February 28, 2006
Betraying the Reagan Legacy
By Bruce
Bartlett
Last week, I published
a new book, "Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America
and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy." A lot of my friends are
not happy with me for writing it, and I have been embraced by
a number of people on the left whom I would ordinarily consider
my political enemies. Both are mistaken about why I wrote the
book and what I hope to accomplish with it.
Some of my former
friends on the right have attacked me as an opportunist who sold
out his party and his president to get a best-seller. They would
not think so if they knew that I started this project knowing
that I would probably lose my job with a think tank closely allied
with the White House, which I did. My advance on the book was
less than the salary I was making, so if I am an opportunist,
I'm a pretty poor one.
My new friends on
the left are, of course, delighted to find someone on the right
who is articulating a critique of George W. Bush. But if they
read the book, they will find that my criticism bears nothing
in common with theirs. Just because I find fault with a president
from my party doesn't mean I've switched sides. On the contrary,
I wrote the book in order to help my side win.
My basic argument
is that Bush has enacted policies contrary to conservative principles
on too many occasions. Some of those that disturb me the most
are these:
-- No Child Left
Behind Act. Republicans used to campaign on the idea of abolishing
the Department of Education. Bush greatly increased its budget,
despite a paucity of evidence showing that educational outcomes
are correlated with educational spending. No wonder Sen. Ted Kennedy,
Democrat of Massachusetts and Congress' leading liberal, loved
it. The "reforms" Bush got in return were far too modest
to justify his support for this legislation, and it hasn't even
helped him politically. All we ever hear from the education lobby
are demands for even more spending.
-- Campaign Finance
Reform. I don't know a single conservative who doesn't think that
this legislation is a fundamental violation of the First Amendment
to the Constitution, the Supreme Court's ruling to the contrary
notwithstanding. Personally, I consider Bush to have violated
his oath to defend the Constitution by signing this monstrosity,
especially since he said he would veto such a bill during the
2000 campaign.
-- Medicare Drug
Benefit. This was really the final straw for me. The Medicare
system was already $50 trillion in debt in 2003, and we should
have been looking for ways to cut its spending, not increase it.
The unfunded liability of just the drug benefit added another
$18 trillion to that debt, an increase of nearly 40 percent. Sooner
or later, this legislation is going to cause a massive tax increase,
in my opinion and that of many budget experts.
The book details
many other areas where I feel that Bush's policies are totally
contrary to Ronald Reagan's. Readers can judge for themselves
whether my indictment holds water. The reaction I have received
thus far suggests that a lot of conservatives share my concerns
and believe that Bush has done deep damage to the conservative
movement and the Republican Party.
The last time a Republican president -- Richard Nixon -- sold
out his party's core beliefs, it led to huge losses for his party
in 1974 and 1976. I think Republicans are deluding themselves
if they believe that gerrymandering in the House of Representatives
and millions of lobbyist dollars will protect them from big losses
this November. It's worth remembering that Republicans took control
of Congress in 1994 not because more Republicans voted, but because
fewer Democrats did. They, like many Republicans today, were dispirited
by a president of their party who took their loyalty for granted.
I think Republicans
are also wrong to assume that Democrats will always behave as
stupidly as they have lately. One of these days, they are going
to get their act together and stop nominating lousy candidates
who run awful campaigns. Once Republicans lose the votes of those
who are only voting against the Democrats, not for them, they
will be in serious political trouble.
I wrote my book so
that Republicans and conservatives can start a debate about the
future of the party and the movement. If we wait until 2008, it
will be much too late. It is important for potential Republican
presidential nominees to start thinking about and articulating
a vision for the future now. And Republican voters need to ask
themselves whether they are satisfied with the direction George
W. Bush has led them or whether they would really prefer to get
back to the policies and philosophy of Ronald Reagan.
Copyright
2006 Creators Syndicate
