Posted by Jonathan Adler:
Rep. Flake's Way Out of the Wilderness:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_11_02-2008_11_08.shtml#1225945099
Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ) [1]lays out an agenda for House
Republicans seeking direction after yesterday's defeats.
I suggest that we return to first principles. At the top of that
list has to be a recommitment to limited government. After eight
years of profligate spending and soaring deficits, voters can be
forgiven for not knowing that limited government has long been the
first article of faith for Republicans.
Of course, it's not the level of spending that gets the most
attention; it's the manner in which the spending is allocated. The
proliferation of earmarks is largely a product of the
Gingrich-DeLay years, and it's no surprise that some of the most
ardent practitioners were earmarked by the voters for retirement
yesterday. Few Americans will take seriously Republican speeches on
limited government if we Republicans can't wean ourselves from this
insidious practice. But if we can go clean, it will offer a stark
contrast to the Democrats, who, after two years in training,
already have their own earmark favor factory running at full tilt.
Second, we need to recommit to our belief in economic freedom. Adam
Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" may be on the discount rack this
year, but the free market is still the most efficient means to
allocate capital and human resources in an economy, and Americans
know it. Now that we've inserted government deeply into the private
sector by bailing out banks and businesses, the temptation will be
for government to overstay its welcome and force the distribution
of resources to serve political ends. Substituting political for
economic incentives is not the recipe for economic recovery. . . .
There are, of course, other pillars of the Republican standard --
strong national defense, support for traditional values and the
Second Amendment -- but these are not areas where voters question
Republican bona fides. In any event, as we have seen over the past
several months, economic woes tend to subsume other concerns. We
shouldn't complain. We can now play our strongest hand.
I suspect Rep. Flake's principled, forward-looking, and surprisingly
optimistic outlook would appeal to libertarian-leaning Republicans.
References
1.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/04/AR2008110403872.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
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