Reconsidering My Views

As new evidence comes to light it's okay to modify your position. I'm sizing up the current realities, and I've decided that I'm not as excited about the Bailout/Rescue as I was a few weeks ago. I'm also less excited about the Patriot Act, and with 20/20 hindsight, I'm less enthusiastic about the Iraq War. I'm also less inclined to be a champion of President Bush.

But first, let me say that I love and admire President Bush. He is a good man. I will always defend him against haters and bashers. In fact, I think it was the hate and the unwillingness to see any good in the president that always galvanized me into action. And I will always be thankful for Bush's contributions to the bench and for pro-life causes. But economically, he didn't lead conservatively.

Caveat:
It is always easy to criticize someone in hindsight! This is why I will defend Bush on almost every measure as one who was trying to compromise and do what seemed right. I myself looked at the same evidence as Bush and I decided an invasion of Iraq was necessary! I wasn't hoodwinked at all. And I still think it has the potential for much future good. But it does seem to me now, that too many eggs were put in the Iraq basket. The opportunity cost was high. So many other conservative things could have been accomplished that weren't. Couldn't there have been a military solution that also left political capital left for other battles?

And same with the economy. It really seemed like home ownership was the answer for a while there. And it really seemed like central banking was going to keep the party going forever. And so Republicans spent like drunken sailors.

Before I go on, I'm going to reiterate that great things happened under Bush. But this article is about opportunity costs, so I must indulge in some criticism.

The Economy
Conservative principles of responsibility, hard work, and rule of law are always the answer. Bailouts subvert these principles. The "stimulus package" of earlier this year was a bad idea. If anything, it postponed the day of reckoning and wasted a lot of tax payer money in the process. Had the reckoning occurred earlier, it wouldn't have been as big a deal during the election. And this is the year that we realized that central banking is yet another example of how central planning will always fail in the end. We need to embrace bubbles and manias! It is part of the learning process and cycle of renewal.

One thinker I respect is Arther Laffer. This article today by him is wake up call to Republicans, and to President Bush, that he has let us down. The president may very well go down as President Hoover did (and Hoover was a good guy too!). And the real rub is that it will cause another New Deal all over again resulting in fundamental shifts in the role of government...away from the founding fathers' vision of a country of free individuals.