be appointed by the Democratic nominee. The Federal Judiciary will begin to resemble the lunacy of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Can any responsible citizen sit home and allow the judiciary to lunge to the Left? This alone should energize conservatives. The dismantling of all religious tradition or symbolism in public life is likely to continue with a Democratic President and a liberal judiciary.

The final issue is one of national security. Certainly no one can believe that a Democratic administration will strengthen our intelligence and defense capabilities. It was under Democratic administrations that the CIA and other intelligence agencies became decimated and hand-tied. The Democrats have almost unanimously voted against nearly all major new weapons systems. At a time when we are in fact living in a Third World War, we can not go from a Churchill to a Chamberlain. It is disingenuous for the Democrats to glob onto intelligence deficiencies when they are largely the culprit for lack of human intelligence or material resources in the important area of espionage. In fighting a terrorist enemy, preemption is the natural policy and that requires intelligence first and foremost.

While President Bush may not be a conservative’s perfect president, the alternative should shake any discontents to active support of the President. Moreover, in the area of determining the security threat to the West and taking action, the President may go down as one of our greatest leaders. For the sake of the hope of more prudent domestic policy, judicial restraint and national security, there is really no choice. As for much of the domestic agenda, can we afford to sacrifice the good for the perfect?

Scott Shore is a political commentator and management consultant in Providence, Rhode Island.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: bush; conservatives; gop; gwb2004; leftwing; liberals; rightwing; vichycons
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 821-831 next last
To: KantianBurke
Fabulous post! You hit the nail on the head!
21 posted on 02/11/2004 12:00:22 PM PST by Henrietta
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Sloth; Austin Willard Wright; Grut; Henrietta
Wrote this on another thread last night. Worth repeating to you, although your minds are as closed as a coffin:

Choose, people!

Do we want to be forever subservient to the UN?

Or do we want to continue our sovereign right to self-determination and self-protection?

Are we ashamed of America such that we need a president to apologize for us at every turn?

Or was that spontaneous bout of flag-waving and American pride after 9/11 real?

Do we want a leftist (i.e., Marxist) president who will make us subservient to the International Criminal Court, the Kyoto treaty, and every other pseudo-world government body?

Or do we want to maintain GWB's reversal of those Clinton policies?

Do we still cherish our unique Constitutional system and American heritage?

Or are we ready to toss it overboard?

Do we want to abandon the War on Terrorism, military tribunals for America's enemies, and taking the fight to the enemy?

Or do we want to continue the course set by President George W. Bush?

There is NO MIDDLE GROUND in this election. The choice is stark and the decision very grave, indeed. This November, we shall finally see what kind of country the United States is in this Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Four (to use the ancient formulation).

22 posted on 02/11/2004 12:01:18 PM PST by Wolfstar (A self-confident cowboy nation, or a Kerrified nation. Your choice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: eyespysomething
"2008? We'll have to see."

I hate to break this to you, but the only way Bush can run in 2008 is if he loses in 2004...
23 posted on 02/11/2004 12:02:05 PM PST by Henrietta
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Lando Lincoln
Great article & post!

People need to be reminded often, hopefully by November all conservatives will get it and help reelect Bush ( and defeat Kerry) by a landslide.
24 posted on 02/11/2004 12:04:08 PM PST by FairOpinion (If you are not voting for Bush, you are voting for the terrorists.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Lando Lincoln
Having said all that, I intend to do whatever I can to reelect President Bush.

Well, at least it's interesting to see where in the text the author decides to plant this well-worn phrase.
25 posted on 02/11/2004 12:04:10 PM PST by George W. Bush (It's the Congress, stupid.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lando Lincoln
The President's problems are self-inflicted. Without the inconsistencies, that you slough over, the media, the Left, and we disgruntled Conservatives, would have little ammunition--and in the case of the Conservatives, no need--to attack him. As a lawyer, I will assure you that the first thing one looks for, to tear down an adversary, are inconsistencies in his argument, inconsistencies in the testimony of his witnesses. As a one time Conservative student, upholding traditional American values at one of the historically most Liberal campuses on the continent--as well as having encouraged campus Conservatives in fights over the decades since--I can assure you that the prime vehicle the Leftwing Professor uses to undermine the traditional values of students, is to find logical inconsistencies in the conduct or statements of Conservative spokesmen, both current and historic.

It is the same with the witch-hunters, and smear artists of the media. Bush without his immigration views; Bush without Medicare drug coverage; Bush without the idiotic "No Child Left Behind" program in Education; Bush without foreign AIDS campaigns, etc., would be an infinitely stronger candidate than the Bush you defend.

You see what you want to see, however, and will rationalize to where you want to go.

But enough. I do not really like to have to attack the President. I feel he has been a victim of just the sort of fallacy that you suggest in his defense. The culprit is Karl Rove, the epitome of the dysron. Perhaps Conservatives will give the President a pass, for the moment, and focus on Rove with sufficient clarity as to why and how his approach is stupid, in the hope that the President will yet turn back to reason, and we can yet come back together.

