David Brooks writes for that East Coast bastion of liberal thought, the New York Times. On Tuesday, he opined on the current unwillingness of the Republicans to accept the massive compromises offered by the Democrats in order to agree on raising the debt limit. The article was picked up on almost instantly by Democrats who used its words to drive home a point about Republican intransigence at the negotiating table. Not because he said anything particularly new, but because David Brooks is a conservative. You can read his article here: The Mother of All No-Brainers
That’s right, Mr. Brooks may not be much a Republican these days, but at least when it comes to fiscal matters, he is no tax-and-spend, welfare-state-loving liberal. But that was his point. There is a growing difference these days between what it means to be a Republican and what it means to be a Conservative. The fiscal conservative wants a smaller, less extensive and less expensive government because he or she believes that individuals should decide for themselves the amount of services they wish to receive and at what price. The private market can take care of those issues that do not explicitly require a government to handle. A Republican, at the moment, may very well refuse to support an idea first brought forth by a fellow Republican if it is now re-introduced by a Democrat, regardless of its merit. (See the Dream Act, the new health care laws, among others.)
The almighty TAX CUT has become a religion, or at least an idol to be worshiped. It makes no difference to many on the far right today that the entire idea behind a free market economy is a rejection of government influence, yet government subsidies and tax loopholes are provided to businesses regularly (giant oil companies that make billions in profit, car makers that the tax payer just bailed out, corporate jet owners). For the most part, it’s not the big-government-can-fix-everything Democrats that support these kinds of market distortions. It’s the Republicans who have sold out to populist idea that if government moves an inch, it’s too far, even if it’s an inch in the right direction.
It doesn’t matter how many scientists tell the Tea Partiers that the earth is warming – they don’t care. It doesn’t matter how many economists say that if the debt ceiling isn’t raised (we can’t just pay the interest) it will be disastrous – they don’t believe it. Someone on the right as to inject the Republican party with a dose of reality. Mr. Brooks has made an effort here, and will no doubt be disowned for it.