I have received a number of letters about McCain and why we ought to vote Libertarian and “Send a message.” I understand the argument.
The fact is that the Democrats will control Congress. If they also control the White House, we will have a series of legislative packages that will make the Great Society look like a libertarian government. In opposition the Republicans rediscover their principles; it’s power they haven’t been able to handle since Newt Gingrich was Speaker.
The country is in trouble. We have forgotten our founding principles, and we move inexorably toward a European style socialist state, with the only winners being an enormous bureaucracy. This will accelerate the economic decline.
The argument is to give the Democrats their head, and pick up the pieces after the inevitable crash. I think that overlooks the resilience of tax and tax, spend and spend, elect and elect regimes. We haven’t seen much in the way of reforms in Europe. The Democrats will create new bureaucracies that can never be dismantled: an example is the Department of Education. Reagan came into office determined to abolish it. Now it owns US education, and No Child Left Behind is entrenched. The Iron Law of Bureaucracy is inexorable.
The country was reasonably well managed when we had a Republican Congress and a Democrat President.
As to the war: if we give the Democrats full control of the government, we won’t get a sensible foreign policy: see Kosovo if you doubt that. We may get a disengagement from Iraq: the price will be high, in blood of those in Iraq who trusted us, and in honor. We may not. Disengaging from Iraq will not be a simple matter. A gradual withdrawal won’t work well: as we pull out, the insurgents will be heartened. The result won’t be pretty.
Sure, we can retreat. We have the military power to cut and run, get out and get out fast. The results of that will be with us for a long time. Recall the last helicopter out of Saigon?
I conclude that McCain as president is a far lesser evil than Obama would be. But there are those in whom hope springs eternal: who hold the view that Obama is not what all the evidence says he is, a left wing liberal intellectual with Chicago political connections and all the ethical implications that implies. Hope springs eternal.
Thus we have the choice: a Chicago machine politician with Harvard liberal beliefs vs.a country club Republican who feels entitled.
The post-Gingrich Republicans who invented “big government conservatism” have much to answer for.
Jerry Pournelle is an American Science Fiction writer, essayist and journalist. Visit his website: http://jerrypournelle.com
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mirwalk said,
Sure we can give the democrats everything, and they will tax us into the ground. Create a ton of pork and agencies that will be our undoing. After a republican comes back into office they will not be able to undo the damage. It will take a large shift in American thinking or media shift for change to actually happen.
No I feel rather assured that this election cycle will be the death blow to America. We will survive, but something will break. We will lose our global power, there will be an uprising, or one of the major parties will be overtaken by a new party. Something has to change, I just hope that it will be a good change. I won’t hold my breath though.
May 15, 2008 at 12:11 pm
lpcowboy said,
The chances of one personaly effecting the outcome of a national election are so remote you are more likley to get killed on your way to the polling place. If the election was that close it would be decided by a bunch of judges anyway. It only makes sense to vote out of principle. If you support libertarian principles, you should vote libertarian.
Having said that, I think the Democrats can find a way to loose, even if the LP gets above 5%. With a 20% approval rating of the Democrat congress, I see no fundamental reason for them to retain the house.
May 15, 2008 at 2:05 pm
lieweary said,
The US has the most powerful economy in the world, relatively low taxes, relatively low regulations, and a strong emphasis on individual initiative. Employees are more willing to hire because it’s easier to fire. Our minimum wage is a joke (as it should be). Businesses in the US are allowed to fail when they can’t compete.
Taxes could be much higher, businesses and private lives much more regulated, all sorts of social experiments attempted, and the US economy would be just fine. This does not mean that conservative voters should allow it to happen.
None of this is an endorsement of John McCain, who shares Bush’s commitment to building the first arab utopia.
May 16, 2008 at 5:32 pm