Swing and a Miss...

Jonah speaks here; The interesting portion of the article has nothing to do with the topic - rather, it is an introductory point that Goldberg evidently assumes is true beyond question, as it is part of the basis for the rest of his statements: Today's conservatives for the most part ... admire Lincoln for the philosophical content of his profound moral convictions but look on Lincoln's resort to heavy-handed statism as a lamentable but necessary recourse. Today's liberals feel the same way about the convictions, but don't much mind the statism. So, in this passage, Goldberg (accidently?) suggests that both Democrats and Republicans favor the use of "heavy-handed statism", even though he seems to think that Republicans do it even though they feel really bad about it... I have discussed the "big government" phenomenon before, and have noted that both Republicans and Democrats support big government - to the chagrin of their constituents. Big government is a necessary result of centralized government, as the Founding Fathers realized and tried to prevent. Recent analysis on the topic has come from Noam Chomsky and others, who explain the mechanism by which this works. Another intersting book on the subject (specifically from the Republican side), is here. Michael Tanner (of the Cato Institute) thinks that the Republicans are becoming more aligned with Democrats. Some quotes: ...this shift has moved conservatism alongside liberalism, essentially turning the old linear political spectrum into a circle. Most obvious are the shared expansive programs and expensive budgets. But there's more. Explains Tanner: "big-government conservatives share a common arrogance with contemporary liberalism. They are convinced that they know what is best for every American and because they know best, they should guide the rest of us in the proper direction." Alas, conservatives are no better at social engineering than are liberals. As a result, "big-government conservatism will simply bring us ever more government intervention in and control over our lives, greater regulation, mounting debt that threatens the nation's future economic health, and less freedom for every American." Whether this alignemnt is true or not seems beyond question - the only question is regarding its timeframe. Tanner suggests that this shift has occurred solely within the current President's tenure. I happen to disagree. James Ostrowski at the Mises Institute offers this article to show the historical support of Republicans to big government: Herbert Hoover Increased federal spending 38 percent (current dollars) Passed the Agricultural Marketing Act (welfare for farmers) Passed the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Waged war on drugs (alcohol) Passed the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (pork and corporate welfare) Passed massive tax increases Dwight Eisenhower Increased federal spending 30 percent Created Department of Health, Education, & Welfare (and spending) Put Earl Warren and William Brennan on Supreme Court Helped install Shah Pahlevi in Iran (smart, real smart) Extended Socialism Security to 10 million additional persons Started American involvement in Vietnam Passed federal highway legislation Created NASA Started student loan program (aka, program to raise college tuition so no one can afford it) Kept federal counterfeiting to a minimum, causing you to lose only 9 cents off your 1952 dollar (Source: The Inflation Calculator) Richard Nixon Increased federal spending 70 percent Created EPA, OSHA, and CPSC Started "affirmative action" Imposed price and wage controls Made your 1968 dollar worth just 78 cents by the time he left office Proposed minimum national income Gerald Ford Knocked 8 cents off your dollar in just two years [He didn't WIN (Whip Inflation Now] Increased federal spending throughout term Reduced spending on federal prisons by pardoning Nixon Overall, not too bad for a Republican and better than... Ronald Reagan Increased federal spending 53 percent Elevated Veteran's Administration Added 250,000 civilian employees Created drug czar's office Escalated war on drugs "Saved" Social Security by increasing payroll tax Lowered the value of your 1980 dollar to 73 cents Centralized government has always been about governmental growth and consolidation of power. Goldberg just accidently reminded everybody of it.