PrintDecember 29, 2008
Where should Conservatives Draw the Line?
As January 20th approaches so too does the possibility of the biggest federal power grab in the history of the United States. The number of proposals for more federal intervention to "solve" America's problems is staggering. In this article I want to discuss which of these socialist schemes conservatives have a fighting chance to stop ... and what we must do to be successful in our efforts to stop them.
But before I review the areas in which we might have some success, I want to discuss the impending transformations that are already out of our hands.
(A) The Judiciary: Let it go conservatives. There is nothing we can do to halt the appointment of liberal judges to the federal bench. Don't even think that the Republicans in the Senate will filibuster Obama's judicial nominations. They do not have the backbone. They never have. The Senate voted 96 to 3 to put Ruth Bader Ginsburg (former ACLU board member) on the Supreme Court. Obama's appointments will fly through the Senate. This is a battle that we have lost ... decisively.
(B) Health Care Reform: In the early 90s when the Clintons tried to pull off this same stunt, America's medical and insurance industry rose up and smashed it. But most Americans involved in health care don't appear to be in a fighting mood anymore. Get ready for inferior health care, longer lines in the waiting rooms, and higher taxes to pay for these privileges. It is coming.
(C) Higher Taxes: Speaking of taxes, you really didn't believe that 95% of Americans would pay lower taxes under Obama did you? First of all, about 41% of Americans don't pay any federal income taxes. It is hard to lower zero. Not even the Messiah can keep that promise. But apparently the majority of American voters don't do much math. Joe Biden (who is also mathematically challenged) promised us that we would all be paying our share of his patriotic taxes under the new administration. Get used to paying to be patriotic. Our taxes are going up.
(D) The War on Terrorism: Sad to say but America is now at the mercy of the terrorists. By that I mean that the Obama Administration will be reactive rather than proactive in the war against Islamofascism. Joe Biden has said as much. So has Obama. Not much we can do but wait this one out -- because that is what the new commander-in-chief plans on doing.
(E) Bailouts: Thanks to George W. "Deer in Headlights" Bush, we have the bailouts. Under President Obama there will be bailouts of the bailouted. And then, under Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, and Christopher Dodd, there will be bailouts of the buddies of the bailouted buddies.
Public opinion hasn't stopped bailout mania. A majority of Americans screamed at the top of their lungs in opposition to the initial bailout. We were against the auto bailout as well. We have been ignored. We will continue to be disregarded until we throw out the bailouters. (This includes many Republicans and almost all of the Democrats.) The only way to put this cat back in the bag is at the ballot box. It will be two years before Americans are heard from again on this issue. Sorry.
In my opinion, conservatives will waste their energy trying to stop the implementation of these five policies, although, if we effectively protest, we may get some concessions.
There are, however, proposed changes that conservatives must challenge and certain fundamental principles we must protect:
(1) Illegal immigration. Unlike the bailouts, Congress has heeded America's protestations against legalizing what is now, at least according to the unenforced laws, illegal immigration. The reason we were heard is simple: money. There are huge financial contributions that have been handed, and will continue to be slipped, to Congress by vested bailout interests. There is not a huge financial gain for Congress to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants. (Agricultural, and the few remaining industrial lobbyists stumping for amnesty, provide chump change to the politicians compared to the banking, credit, and union lobbyists.) The people were heard when Kennedy and McCain tried to jam through the last amnesty bill. If we make enough noise, we will be effective again.
(2) Education: Conservatives have been far too passive for far too long on this crucial concern. Obama has proposed massive federal intrusion into the educational system. The stated intention is to have central government involved in our children's education from the cradle to valediction. (The subtitle of one of the proposals is "A Pre-School Agenda That Begins At Birth.") This reform is likely to come in a series of steps, rather than as a single legislative initiative.
Since the liberals will soon control all three branches of government, conservatives will need to conduct a campaign of guerrilla warfare to reform the educational system. Education is, still, primarily a local issue. Conservatives must start taking back the schools. We must run for the school board. We must be interactive with our children and their teachers. We must object, and object loudly, to the teaching of political correctness over the teaching of the "Three Rs." In the short term, we conservatives should focus most of our energy on this issue. Until we take back the schools, we will continue to have generation after generation of uneducated dunces voting for equally uneducated dunces. The effort to take back our schools must start now.
(3) Religious Expression: The real victim of religious intolerance in the United States (and world wide for that matter) is Judeo-Christianity. The greatest religious tradition in the world has continued to turn the other cheek. As a result, Judeo-Christianity has been slapped silly. The basic principles of life, liberty, and private property were bequeathed to the world by Judeo-Christianity. It is way passed time that this great religious tradition started to vigorously defend itself against the religious and cultural genocide that goes by the twin appellations of "tolerance" and "multiculturalism." This battle for the freedom of religious expression must be fought in the courthouse, the schoolhouse, and the church house.
(4) The Global Warming Hoax. I have saved the most important issue for last. The Obama administration has promised to move full steam ahead to lower the output of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon, a naturally occurring element, will probably be declared a "dangerous pollutant" by the EPA soon after Obama takes office. Obama has sworn to move rapidly to build a useless system of windmills in an effort to replace fossil fuels. There are a number of other equally futile programs in the works. Obama's carbon credit proposal, for example, would radically alter the way business is conducted in America for the sole stated purpose of "saving the planet."
If Obama's plan is implemented on a national scale it will spell short-term to mid-term disaster for American industry and for our economy. But Americans will tolerate the coming brown outs, gasoline rationing, and government control of their thermostats for only awhile. (I predict that in less than twenty years the government will outsource to private companies the task of removing the tens of thousands of windmills Obama seems bent on installing.)
Much more dangerous is that the Obama Administration, leading by example, will continue to encourage and support the UN proposals for forcing third world countries to develop "clean energy." Hundreds of millions of poor people in the third world need a reliable energy system in order to expand industry, agriculture, jobs, housing, medical facilities, and transportation; in short, they need dependable energy to survive.
To deny the third world access to fossil fuels and nuclear energy in an effort to pursue the pipe dream of stopping global warming, is not just madness ... it is evil. Millions of people face poverty, disease, and death simply because they do not have adequate access to reliable energy. Any viable plan to help the third world must include allowing the poor peoples of the planet to aggressively pursue the cheapest and easiest means to develop and import energy.
Stopping Obama's plans to "save the planet" is, in my opinion, a moral imperative for America's conservatives. We must succeed here, not only for our own economic interests; we must do it to save lives. Open-minded scientists, in particular, must speak out on this issue.
No matter how difficult the battle, we cannot allow these programs to be put in place to solve a non-existent problem. All of these proposals are grounded in a scientific theory that is not only unproven, it is constantly changing. We must stop this global warming nonsense. We must draw the line here.
My advice to conservatives for the next two years: Focus on the fundamentals -- especially education and freedom of religious expression. It will be almost impossible for us to stop most of the socialist political agenda that will soon be law. We must educate our children, our neighbors, and ourselves in an effort to insure that next time around "we don't get fooled again."
Larrey Anderson is a writer, a philosopher, and submissions editor for American Thinker. His latest award-winning novel is The Order of the Beloved. His memoir, Underground: Life and Survival in the Russian Black Market, has just been released.
