Something To Believe In

What can Republicans believe in that can unify the party AND the nation? Fiscal responsibility. That’s right. Money. As in, the government is going bankrupt and with the economy constricting, tax receipts dwindling, and Barack Obama’s big plans all costing more money, what are the alternatives? Cut spending or raise taxes.

Did John McCain even mention cutting taxes? Um, not that I recall. He mentioned a government wage freeze. That’s it.

I’ve been reading Michael Gerson’s book Heroic Conservativism. Maybe I haven’t gotten there yet, but through chapter 3, he’s waxed poetic about Bush’s compassion (big spending for agreeably important projects) but said little about how mean it is to sock the next generation with this generation’s ostensible compassion.

Compassionate Conservatism has meant big debt. Big debt makes the person, or the state, a slave to the master who owns the debt. As much as oil dependence is a national security issue, indebtedness is a security issue. A global recession means that everyone’s money constricts. Those who need money, need it now. Can America pay up?

The Bank Bailout is like the new Hydra. Who knows what head this thing will grow. It’s bad news.

Republicans need to get back to being the party of personal responsibility. That message alone will stand in stark contrast to everything the Democrats stand for. Conservatives believe in the power of the individual to affect change. At a certain point, bills come due. Compassion doesn’t seem so kind, then. And Socialism will go one step further and make the individual a slave to the state. Freedom constricts when money is taken away. It’s just that simple.

Thomas Jefferson says it best, “Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.” And this, “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”

Cross-posted at MelissaClouthier.com

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