I was recently privileged to attend the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. Though I knew this three day event would feature some of the country’s most respected conservatives, I was curious as to what the general climate would be, given the recent shellacking Republicans have taken at the polls.
From my estimation, this is a movement reborn.
There was a prevailing sense of liberation from eight years of having to defend an administration that was at times far from conservative. George W. Bush was a good man who did some conservative things as president, but from illegal immigration to Medicare to education, he continually pursued liberal, big government solutions.
Yet because he was a Republican, the public perception was that he was a conservative. And because he was certainly better than the alternative, conservatives rose up to defend him, even while cringing at his big spending tendencies.
Follow Bush with the quintessential anti-conservative (at least until recently), John McCain. For months, conservatives felt obligated to campaign for a man who had sought to thwart them at nearly every turn in his legislative career. It was such a stretch for many that without the addition of a true conservative in Governor Sarah Palin to the ticket, McCain’s margin of loss would have been staggering.
But if CPAC was any indication, those giant albatrosses have been lifted from the shoulders of a movement that is ready to start taking their message of freedom to the country: freedom from regulation, freedom from taxation, freedom from bloated government bureaucracy, freedom from social engineering, freedom from central economic planning. This is conservatism.
Barack Obama and the Democrats have now ordered nearly a trillion dollars in new government spending that we have no money to pay for. That means that we will “borrow” wealth from our children and grandchildren that has not yet been created, thus shackling them with insurmountable debt before they’ve even been born. Conservatives offer freedom for the people by giving them their money back, not taking more of it to spend on useless programs.
Barack Obama and the Democrats are floating bridge loans to corporations every other day. By doing so, these corporations become puppets controlled by the Democrats in Washington, whose message comes down: “You want this money, do things our way.” Conservatives offer freedom for these companies to control their own destinies, whether that’s prosperity or failure.
Barack Obama and the Democrats continue fighting in the name of pluralism to remove government recognition of religion from the public square. But our Founders understood religion was a necessity for a free republic because it teaches moral restraint. When morality disappears, government must grow and pass more laws to keep order. But when government grows and passes more laws, people lose freedom. Conservatives believe that government should recognize and embrace the Judeo-Christian principles of morality that preserve our ability to self govern.
Barack Obama and the Democrats seek radio broadcast restrictions on opinions they don’t like, thereby giving government power to regulate the airwaves and ration free speech. Conservatives believe people should be able to choose what they want to listen to, when they want to listen to it.
Barack Obama and the Democrats seek to enact the Card Check system, thereby removing the sacred right of a secret ballot election in the workplace. They do this to increase union rolls, and therefore Democrat party contributions as well. Conservatives believe that workers should have the freedom to join a union or not join a union absent an atmosphere of intimidation.
And the list goes on and on. Liberals have been undermining your freedom for decades, justifying it by their good intentions. As libertarian Randall Hoven documented, “seat belts, motorcycle helmets, bicycle helmets, smoking bans, gun purchase and ownership restrictions, mandatory vaccines for your children, car emissions inspections, campaign ad and contribution restrictions, saying a prayer at a public school graduation or football game, trash separation and recycling, gas tax, telephone tax, income tax, FICA withholding,” all have come from the minds of liberals.
Conservatives think you are capable of governing yourself, provided you abide by natural moral law. Liberals think you need them to run your lives for you. Evidence of this sad reality is overwhelming.
A rejuvenated conservative movement seems ready to take this message to the country: Americans don’t need wizards in Washington to control this country…they need freedom. As Americans stand on the precipice of the largest government power grab in our history, chances are that will be a message that resonates.
Peter W. Heck
