Conservative thought put into action!
I couldn't say it better myself, so I'll let him say it! A charge to conservatives from Senator Jim DeMint.
Posted by Tom 2 the Right • Thursday, 2008-May-22
National Review: Principles Before Policies – Conservative reconnection
By Jim DeMint
5/20/08
In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan singlehandedly turned around the American economy. On the heels of the lackluster Carter years that saw high inflation and a poorly performing economy, Reagan proposed sweeping income tax cuts that transformed the American tax system. Indeed, Reagan’s policies have been credited for ushering in a new era of American prosperity.
By all accounts, the tax cuts of the 80’s were a massive success as were many other conservative wins over the last two decades. Defeating the “Evil Empire,” reforming the failed welfare bureaucracy, and winning confirmation of conservative judges — these are just some examples of conservative victories that made America better. And on these victories we must always defend the ground we have won because in Washington, no victories are permanent.
But today we have a problem.
A kind of mental lethargy now exists in my party. We are relying on these brilliant and successful policies of the past to be our principles of today. This is completely backwards. The greatness of conservatism has been an understanding that policies are derivatives of principles. Principles never change, policies do. The trick is finding the correct application of principle-based policies that fit our time.
In his later years, the late great William F. Buckley Jr. seemed to understand this. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal he complained about an American Right that seemed rudderless. “I think conservatism has become a little bit slothful,” Buckley told the Wall Street Journal. The Journal went on to write that Buckley’s private criticisms cut to the core even more; “Part of it, [Buckley] believed, was that what used to be living ideas had become mummified doctrines to many in the conservative political class.”
As Buckley once put it, these “old rigidities” are holding our party back.
The tax cuts of the 1980s were not only a timely elixir for an ailing economy, they were right in and of themselves because they were consistent with founding American principles.
Cutting taxes means shifting power from the federal government to the American people. It forces the government to be smaller, so that Americans can have more freedom. In doing this Reagan aligned himself with the principles of liberty and economic opportunity for all. It was Reagan’s firm understanding of these principles that allowed him to sell his policy.
When promoting his tax plan Reagan spoke of an “opportunity society” that lay ahead if only we had the courage to embrace the principles of freedom. “We will encourage all Americans — men and women, young and old, individuals of every race, creed, and color — to succeed and be healthy, happy, and whole,” said Reagan. “This is our goal.”
Contrast this approach with the recent effort by my party to sell personal accounts for Social Security. Instead of focusing on the principle of economic opportunity for all, we focused on “solvency.” Instead of explaining that this approach to Social Security would allow every American — rich and poor, black and white — to retire a millionaire, we talked about wage indexing and rates of return. By the end of the debate, Republicans were running for the hills as liberal scare tactics about “privatization” had won the day.
We suffer this fate because we do not take the time to understand the principles that berth our policies.
Jefferson’s idea of individual liberty, Lincoln’s championing of equal rights for all, Teddy Roosevelt’s heart for conservation and Kennedy’s call for American volunteerism — these are principles embedded in the American experience. Appealing to them tugs at our fellow Americans’ heartstrings as well as “headstrings.” In other words, as Americans we all understand these principles at an intuitive, gut level because they are part of who we are.
A renewed embrace of first principles will refresh a movement that of late has seen better days. Furthermore, this approach will allow us far greater latitude when it comes to the actual policies we promote today.
It has been in part our strict adherence to the lifeless “mummified doctrines” of the past that has contributed to our diminished standing with the American people.
There was a time when the Republican party was rightly seen as the party of ideas. Under Reagan in the Eighties and the congressional revolutionaries of the mid 1990s, ideas were free flowing as our leaders focused first on American principles as the foundation for their policies. Somewhere along the way we lost this and began replacing principled convictions and forward-looking policies with nostalgia for policies and politicians of past eras. When that happened we stopped connecting with the American people.
Given the choice between policies that spring forth from American principles and those that do not, the American people will chose the former every time. These are the principles that are engrained in the American character. Our fellow citizens agree that principles like liberty, economic opportunity, self-government, equal rights, and the rule of law should form the bedrock of public policy.
Now, if we can just get the politicians to agree.
— Jim DeMint is a Republican senator from South Carolina.
This is the first piece in a series of op-eds from Senator DeMint. The following entries will examine the principles that are foundational to the American experience and suggest policies that align with those principles.
