January
10, 2001
The Big Picture
By John McIntyre
There are four big picture items President-elect Bush needs to
accomplish in his term(s) as President. The two most important
are to begin the building of a national missile defense system
and to appoint strict contructionists to the federal judiciary.
And Bush must also tackle two other cornerstones of his campaign
in tax reform/tax cuts and reform of Social Security/ Medicare.
Contrary to popular wisdom, Bush has a good chance at accomplishing
three out of four of these things in his first term as president.
The nomination of John Ashcroft is a strong indication Bush understands
the importance of stocking the federal judiciary and the Supreme
Court with jurists who will enforce laws, not create them. The
selection of judges to lifetime appointments is always one of
a President's lasting legacies. It is critical that Bush looks
to appoint young, qualified, conservative, and most importantly
confirmable jurists to fill federal vacancies. This is what scares
and enrages the liberal left more than anything else, and the
Ashcroft fight is just the first salvo in the war for control
of the judicial branch of government.
Contrary to liberal ideology, the federal government's primary
job is to provide for our national defense. The Democrats' steadfast
refusal to support real missile defense is one of the great mistakes
of the last fifteen years. Had there been some strategic vision
in the Democratic leadership we would be significantly further
along in providing a real defense for the American people. Bush
has the opportunity to make this his 'Manhattan Project' or 'Man
to the Moon.' The small minded fools on the political left who
say missile defense won't work are like the people who told Columbus
the world was flat. In 1920 no one could possibly conceive of
a single bomb capable of destroying an entire city. In 1940 people
would have laughed if you told them in thirty years we would put
a man on the moon.
The liberal elite did laugh in 1983 when Ronald Reagan proposed
SDI or "star wars," and incredibly there are still some
on the left who tell us missile defense won't work. The truth
is that it can work - and lets hope the delay the Democrats have
caused won't haunt us if Saddam Hussein or some other crazy develops
ballistic missile capability before we have a system that is operational.
The nomination of Donald Rumsfeld for Defense is proof positive
that Bush has every intention to follow through on his campaign
promise to provide the country with a real national defense. While
the system may take longer than 4-8 years to implement, Bush can
set forward a process and a national commitment that will make
it impossible for future Presidents or Congresses to derail national
missile defense.
Bush took a very courageous step in the campaign with his proposal
to partially privatize part of Social Security. Not only is Bush's
proposal critical to the long term financial viability of the
Social Security system, but it is enormously important in the
ideological war with Democrats. A partial privatization of Social
Security and personal savings accounts would be the beginning
of a process whereby average Americans will be able to accumulate
wealth and assets. Democrats will fight this tooth and nail, of
course, because it will lessen the public's dependence on governmental
programs, which will in turn weaken the Democratic Party.
Having campaigned on a promise to provide prescription drug relief,
Bush should craft a Medicare/Social Security Reform bill that
combines a solution to the prescription drug problem while also
providing private savings accounts. Working with Senator Breaux
and a few other like-minded moderate Democrats, Bush should be
able to fashion a bill that fulfills his campaign promises and
passes Congress.
Though an across-the-board tax cut is even more critical now
with the economy dangerously close to recession, Bush should have
as a goal long term, fundamental reform of our tax code with the
implementation of a significantly flatter rate structure or a
national sales tax in exchange for scrapping the income tax all
together. Granted, this is probably too much to expect in a first
term, and providing the American people with more than 1 trillion
in tax relief with lower rates would be a solid start this year.
But for a lasting legacy concerning taxes, serious tax reform
and a simplification of the tax code is a must.
Obviously there are other issues of importance that will have
to be addressed along the way; energy, education and the stability
of the global finiancial system just to name a few. But it will
be important for the new Bush Administration to keep these long
term goals always in the forefront. If Bush can accomplish three
out of four of these big picture issues he will have set the country
on a solid footing for the new century.
John McIntyre writes for RealClearPolitics
