McCain/Palin: A Chance At Limited Government

Every president remakes their party, to one degree or another.   The disastrous spending of the Bush Presidency, coupled with 8 years of media attacks, has driven down Bush's popularity ratings even among the party faithful, and although a successful prosecution of the Iraq war is nearing its completion, conservatives are more than ready for Bush to be out of office.  Most were grateful he served, but are just as grateful he left.  With John McCain, we have a problem.  Immigration, Global Warming, Campaign Finance Reform, and a tendency to compromise to get things done (usually with disastrous results to conservative policy), make McCain a terrible standard bearer for the Republican party.  His campaign has been a a strong message reaching out to Independents and Democrats, which is why even going into Friday, many conservatives were terrified that Joe Lieberman would be on the ticket. 

There are good points to McCain.  He's obviously strong on defense in a dangerous world.  He's against corruption and pork, and he's a strong pro-lifer.  He's the best choice in a bad year for Republicans.  But then he goes and picks, Sarah Palin, and the whole world makes sense again.

Let me explain why conservatives are thrilled at the pick, and why libertarians and Gen X are going to get strongly behind this ticket: Government Reform

I'm 35 years old.  I have a family, and run my own business.  These are the things I know about my government:

1) It's big
2) It's corrupt
3) Any promises made to me today about the future are at best lies, and at worst, a cynical attempt to get my vote so the politician can hold on to a few more years of power (e.g. Republican Congress 2002-2006).
4) If the government were held to the standards of private corporations, every elected official in Washington would be in jail.
5) Social Security has no money in it.  Both parties count my social security taxes as revenue to spend this year, which means they'll have to tax more to pay it back in the future.
6) Government workers belong to unions which give money to Democratic politicians, who in turn give perks to government worker unions.
7) Politicians vote for bills on principle, unless they think they are a swing vote, in which case they extort party leaders to give them pork.  Extortion and bribery, but with public money, so no one goes to jail.
8) The solution to every problem is another government program.
9) When you can't raise taxes, politicians add fees or require companies to add fees which still cost us money, but the blame goes to the company.
10) Politicians seldom go to jail because they make the rules.  Behavior that is unethical can be squeezed into a loophole, so it's technically not illegal.

Think I'm cynical?  It's nothing that we haven't always known, but with the sheer size of the federal government, the tomfoolery has reached new heights.  If you work with, in, or take money from the federal government, you know about the regulations that are impossible to follow. From OSHA to discrimination to OFCCP to EPA to contract bids, the difficulty of working with government makes it not worthwhile.

Why is that?  Why is it so hard to do anything?  Simple.  Government (and the courts) are the places that people who cannot achieve turn to for "fairness."    Ensuring fairness in a country of 300,000,000 different abilities, motivations, and backgrounds, makes sure that in a misguided attempt to even the playing field, government at all levels fails.  It tries to do too much, and ultimately fails to do much with any degree of competence.

So what does this have to do with John McCain and Sarah Palin?  They aren't liked by their party. 

They also aren't liked by the media, the Democrats, or crazies on both the left and the right.  And not being liked by the right people is very liberating.

Seeming non sequiter:  Why was Bill Clinton so popular?  He regularly had approval ratings in the 60% range, even during the impeachent proceedings.  But in June of 1994 he had only a 43%  approval. What changed?  Why, the Republicans won the Congress.  And if there's a single institution that the public loves to hate, it's the US Congress.  Bill Clinton was a selfish, terrible president.  He benefitted from being sandwiched between 20 years of Republican rule with no major wars, and he had the luxury of fighting the Congress on matters big and small.

He got to stand up to the Congress, and that put him on the side of the American people.

George W. Bush never stood up to Congress (one veto on a social issue), at least until 2006.  Since then, the Republican Senate has been the firewall, and the Bush veto has been of little real consequence in a lame duck administration.  The people most inclined to support Bush have been silent, because they feel like he betrayed them with increased federal spending.

John McCain is promising to to be the anti-pork president. He's vowed to veto any monstrous appropriations bill that comes to his desk.  Normally, we'd take that with a grain of salt, but Sarah Palin is a strong indicator that John McCain truly plans to attack Washington head on.  Palin fought corruption in one of the most corrupt states in the union. She went after her own party, and won the governorship on a platform of the people versus the porkers.

What if John McCain shuts down the government the way Bill Clinton did?  Imagine 100 vetoes of spending bills with the simple message, "send me clean bills, or don't send them at all."  It's powerful, and it's risky, but if anyone can do it, John McCain is that person.

Why Is Pork A Big Issue? It's a tiny portion of the budget in comparison to entitlements and defense, but it's the enabler.  Big bills get passed through Congress on the basis of the pork that's attached to them.  It's well known that if you want a Congressman's vote, you give them something to take back to their district to help them ease the pain of betraying their principles.  Rather then voting on the bills (which often aren't even read), the Congresscritters vote on what they get for their votes. 

Deprived of earmarks, the Congress would be forced to actually pay attention to what they passed.  Big omnibus bills would fail, and the leaders, if they wanted anything done, would have to focus on what could pass, and not what they could shove through with bribes of public money.

That's the secret.  The House, Senate and Presidency were set up to create incremental change.  Big bills can't pass because different regions of the country have different wants and desires.  Earmarks have always been the grease that got around that structural impediment. 

And earmarks that are hidden from the public are even greasier.  This lack of accountability makes it difficult to boot incumbents, which is why every Congressperson from Missouri won in 2006 with over 60% of the vote.  How can that be when the Congress has a 14% approval rating?  Simple. The average person doesn't know where else to turn.

So here's my dream.  McCain/Palin and go about threatening Congresspeople with the veto pen and the bully pulpit.  Palin focuses on internal reform, going after Congressman with $90,000 of cash in their freezer, or those who are actually under indictment (starting with Ted Stevens and Don Young, should they win). It's a version of the crazy gang leader who shoots his own people in the movies.  If you're crazy enough to take on your party, what will you do to your political foes?

The government grinds to a halt, and the Congress digs in its heels.  McCain and Palin, along with other earmark reformers, begin to make a plea to the public about the 2010 elections.  "Throw the Bums Out."  On a bi-partisan basis, the duo makes the case that Congress is why the government is broken, and targets the most incalcitrant senators and congressman in both parties.  Jack Murtha, Don Young, Ted Stevens,  Robert Byrd, and others.

In the first earnest plea to the American public since Kennedy, John McCain asks the American public to send men and women to Congress that he can work with.  Real Americans - those who have run businesses and raised families and fought corruption in their communities. People like Sarah Palin.  It's not 100% effective, but 10, maybe 20, maybe 60 incumbents are unseated, including some of the most powerful in Washington.

The message takes, and the Congress streamlines the bill process, while the White House focuses on cutting duplicate programs. The result - a significant shrinking of the federal government by 10%, freeing up money to pay down the debt and cut taxes across the board.

Limited government, like cutting your cable bill and eating out, makes it possible to shore up the weak points in our economy, and prepare us for energy, healthcare, and defense and the retiring of the Boomers.  Fiscal responsibility makes a comeback, strengthening the dollar, and restoring confidence in the government.

Does it sound far-fetched? Today's Congress is worthless, and the rise of a third party is making serious headway among average Americans. Obama's plea for change is largely a result of the current state of politics, but his inability to articulate what change means won't carry him over the electoral threshold.  But McCain/Palin?  They have a shot.  And if it goes down, remember where you read it first.