By Jim DeMint
5/20/08
In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan singlehandedly turned around the American economy. On the heels of the lackluster Carter years that saw high inflation and a poorly performing economy, Reagan proposed sweeping income tax cuts that transformed the American tax system. Indeed, Reagan’s policies have been credited for ushering in a new era of American prosperity.
By all accounts, the tax cuts of the 80’s were a massive success as were many other conservative wins over the last two decades. Defeating the “Evil Empire,” reforming the failed welfare bureaucracy, and winning confirmation of conservative judges — these are just some examples of conservative victories that made America better. And on these victories we must always defend the ground we have won because in Washington, no victories are permanent.
But today we have a problem.
A kind of mental lethargy now exists in my party. We are relying on these brilliant and successful policies of the past to be our principles of today. This is completely backwards. The greatness of conservatism has been an understanding that policies are derivatives of principles. Principles never change, policies do. The trick is finding the correct application of principle-based policies that fit our time.
In his later years, the late great William F. Buckley Jr. seemed to understand this. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal he complained about an American Right that seemed rudderless. “I think conservatism has become a little bit slothful,” Buckley told the Wall Street Journal. The Journal went on to write that Buckley’s private criticisms cut to the core even more; “Part of it, [Buckley] believed, was that what used to be living ideas had become mummified doctrines to many in the conservative political class.”
As Buckley once put it, these “old rigidities” are holding our party back.
The tax cuts of the 1980s were not only a timely elixir for an ailing economy, they were right in and of themselves because they were consistent with founding American principles.
Cutting taxes means shifting power from the federal government to the American people. It forces the government to be smaller, so that Americans can have more freedom. In doing this Reagan aligned himself with the principles of liberty and economic opportunity for all. It was Reagan’s firm understanding of these principles that allowed him to sell his policy.
When promoting his tax plan Reagan spoke of an “opportunity society” that lay ahead if only we had the courage to embrace the principles of freedom. “We will encourage all Americans — men and women, young and old, individuals of every race, creed, and color — to succeed and be healthy, happy, and whole,” said Reagan. “This is our goal.”
Contrast this approach with the recent effort by my party to sell personal accounts for Social Security. Instead of focusing on the principle of economic opportunity for all, we focused on “solvency.” Instead of explaining that this approach to Social Security would allow every American — rich and poor, black and white — to retire a millionaire, we talked about wage indexing and rates of return. By the end of the debate, Republicans were running for the hills as liberal scare tactics about “privatization” had won the day.
We suffer this fate because we do not take the time to understand the principles that berth our policies.
Jefferson’s idea of individual liberty, Lincoln’s championing of equal rights for all, Teddy Roosevelt’s heart for conservation and Kennedy’s call for American volunteerism — these are principles embedded in the American experience. Appealing to them tugs at our fellow Americans’ heartstrings as well as “headstrings.” In other words, as Americans we all understand these principles at an intuitive, gut level because they are part of who we are.
A renewed embrace of first principles will refresh a movement that of late has seen better days. Furthermore, this approach will allow us far greater latitude when it comes to the actual policies we promote today.
It has been in part our strict adherence to the lifeless “mummified doctrines” of the past that has contributed to our diminished standing with the American people.
There was a time when the Republican party was rightly seen as the party of ideas. Under Reagan in the Eighties and the congressional revolutionaries of the mid 1990s, ideas were free flowing as our leaders focused first on American principles as the foundation for their policies. Somewhere along the way we lost this and began replacing principled convictions and forward-looking policies with nostalgia for policies and politicians of past eras. When that happened we stopped connecting with the American people.
Given the choice between policies that spring forth from American principles and those that do not, the American people will chose the former every time. These are the principles that are engrained in the American character. Our fellow citizens agree that principles like liberty, economic opportunity, self-government, equal rights, and the rule of law should form the bedrock of public policy.
Now, if we can just get the politicians to agree.
— Jim DeMint is a Republican senator from South Carolina.
This is the first piece in a series of op-eds from Senator DeMint. The following entries will examine the principles that are foundational to the American experience and suggest policies that align with those principles.
C++
Posted by Branden L • Thursday, 2008-May-15
Hey Sand, I have to write a project for my final in C++ and I have no creative motives. Any good ideas? Games? etc. Thanks.
How to Catch Wild Pigs. Or Better... How the Government is Trapping You.
Posted by Tom 2 the Right • Tuesday, 2008-May-13
There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the Prof noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt.
The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a new communist government.
