American Conservatism (Myron Magnet On President Bush's Cowboy Capitalism Conservatism Alert)

Opinionjournal.com ^ | 02/25/05 | Myron Magnet

[goldstategop]

It's in this context that we should understand President Bush's campaign for Social Security reform. It is part of the large and coherent world view that has evolved out of compassionate conservatism. What has always made America exceptional is limitless opportunity for everyone, at all levels--the ability to find a job, to advance up the ladder as you prove yourself, and to prosper. The poor especially have flocked to these shores for just this chance, and have proved the promise true. A giant welfare state--whether its clients are the poor, the "lower third of the economy," or a cohort of government-pensioned retirees who almost outnumber the taxpaying workers who support them--hampers the job creation that makes all this opportunity possible. President Bush is determined to keep the dynamism vibrant, and to encourage and empower the poor to take part in it, rather than to suggest they are unequal to the task. The Europeans call this "cowboy capitalism." If so, then yee-haw!

[goldstategop]

People have asked what the conservative underpinnings of Bush's domestic policy are. It can be summed up in two words: "cowboy capitalism." As Myron Magnet says, "yee-haw!"

(Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News.")