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Over
the past 30
years,
conservatives
have
successfully
branded anyone
who supports
raising taxes as
being a
liberal.
Now, many on the
right are trying
to do the same
with regard to
government. In
short, if a
person supports
a government
program, that
person is not
just a liberal,
but a socialist.
The result is
that many
Republicans have
become hesitant
to acknowledge
one of the most
basic
obligations of
elective office
– mainly, that
they are hired
to run the
government, not
run away from
it. It hasn’t
always been this
way, of course.
Lincoln created
the Agriculture
Department.
Teddy Roosevelt
regulated the
railroads.
Eisenhower
poured 45,000
miles of
concrete and
built the
nation’s
interstate
highway system.
No one in his
right mind would
believe any of
them were
socialists.
Then again, I
don’t listen to
Rush Limbaugh,
so I don’t know
what he thinks.
What I do know
is that the
Republican Party
has got to come
to grips with
the role of
government, and
figure out an
approach that
recognizes the
role it plays in
people’s lives.
A good place to
start is by
looking toward
Indiana, where
Governor Mitch
Daniels has
undertaken an
ambitious plan
to remake the
structure of
local
governments in
the Hoosier
State.
As John Krauss
of Indiana
University’s
Public Policy
Institute
explains in our
lead essay, in
pushing to make
government
smaller and
smarter, Daniels
is not driven by
some Al Gore
utopian fantasy
that an
efficient
bureaucracy can
cure all the
world’s ills.
Rather, he is
driven by the
very Republican
notion that a
more efficient
government can
save taxpayers
money – in this
case, savings in
the form of
lower property
taxes.
And so, Daniels
pushes on with
his plan. It is
an uphill fight,
as you will
read. But it is
also one any
Republican can
-- and should --
support.
No look at
government
efficiency would
be complete
without an
examination of
the fuel that
keeps the wheels
of government
turning – the
budget. And for
this, we feature
essays by two of
the best: Jim
Bates, writing
on the urgency
of budget
reform, and
Steve Bell,
writing about
the perils of
reconciliation
in this
supposedly
“post-partisan”
year.
As part of a new
feature on
“Making
Government
Work,” we’ve
asked defense
expert Winslow
Wheeler to take
a look at the
Pentagon and, in
800 words or
less, tell us
how to make the
Department
function
better. He not
only
accomplished
this feat, but
he did so with
one word to
spare – a model
of efficiency,
himself.
We kick things
off, though,
with a Q&A with
the top ranking
Republican woman
in the House of
Representatives,
Cathy McMorris
Rodgers, who
shares her
thoughts on the
future of the
GOP and the year
ahead on Capitol
Hill.
We hope you
enjoy this
edition, and
encourage you to
write us at
editor@riponsociety.org
with any ideas
or suggestions
you may have.
Lou Zickar
Editor
The Ripon
Forum
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