How, this Ohioan votes this fall--and I will vote, if only for the few real Conservatives who are also running on the Republican ticket--will depend on what the President does with respect to the Rove approach, over the next few months. In the meanwhile, I am going to try to restrain my outrage towards the President, ideologically, and focus on tactics. It may be a forlorn hope, but it would be good for America if more of us could get on the same page.

William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site

26 posted on 02/11/2004 12:04:17 PM PST by Ohioan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: PhiKapMom
***Ping***
27 posted on 02/11/2004 12:04:17 PM PST by My2Cents ("Well...there you go again.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lando Lincoln
If there is a problem it is not a problem caused by conservatives. It is our President doing a pretty good immitation of a wacko leftist with his domestic spending. Stop lecturing us. Lecture him.
28 posted on 02/11/2004 12:04:38 PM PST by DManA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Henrietta
I learned that if you keep voting for Dem lite, you'll continue to get Dem lite. Now that Bush has unmasked himself as Dem lite, I'll not vote for him.

So, maybe you'll be happier with Dem strong. That's what you will get if Bush is not reelected.

29 posted on 02/11/2004 12:05:03 PM PST by Columbine (Bush '04 - Owens '08)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Henrietta
Who you vote for is your business. But you, madam, are terminally dense. You don't want what you characterize as "Dem lite," so instead, you're going to help elect a bona fide hard-left 60's era radical. Perfect! Forgot who it was who said the era of common sense is dead, but he was most definitely right.
30 posted on 02/11/2004 12:05:10 PM PST by Wolfstar (A self-confident cowboy nation, or a Kerrified nation. Your choice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Wolfstar
Wow, with prose like that, maybe you could convince GWB to act like the conservative that he promised he was when we elected him the first time.

The choice is his, really. He can act like a pro-illegal immigration welfare statist, or he can act like a conservative. But if he's gonna act like John Kerry, I'm not voting for him EVEN IF THAT MEANS WE GET JOHN KERRY.

Shoot, if Bush is gonna act like John Kerry, what's the difference?

Just my sentiments, I know you don't agree. You call us close-minded. I call us "principled." Maybe you should get some!
31 posted on 02/11/2004 12:06:27 PM PST by Henrietta
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Lando Lincoln
If there is a problem it is not a problem caused by conservatives. It is our President doing a pretty good immitation of a wacko leftist with his domestic spending. Stop lecturing us. Lecture him.

I'm sick of being told - shut up and vote. Well I won't shut up and I may not vote. Deal with it.

32 posted on 02/11/2004 12:06:30 PM PST by DManA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Austin Willard Wright
It is interesting how the Bush supporters are no longer making the same old excuses. They used to claim that "if only the GOP controlled the Congress and the presidency" small government would be enacted. Now....they don't even have that excuse.

You're right. We should have followed your advice by electing Pat Buchanan...

33 posted on 02/11/2004 12:06:34 PM PST by SunStar (Democrats piss me off!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Sloth
The importance of getting 60 seats in the Senate is that it is the political equivalent of driving a stake through the heart of the Democrats. We just don't want to beat the Dems, we want to pulverize them into powder, and then sweep the powder onto the ash heap of history.
34 posted on 02/11/2004 12:07:35 PM PST by My2Cents ("Well...there you go again.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Columbine
It's not that they're Kerry supporters...it's that they're boneheads.
35 posted on 02/11/2004 12:08:21 PM PST by My2Cents ("Well...there you go again.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Ohioan
I will vote, if only for the few real Conservatives who are also running...

OK, Mr. or Ms. Ohioan lawyer, what exactly is a REAL conservative?

36 posted on 02/11/2004 12:08:39 PM PST by Wolfstar (A self-confident cowboy nation, or a Kerrified nation. Your choice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Austin Willard Wright
GWB is probably the most conservative President in the history of the US, fwiw.
37 posted on 02/11/2004 12:08:39 PM PST by Texas_Dawg (A vote for the Constitution Party is a vote for Paul Krugman and Al Qaeda.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Lando Lincoln
Aw, come on! "Real movement conservatives" want Kerry to win to have more to bitch about.
38 posted on 02/11/2004 12:08:39 PM PST by Chi-townChief
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lando Lincoln
But I like being imaginary, then I don't owe taxes.

But seriously, nice post!
39 posted on 02/11/2004 12:09:26 PM PST by <1/1,000,000th%
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Wolfstar
That every single right-of-center person in this country isn't standing up and working as hard as they can for GWB's re-election is mind-boggling.

I can't even fathom what their motivation or thinking is. As I've said before, to pitch this President out of office over one or two issues, without regard to what that means to the war on terror, US security in general, our position in the world, and the likelihood of three or four Supreme Ct. nominations in the next term, isn't "conservative" at all, as far as I'm concerned.

40 posted on 02/11/2004 12:11:30 PM PST by My2Cents ("Well...there you go again.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 821-831 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