Activists on right fear waning influence

The Washington Times ^ | May 21, 2003 | Ralph Hallow

[TBP]

Conservative activists fear that they are not exercising as much influence on the Bush White House as they did in previous Republican presidencies.

In a memo to hundreds of fellow conservatives, a former Reagan administration official says traditional views are being edged out by a neoconservative "national greatness" ideology that accepts big government and advocates interventionist foreign policy.

[TBP]

As a constitutionalist, I have been worried for a long time about the refusal of so-called conservative leaders to step up and fight for limited government, as the Founding Fathers envisioned. This Administration has done nothing to advance that goal, and neither does the Republican Party. When will conservatives start pressuring our people to stand for our principles instead of watered-down versions of liberalism?

[ilgipper]

Thank you. Great post.

51-48 in the Senate does not significant change make. The President does not have the ability to pass through significant changes right now (this tax cut is the perfect example). The one area that he has near total control is foreign policy, and he has done magificantly.

[Dan from Michigan]

Here's the bottom line. What are we going to do about it?

[Registered]

Great post

[Cacique]

ping

[DPB101]

Donald J. Devine ,President Reagan's director of the Office of Personnel Management: ". . .there is nothing that pushes politics further to the right, leaving conservatism and the Republican Party to drift."

Eliminating double taxation on dividends? Putting privatizing Social Security on the table? Two tax cuts with 18 months to go in the first term? Contracting out 850,000 Federal job? Quietly inviting loggers, ranchers and miners to sue over restrictive environmental laws and then not defending the laws? Opposing Affirmative Action? Declaring the Second Amendment is an individual right? Pushing school choice?

"government keeps growing,"

Well, duh. The economy grows. The population grows. Boomers are starting to retire and use services. Government always grows. It is how large government is in relation to GDP which matters. Bush, even with a war, has a lower ratio than Clinton.

neoconservative dreams of empire ...

Oh please...

[RJayneJ]

Quote of the Day by Teetop

[nutmeg]

ping!

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ping list.

[nutmeg]

Thanks for the ping!

[katana]

Couldn't agree more and thanks for the refreshing whiff of reality. How anyone can think that something positive will come out of abandoning the field to the left is completely beyond me.

Keep pressure on the Republicans? Absolutely. Stop voting out of pique over the fact that you can't get 100% of what you want? Childish.

[WaterDragon]

President Bush has always pushed for smaller government by pushing for tax cuts and Congressional pork cuts....Republicans in Congress are not yet with the program fully. And the President has pushed for faith-based social programs, to begin decreasing government's meddling in that area.

To say Bush is not listening to us is a lie, and one being told by political groups who want more power over us than they now have. Thanks for nothing.

[sauropod]

Careful. You might tick off a well-known neo-con here on FR. His lips are firmly planted on Karl Rove's posterior...

[sauropod]

Hold Bush and his Administration to account and stop being such bush-bots.

Not you specifically, but a lot of folks here on FR are bush-bots.

[hellinahandcart]

And here I was wondering what we'd talk about in the car this weekend. Grrr...

[Bigg Red]

neoconservative dreams of empire

A little dramatic, don't you think?

[Constitution Day]

Here's the memo (from Donald Devine) that is referred to in the article:

Revitalizing Conservatism - Policy Views

[itsahoot]

Keep pressure on the Republicans? Absolutely. Stop voting out of pique over the fact that you can't get 100% of what you want? Childish.

I think there is a reason that God makes no distinction between little sins and big sins, maybe because they both have the same end result.

[TBP]

"It's rolling our way"? Spending on non-defense items is increasing. The President signed the unconstitutional campaign finance bill, agreed to an education bill that gave Ted Kennedy everything he wanted with nothing for us, and has done many other things that have moved the ball away from our goal, not towards it.

And there is more to reducing government than penny-ante tax cuts. We must cut spending. We must stop intrusions on our liberties. But too many conservatives seem to think these things are OK if they're done by a Republican.

[TBP]

It is how large government is in relation to GDP which matters.

No, it's the Constitution. The Founding Fathers designed the Constitution to limit the Federal government's (and to a lesser extent, state governments') intrusion on our lives. This government FAR exceeds the Constitutional limits. It's time to fight for Constitutional government.