Ryan Streeter
Recent reports of infighting on the right over who should be briefing incoming freshmen GOPers is instructive. Since the tea party movement has had no official organization, several groups want to wear the mantle of leadership and prepare the class of 2010 for its move to Washington.
The infighting is more than a territorial spat, though. It reflects a deeper issue: a struggle to define the agenda not just for tea partiers but for the Republican party as a whole.
In many ways, the tea party’s strength is its weakness in this regard. Its agenda is simple, straightforward, easy to grasp. Reign in, and reduce, spending. Hold elected officials accountable for taxpayers’ money. Stop Obama from spending our children into a second-world – if not third-world – future. But once we get to the more complex question of which policies to pursue, the movement looks adolescent. That’s not a bad thing. It just means we all have a lot of work to do.
ConservativeHome exists to help along this public debate about ideas, policy, and the future of the party (the Republican party, that is). The party isn’t popular these days despite its historic gains on Nov. 2, and for good reason. Voters still think more of a party that’s gone native in Washington than one that has solutions that matter to people in Ohio or New Jersey or Texas or [insert your state].
Our goal isn’t to help the party’s popularity but to promote debate about a broad-based agenda. Looking to the newly energized Republican majority in the House and what will surely be a spirited group of 2012 contenders, ConservativeHome will regularly be pushing all of us to find the best ideas in the following areas.
Enterprise society. The new GOPers and contenders in 2012 should take a page out of AEI’s Arthur Brooks’ playbook (look for ConservativeHome’s in-depth interview with Arthur on Big Ideas later this week). More than two-thirds of Americans agree that enterprise supported by low taxes and limited government is the main organizing principle of our society, while only 30% believe wealth management by the federal government is best for society. An enterprising society is as much a moral as economic endeavor. It has to do with encouraging risk-taking, starting small businesses, exercising the virtues of thrift and hard work and innovation.
This argues for policies that free up more capital at the household and community level for productive work. Getting tax rates and incentives right is important for this reason, not just so that we all have more to spend. An energized GOP should begin framing policies and debate this way, not talking about “capitalism” while meaning protecting Wall Street or “free markets” as a way of protecting big business interests.
Home economics in healthcare reform. Students of Greek know the word “economy” comes from the word meaning home. Debate about healthcare reform should be about families and small enterprises, because that’s who gets hit the hardest by our deeply flawed healthcare systems. When it comes to reforming healthcare, American families need Obamacare repealed – but they need a lot more than that.
Innovation and sacrifice in entitlements. When talking about our unfunded liabilities, the numbers are mind-numbing. Which makes it easy to punt and hope “someone” will fix the problem. Enterprising conservatives who hope to lead need to start equipping the current generation under 45 with kinds of sacrifices – and opportunities – we need to face willingly if we’re going to deal with our problems. With the recent debt commission co-chairs’ recent draft proposal, Paul Ryan’s much-discussed roadmap, and other new resources out there such as Chuck Blahous’s forthcoming book, Social Security: The Unfinished Work, scheduled to come out December 1.
There will be a price to pay – potential or real – with raised retirement ages, contributions into savings accounts, and defined contributions instead of defined benefits. Some of these changes may feel like a sacrifice – or at least a big risk. They need to be explained, defended, and promoted. We are America. We should take risks on this front.
No one disagrees that our economy, healthcare, and entitlements are the biggest issues out there today. My argument is that we need to define, calculate, and promote our solutions with clear objectives in mind: boosting enterprise rather than enabling more consumption, reforming healthcare for the sake of familes and small businesses rather than large stakeholders, and being clear about the real and acceptable costs of entitlement reform.
Tomorrow I will focus on a few issues on which there is less agreement on their importance to our future.
These are serious issues that the US needs to sort and the current financial crisis is a good time to do it because it provides an environment where new thinking can blossom as the world searches for answers to the new paradigm. It is just a shame that you are stuck to an electoral cycle where the pivotal moment has occurred mid-term.
However, what I would caution against is the idea that Europe holds answers to the problems of the US. This is the devil the GOP likes to beat Obama social reform with and they are right.
The structure of European social policy could never be replicated in the US and what I would hope US think-tanks, and this site, might do is lead a revolution in social policy that others might wish to follow.
ConHome UK has championed the "...and" theory where you recast traditional viewpoints in the context of modern thinking and it is this that the GOP must now focus on. To do otherwise runs the risks of looking outdated and irrelevant to everyone but the core vote.
Posted by: Kevin Davis | November 15, 2010 at 08:54 AM
To attract both conservatives and libertarians the GOP should clearly state that social policy should be decided at state level only. Indeed, there is a lot to be said for devolving as much federal power as possible down to state level.
Posted by: RichardJ | November 15, 2010 at 12:16 PM
Has anyone missed the rather obvious point that Conservative Home UK support the Conservative Party, whose coalition with the 'Liberal Democrats' [clue in the title folks..] have policies broadly congruent with the Obama administration.
Just before people starting poncing around on here pretending that they, the ConHomers, are 'Tea Party' loving neo-con crazies who lurvve Guns, God and Guts and spouting other nonsense.
The hard-right in the Conservative Party, like Norman Tebbit and John Redwood are a million light-years from the levers of power.
David Cameron got to be the Top Dog because he embraced the 'centre-ground' of progressive politics, just like Barack Obama.
There is a lesson there somewhere for the GOP, but it escapes me for the moment, and it will escape them for decades while they stray and wander in the wilderness...
Posted by: Bedd Gelert | November 15, 2010 at 02:15 PM
Has anyone missed the rather obvious point that Conservative Home UK support the Conservative Party, whose coalition with the 'Liberal Democrats' [clue in the title folks..] have policies broadly congruent with the Obama administration.
Just before people starting poncing around on here pretending that they, the ConHomers, are 'Tea Party' loving neo-con crazies who lurvve Guns, God and Guts and spouting other nonsense.
The hard-right in the Conservative Party, like Norman Tebbit and John Redwood are a million light-years from the levers of power.
David Cameron got to be the Top Dog because he embraced the 'centre-ground' of progressive politics, just like Barack Obama.
There is a lesson there somewhere for the GOP, but it escapes me for the moment, and it will escape them for decades while they stray and wander in the wilderness...
Posted by: Bedd Gelert | November 15, 2010 at 02:17 PM
All this infighting is rather pointless since America's future has already been decided and it's deep blue. Voting Republican is a white thing you see and America is becoming less white every year. Each election cycle it will be harder and harder for them to win a majority. By 2050 America will be majority non-white and then the show will be over.
Posted by: Gregory S | November 15, 2010 at 02:48 PM