[img]1640|left|||no_popup[/img]From the 1950s until the ‘80s, the disparate elements of the conservative movement unified against one looming enemy:
Communism
Conservative scion William F. Buckley established the National Review to rescue respect for tradition, the submission of human nature, and the federalism of the Constitution from the John Birch Society. Buckley made conservatism academic, respectable and anti-Communist. After Communism was consigned to the ash heap of history, the Republican Party held onto Congressional power throughout the 1990s, until 2007, When accusations of internecine corruption brought down Congressional Republicans, for the first time in nearly two decades Democrats came to power.
Why did the Republican brand go bland? Republicans turned into Big Government, spending more money under George W. Bush than under Bill Clinton. A balanced budget in 1999 and 2000 became annual deficits under Bush. One-party Republican rule yielded two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, increased spending for homeland security, and pork for all. The 2001 No Child Left Behind law left plenty of children behind. The culture of test-taking may test the resolve of our society, whether students who excel at K-12 test-taking will excel in anything else. President Bush wanted to keep Florida quadriplegic Terry Schiavo alive, despite the wishes of her husband and the constraints of federalism. The 2005 Transportation bill had the Bridge to Nowhere. Republican principles of fiscal conservativism, limited government, Constitutional rule were nowhere to be found.
Repeat Explosions
Medicare, Part D, expanded subsidies for seniors, and the national debt. So much corporate welfare was tossed around during that time as well. Big Farm (Agribusiness), Big Pharma and Big Army (military spending) exploded. Everyone loves tax cuts. But increased spending and easy credit fueled inflation and expanded investment bubbles. Tax and Spend was replaced by Spend and Spend. Government infusion of debt-driven spending turned into a tax increase when the wealth of one's savings and earnings diminished as a result. Housing prices rose until the breaking point when Big Banks gone Too Big began to fail. “We must suspend the rules of the free market to save it,” cautioned President Bush. With this mixed message in one sentence, Bush explained why the Republican Party went from majority to minority. They believed in all the right things, but they did not do them.
Political parties require an enemy to channel their ambitions. Without Communism, which represented the ideals of democratic-socialism drive to the extreme, the Republican Party had no direction, no reason to expound limited government as a cause since there was no opposing cause to rail against. What new enemy can unite conservatives in the same confrontational manner as Communism?
Public Sector Unionism
Public sector unions are the antithesis of limited government. Growing bureaucracies create more state workers, which are funded and staffed by public sector unions. The same interests that organize and collectively bargain take taxpayer dollars from the public coffers, then draw money through forced dues from workers' paychecks, funneling the money to candidates and causes that keep the money flowing.
Public sector unions neither represent nor respect the individual citizen or the people. They have a storied history and documented record of hurting working class individuals. Labor unions support minimum wage laws, which limit new workers' opportunities to find entry-level employment. Unions use force to distort markets and trade. The SEIU loves to intimidate legislators. The Torrance Police Dept. broke up one of their protests years ago.
Public sector unions resist reform. They discourage change and choice. Teachers unions protect the worst teachers but refuse to promote the best. Public sector unions helped kill Prop. 32, which would have protected the paycheck and the vote of every Californian working in the public sector. Democrats and Republicans (and one crucial independent named Bill Bloomfield) supported Prop. 32. This unifying interest may be the catalyst for a long-awaited realignment in the political party structure.
A Little Name-Calling
Public sector unions are an easier target, a wounded animal losing power in the face of conservative leadership. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker passed Act 10, which prevented public sector unions from unilaterally withdrawing dues from employees' checks, limited collective bargaining to wages, and opened up negotiations for school districts and city managers to contract out health care plans. Walker's recall opponent Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee, used those reforms to save $21 million. He could not argue against the reforms. He merely tagged Walker the Rock Star of the Far Right. Walker beat the recall by a greater margin than his 2010 election. Walker's reforms have inspired and played off other reforms. Michigan initiated Right-to-Work legislation, as did Indiana (which also passed a statewide voucher program). These states are the models for a new, resurgent, combative (not compassionate) conservatism.
San Diego and San Jose enacted pension reform by initiative. Hermosa Beach soon may follow. City by city, California and national Republicans can capitalize on private animus toward public sector unions and promote their platform of free markets and free people.
The Public Sector Union Lobby as Public Enemy No. 1 can conserve Conservatism and re-unify the Republican Party.
Arthur Christopher Schaper is a writer and blogger on issues both timeless and timely; political, cultural, and eternal. A lifelong resident of Southern California, he currently lives in Torrance. He may be contacted at arthurschaper@hotmail.com, aschaper1.blogspot.com and at asheisministries.blogspot.com. Also see waxmanwatch.blogspot.com
