The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
It has been almost 60 years since the birth of the modern American conservative movement.
Conservatives have won some electoral victories over those years: two Reagan landslides, the GOP takeover of Congress in 1994, and the Tea Party victories last election.
Yet, in terms of lasting policy changes, what have conservatives accomplished? What do we have to show for so many years of effort?
The answer is, unfortunately, not much.
The primary objective of conservatism has been to limit the size and scope of the government. By this standard, the movement is a near complete failure.
Since Reagan’s election in 1981–the first time conservatives arguably controlled the reins of power–the federal government has continued to grow and grow and grow some more. Federal outlays have more than doubled in constant dollars and Congress—often with Republicans in the majority—has run up over $15 trillion in debt.
Attempts to shrink the federal government have gone nowhere. President Reagan proposed closing the Education and Energy departments. Speaker Gingrich advocated shutting down those departments plus one or two more. Not one federal department has ever been eliminated. Instead, two new departments have been created over the past 25 years: Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security.
Other conservative policy goals have come and gone with little progress made: private Social Security accounts, limiting access to abortions, a balanced budget amendment, securing the borders, term limits, tort reform, and so on.
New entitlements programs – often with the support of conservatives – have been enacted (such as Medicare Part D and SCHIP) whereas no one has been able to reform or restrain the growth of old entitlements.
The failure of the conservative movement also pertains to the courts. As Ricochet’s own John Yoo has recently written:
The conservative revolution in constitutional law has fizzled. The court has reaffirmed the right to abortion, intervened in wartime military decisions, upheld distortions of the separation of powers such as the independent counsel statute, and barely nibbled at the outer reaches of the New Deal expansion of federal power over the states.
And this was before Chief Justice John Roberts pulled the rug out from under his conservative brethren with his Obamacare decision.
The conservative movement has certainly had some successes. President Reagan dramatically cut marginal tax rates and indexed those rates to inflation, leading to 20 years of almost uninterrupted economic growth in the United States.
Welfare reform as enacted by the Gingrich-led House was also a big policy victory, cutting welfare caseloads nearly in half.
These two achievements are showing signs of wear, however. Without congressional action, tax rates are set to rise again in 2013. Moreover, it was only last week that President Obama gutted welfare reform by eliminating federal work requirements.
Sixty years of policy battles have left conservatives with little to show for it. Perhaps the leviathan that is the federal government cannot be tamed. Growth in government size and power may be inevitable, with conservatives able to mount nothing more than a rearguard action.
Signs of hope exist, such as the efforts of Scott Walker in Wisconsin, Bobby Jindal in Louisiana, Chris Christie in New Jersey, and Paul Ryan in the House. However, who is to say that the successes of these politicians will be any more enduring than those of their conservative predecessors? Remember, a Republican Congress balanced the federal budget for four straight years in the late 1990s and early 2000s yet we are now running more than a trillion-dollar deficit for the fourth straight year.
After more than a half-century, conservatives must re-evaluate everything, from short-term and long-term policy goals to electoral strategies and tactics. We cannot waste another 60 years without significant and permanent policy achievements. The country cannot afford it.
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Comments:
May '12
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
I didn't like reading your post, but can't argue. It is an honest assessment of our failure. - well done. One point I will raise is that Congressman Ryan while deserving much credit for touching the third rail of government - medicare - his budget proposal is part of the problem you highlight. He proposes a 35% increase in federal spending over a decade with an 88% increase in tax revenue and counts on a wildly optimistic forecast of 4.75% GDP growth and still never balances the budget while adding Trillions to the debt. Unfortunately we have set our standards so low that his budget proposal passes as conservative and even 'radical', it is neither.
May '11
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
Sadly you are right. The best we have to show in all those years is a feeble decelleration in the size and scopeof govermnent. The left has created and entrenched an entitlement mentality that unfortunately will have to be broken the hard way; through true austerity that will be the inevitable result of their reckless, currupt and cynical policies.
