A Voice in the Wilderness In Defense of "Mere Conservatism"

Clarity from Sowell

Few voices are as consistently salient as that of Dr. Thomas Sowell.  A lifelong teacher (and student) of economic and political theory, Sowell's is a name that ought to be a household one for all conservatives and libertarians.  If you are reading this and are not intimately familiar with his work, change that immediately.  I recommend Applied Economics, The Quest For Cosmic Justice, and Conflict of Visions.

In his most recent column, Dr. Sowell discusses the Republican party's frustrating insistence upon falling for the same promise from Democrats that they will cut spending if the GOP will go along with higher taxes.

People who remember the old comic strip “Peanuts” will recall an often-repeated situation where Lucy offers to hold a football for Charlie Brown to kick. Then, as Charlie comes running up to kick it, Lucy snatches away the ball, and Charlie Brown loses his balance and goes crashing on his backside.

The reason this same scene remained funny, despite how often it was repeated, is that in the later repetitions Charlie Brown would express suspicion at Lucy, recalling how she had tricked him before. She would then come up with some claim that she wasn’t going to do that anymore — and of course she did.

There is a similar routine that has been repeated many times in Washington over the years, with the Democrats playing Lucy and Republicans playing Charlie Brown.

It goes like this: Democrats start spending money wildly, handing out goodies to a wide range of people whom they want to vote for them, while Republicans complain about deficits and the national debt. Then, when the public becomes alarmed about the debts that are piling up, the Democrats get the Republicans to vote for higher taxes to deal with the debt crisis, in the name of “fiscal responsibility.”

Sometimes the deal is sweetened by the Democrats’ promising to make spending cuts if the Republicans vote for higher taxes, so that there can be one of those “bipartisan” solutions so beloved by the media. But, after the Republicans vote for the tax increases and come running up to find the spending cuts, the Democrats snatch away the spending cuts and the Republicans fall right on their backsides, just like Charlie Brown.

But we must not fall prey to the tempting position of only blaming our politicians.  "We the people" put those politicians in place, and continue to vote for them even after they've proven to be wholly untrustworthy and/or incompetent.

Republicans are not the only suckers in this game. The voting public’s willingness to believe fancy rhetoric and ignore hard facts is a crucial part of this scam.

When the Obama administration said that it could provide health insurance to millions of additional people without increasing the national debt, shouldn’t common sense have told you that somebody was insulting your intelligence?

When the 2,000-page bill was rushed through Congress too fast for anybody to read it, shouldn’t that have made you realize that you were being played for a sucker?

When this bill, which was passed with lightning speed, was scheduled to take effect only after the 2012 election, didn’t that suggest that they didn’t want you to find out how it would work in practice in time to turn against Obama when he came up for reelection?

Stop the madness by equipping yourself with information, facts, and a passion for being the best citizen-activist you can be.  Please.