In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, ' Do you know how to catch wild pigs?'
The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke. 'You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in The last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them a n d catch the whole herd.
Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.
The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America . The government keeps pushing us toward socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, free medical, etc. while we continually lose our freedoms - just a little at a time.
One should always remember 'There is no such thing as a free lunch! Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.
All of this wonderful government 'help' is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America. If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life then you will probably delete this email, but God help you when the gate slams shut!
'A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.' ....... Thomas Jefferson
________________________________________
"So teach us to number our days, that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom."
Psalm 90:12
I am unaware of the origin of this story. It is not original to this site.
The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a new communist government.
In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, ' Do you know how to catch wild pigs?'
The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke. 'You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in The last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them a n d catch the whole herd.
Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.
The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America . The government keeps pushing us toward socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, free medical, etc. while we continually lose our freedoms - just a little at a time.
One should always remember 'There is no such thing as a free lunch! Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.
All of this wonderful government 'help' is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America. If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life then you will probably delete this email, but God help you when the gate slams shut!
'A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.' ....... Thomas Jefferson
________________________________________
"So teach us to number our days, that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom."
Psalm 90:12
I am unaware of the origin of this story. It is not original to this site.
The Media's Latest Attempt to Propogate a Socialist America
Posted by Tom 2 the Right • Thursday, 2008-May-01
There are no major news stories to report on this topic, no headlines, no conspiracy theories, or devastation to report. In fact that is the problem. To quote a movie, "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled, was convincing the world that he doesn't exist." This is the new tactic of the Liberals and the Mainstream Media.
Don't know what I am talking about? Just what and who are conservatives? You may have a hard time answering that question. The media has been using the terms "Liberal", and "Democrat" interchangeably, and they have also been using "Conservative" and "Republican" as synonyms. If America should have learned anything from the Bush Presidency or from the Republicans current candidate, it is that Republicans and Conservatives are not one-and-the-same. Likewise, neither are dems and libs. The media has been engaging in a slow but steady trend of melding the two terms on either side together. So what?
This brings the lines of division closer together. This incorrect labeling is actually already having a profound effect on the right and left sides. Unfortunately it is causing a "global shift" to the left. I have been involving myself in a lot of blogs and online political debate sights and it is already in full swing there. The "Analytic Polls" application on facebook.com separates all of those involved into three categories; Liberals, Moderates/Neutral, and Conservatives. Do you see the effects of this tactic?
It draws true conservatives like myself, closer to the left or moderate middle. On the left side of the dividing line, the situation is not as bad, because most Democrats will label themselves as either liberals or moderates. The defense of the hard line right, is difficult to hold as it is. After all the media (and all of America for that matter) is always on the lookout for the next conservative to "fall" or commit some act which goes against his/her beliefs. Standing for principles that are based on God's Word, good conduct, integrity, and love is a difficult task and mistakes are made. Let's make a stand. If we can't be separated by a title, let's be sure to be separated by our lifestyles. And don't forget the love.
Tom 2 the Right
Don't know what I am talking about? Just what and who are conservatives? You may have a hard time answering that question. The media has been using the terms "Liberal", and "Democrat" interchangeably, and they have also been using "Conservative" and "Republican" as synonyms. If America should have learned anything from the Bush Presidency or from the Republicans current candidate, it is that Republicans and Conservatives are not one-and-the-same. Likewise, neither are dems and libs. The media has been engaging in a slow but steady trend of melding the two terms on either side together. So what?
This brings the lines of division closer together. This incorrect labeling is actually already having a profound effect on the right and left sides. Unfortunately it is causing a "global shift" to the left. I have been involving myself in a lot of blogs and online political debate sights and it is already in full swing there. The "Analytic Polls" application on facebook.com separates all of those involved into three categories; Liberals, Moderates/Neutral, and Conservatives. Do you see the effects of this tactic?
It draws true conservatives like myself, closer to the left or moderate middle. On the left side of the dividing line, the situation is not as bad, because most Democrats will label themselves as either liberals or moderates. The defense of the hard line right, is difficult to hold as it is. After all the media (and all of America for that matter) is always on the lookout for the next conservative to "fall" or commit some act which goes against his/her beliefs. Standing for principles that are based on God's Word, good conduct, integrity, and love is a difficult task and mistakes are made. Let's make a stand. If we can't be separated by a title, let's be sure to be separated by our lifestyles. And don't forget the love.
Tom 2 the Right
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