Wednesday, July 16, 2003

A Conservative Administration?

Is it really intellectually honest to refer to the present administration as conservative? A quick look at the fiscal policy the Bushies have followed shows a decidedly unconservative spending spree. Government spending is up at a pace faster than inflation and deficits are at historical highs. To my friends on the right, this is most definitely not a conservative president.
However, what the Bushies have done is throw enough bones to the Religious Right to keep them quiet about economic issues. See, many social conservatives are economic populists and this president has overseen a massive rejiggering of the social contract, whereby wealth has been rewarded more than work. However, by pandering to the Right on abortion, the Attorney General and gay marriage, the president has been able to squelch criticism of his economic policies from the populist right.
This is an administration with a single mindedness unlike none we have ever seen. The sole purpose of the current regime seems to be to promote the interests of the wealthy. The tax code will be remade so that wealth is not taxed at all, yet work will be heavily taxed. It doesn't take an economics Ph.D. to realize what the long term effect of such changes will be- a divided, caste like society. But the Bushies are clever enough to throw out some social spending in order to cover their tracks. We are in financial ruin because this administration is willing to trade away almost anything in order to get the tax code changes it wants. Future generations will be left with a country bleeding red ink and stratified, one in which wealth is rewarded and enterprise is effectively discouraged. There is nothing conservative about such an outcome!

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