The Government Spending Problem

Some thought-provoking analysis from Nixguy today on the practical nature of political conservatism, and what can and cannot be given up to win a political majority. By and large he comes down in favor of fiscal responsibility as the one key issue that delineates the real deal from the charlatans. And that - being less generous with the government buck - is an issue on which most people on the Right can agree. We need to back away from any politician with the mindset that government can (and should) take more and more money away from the citizens and use it to "solve problems" and "help people".

A conservative intuitively believes that, while there are some problems that only the government can solve, the list is very short. And when it comes to "helping people", the government tends to make the problem worse, over time. The best that can be done is to foster a civic environment where people can help themselves, often with opportunities in markets and education, and occasionally with local or state-specific solutions. Positive human behavior and the common social good cannot be legislated, sadly - but we can hope that average men and women are good enough, possessed with virtue, judgment, and compassion, that people will help each other. It involves a transformation in thinking from victimhood to self-empowerment, and looking at possibilities, not limitations.

The problem with the spending issue is that there are occasions when government should expand. And usually this happens during wartime. It doesn't make sense to ask each state to monitor the influx of international shipping containers for security risks - to centralize information themselves and negotiate contracts with specialized subcontractors and providers of detection equipment. In a time of national crisis the federal government needs to spend money towards the national, collective well-being on something like Homeland Security. It has done things like this in the past, and while it never does them particularly well (or efficiently) - it is the best of the bad alternatives.

The GOP, in the past few years, has lost touch with fiscal conservatism because there has been some genuine cause to expand spending in some areas. But, like a boozer after one drink, there is little restraint that stops them from open-ended indulgence. Soon enough they became addicted to pork, and attempted to buy off many issues (that cannot be solved by government) with more and more spending.

(Nixguy offered more on the key elements of conservatism. See the post. I'll try and add more analysis if and when time permits.)

Tags: GOP, Government Spending, Conservatism