May '12
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
Respectfully, I disagree. I still believe in America and believe we can turn the ship around, but we don't do it with minor adjustments and 59 point plans that slow the growth of government.
I believe that someone with impeccable character, outstanding business acumen, and most of all courage can lay out the issues, win a major election, and bring the smackdown to Washington DC.
The few victories we have achieved that Andrew highlights did not come by worrying about what Chris Matthews thinks, fearing a typical progressive attack on our policies, or apologizing for being successfull in business.
Those victories were hard fought and won by strict conservative Constitutional principles, then we all went home and dropped the ball.
Mar '11
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
Thanks for the kind words, and believe me when I tell you that I didn't enjoy writing this post.
You raise a good point about Ryan's plan. Sadly, the same can be said for so much of what passes as "conservative" proposals these days. One watered down initiative after another.
Mar '11
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
BrentB67
I believe that someone with impeccable character, outstanding business acumen, and most of all courage can lay out the issues, win a major election, and bring the smackdown to Washington DC.
The few victories we have achieved that Andrew highlights did not come by worrying about what Chris Matthews thinks, fearing a typical progressive attack on our policies, or apologizing for being successfull in business.
Those victories were hard fought and won by strict conservative Constitutional principles, then we all went home and dropped the ball. · 12 minutes ago
I hope that you are right, but fear that you are wrong. There are so many entrenched interests in D.C. that will fight tooth and nail to keep their piece of the pie. Add an uninformed and easily manipulated public along with a media elite that is in the bag for Democrats and I don't see an easy way out.
I also believe in the power of one honest, incorruptible man (or woman) to lead us out of this mess. Sadly, as the crop of GOP candidates this past primary season shows us, another Ronald Reagan is no where on the horizon.
Apr '11
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
You're all right. We have lost the public. If someone proposes merely spending the same amount as we spent five years ago, they are portrayed as throwing Granny off the cliff and wanting to shut down police and fire stations. When Democratic politicians make these statements, practically NO ONE even asks "Why should the federal government be paying for local police and fire, anyway?" If you were to suggest we ought to undo the New Deal, you may as well say you want to bring back slavery and small pox.
Mar '12
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
Over? Did you just say it's over? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor...?
Seriously, though. This is a long, multi-generational slog against an entrenched opponent. Conservatism in America may be down but it's not out. Remember 1979?
Mar '11
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
Gary The Ex-Donk: Over? Did you just say it's over? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor...?
Seriously, though. This is a long, multi-generational slog against an entrenched opponent. Conservatism in America may be down but it's not out. Remember 1979? · 2 minutes ago
You're right; it is not over. However, we are three generations into this fight, and I am hard-pressed to name any significant, enduring conservative accomplishments. I would love it if you (or anyone else) could prove me wrong.
I remember 1979 well. And, better yet, I remember 1981-1989. The sad truth, however, is that the Reagan administration was just a minor blip in the federal government's perpetual growth; a glorious blip, but a blip nonetheless.
Edited on July 17, 2012 at 8:19pmMay '12
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
Gary The Ex-Donk: Over? Did you just say it's over? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor...?
Seriously, though. This is a long, multi-generational slog against an entrenched opponent. Conservatism in America may be down but it's not out. Remember 1979? · 2 minutes ago
I share your optimism that it can be changed, but we have to be real - our National Debt is 103% of our GDP No Country has ever turned around from debt:GDP >90%. I believe we can, but we do not have generations. We have at most a couple of years.
Mar '11
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
This is the main point. We focus all of our attention on politicians, but the US is a democracy, not an aristocracy (insert requisite Bush/Kennedy snark here). Failed politicians can only result from a failed electorate.
I think the Reagan example allows us to mislead ourselves. It is tempting to view his resounding electoral victories as evidence of a silent conservative majority which is otherwise stifled. But Reagan only garnered 51% of the vote against Jimmy Carter - and even those voters almost certainly pulled the lever for people like Nixon, Ford, and GHWB more often than for Reagan.
We are incredibly lucky that Reagan had such weak opponents, but we must face the truth that his election was an anomaly, and does not reflect a deep desire among the public to roll back the size and scope of government. As always, it's not them, it's us.
Edited on July 17, 2012 at 8:35pmMar '11
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
Mendel
We are incredibly lucky that Reagan had such weak opponents, but we must face the truth that his election was an anomaly, and does not reflect a deep desire among the public to roll back the size and scope of government. As always, it's not them, it's us. · 11 minutes ago
Edited 5 minutes ago
If you are correct--and I suspect that you are--the conservative movement has been an even bigger failure than I posited in my original post.
Feb '11
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
You have to keep winning elections, and conservatives have not done that. Do you truly think that winning intermittent elections is in any way the means of accomplishing those goals?
Mar '11
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
But why are conservatives only winning elections intermittently? We are obvious doing something wrong when we have power; see, for example, the Speakership of Dennis Hastert.
Edited on July 17, 2012 at 9:17pmMay '12
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
See also President Bush 43, No Child Left Behind, Patriot Act, Medicare Expansion, and the election of 2006. Intermittently sticking to conservative values with lots fo big gov't compassion in between will yield at best intermittent conservative success in elections.
Mar '11
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
I don't think we should be surprised that the American public isn't as conservative as we would like/hope/pretend.
A main tent of conservatism is that doing something for yourself is better (for everyone involved) than having someone else do it for you.
Yet the last 60 years have brought such an unprecedented revolution in both efficiency, comfort, and wealth, that it is inevitable that many people view this truism as outdated. And with such incredible monetary wealth as we have in America, the marginal cost of any individual government program is virtually unnoticeable.
I think conservatism can only thrive when the external incentives require true hard work and self-sufficiency. Until the bond markets revolt, or until east Asia starts siphoning off not only our jobs but also our standard of living, nothing will change.
Edited on July 17, 2012 at 9:55pmJan '11
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
The liberals still own the academy. They still own the media. They still have the unions. They control virtually every major city. The myth used to be that the republicans had big business, but as I recall, the statistics showed that Obama won more votes from CEOs than McCain.
You can't change the eggs until you change the hens.
Jun '10
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
In the end, the modern Left's lying and thuggery is a lot more effective than any American ideals of truth or liberty. Power is a lot more seductive than personal responsibility. Especially if the Left has taken over the high schools and the universities, banishing the moral framework that explains why personal responsibility leads to liberty, and anarchy leads to slavery.
May '11
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
Ever since the New Deal we have been up against a system that is designed to keep growing in perpetuity and continuesly give more benefits not to just the poor but an ever increasing percentage of the middle class. Middle class entitlements are what is going to bankrupt us. Once anybody (even conservatives) is in power the impulse is always to give more away.
Oct '10
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
Depending on how you read New Testament eschatology, there will be a millennium of perfect governance by God Himself, at which time we will be tested and show ourselves unworthy of God's perfect governance.
At a unique time in world history a confluence of philosophical thought and religious zeal towards the God of the Bible led to a similar period, some would even argue the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. The period hasn't been a millennium, so that is too much of a stretch. But in principle, America was uniquely blessed by God with the perfection of human governance bringing about a time of freedom and prosperity unimagined in world history.
We are now proving the truth of millennial eschatology. Man cannot be faithful to the grace which God pours out upon him. The American experiment is ending as will be, if you subscribe to millennial eschatology, the Kingdom of God on earth, in collapse.
Mar '11
Re: The Conservative Movement Has Been a Failure
I am tempted to use a variation of Obama's argument regarding the economy. He says no, it's not good, but imagine how much worse it would be without our stimulus!! I would say, no we haven't exactly moved as a nation in the right direction, but we would have moved the wrong direction a whole lot faster without the conservatvie movement. Cold comfort.