Where are the Real Conservatives?

Today, both the Executive and Legislative branches of our Federal government are controlled by the Republican Party, which historically has been the party of Conservatism. But is that still true? Traditional Conservatism is characterized by commitment to individual liberty, limited government, constitutional restraint and fiscal responsibility. Under the current watch, all four of these principles are under attack by the very party that holds them so dear. It makes you wonder, is George Bush a conservative?

Let me provide some examples to illustrate why I think the Bush administration, being the main culprit, and Congressional Republicans are violating their own principles.

· Individual Liberty: The Patriot Act has allowed law enforcement to compromise the civil liberties of American citizens. An example of this is National Security Letters. NSLs can act as warrants, yet they are issued by the FBI with no judicial oversight. The War on Terror is no excuse for this legislation.

· Limited Government: In the history of the United States, the Federal Government has never been as large as it is today. The Government employs over 12 million people today and many of these are contractors.

· Constitutional Restraint: This principle has morphed into Judicial Restraint and it seems to represent the most schizophrenic portion of the Republican Party. Christian Conservatives and their political puppets like to use the phrase “activist judges” for those judges they believe are setting new and unconstitutional precedents. What “activist judges” really means is “judges who don’t agree with us”. Upholding or overturning precedents don’t mean anything to the Christian Right when it comes to “activist judges”.

· Fiscal Responsibility: The budget surplus of the Clinton Administration has been wiped out and replaced by a massive national debt that will only grow with the war in Iraq and the clean-up of Katrina.

Of course, I come to the conclusion that Bush is not a true conservative and that the Republican Party has lost its way. One reason it has lost its way is the “marriage” of the GOP and the Christian Right. If there was ever a marriage of convenience, this one is it. Christian Conservatives vote with the Republican Party simply because that party is more closely aligned with them on social issues and they feel they have no choice but to vote that way. Their views on government are not necessarily aligned in the same manner, but “morally” (I hate that word now) they feel they have no choice.

The GOP tolerates the Christian Right because of the huge voter bloc that it brings to the table. However, the influence of Christian Conservatives has begun to permeate the Republican Party at its highest levels including the Presidency of the United States. Christianity and religion are increasingly becoming a part of public life in this country and that feels like a bad thing to me. The rise of the Bush Administration has presented an opportunity for the Christian Right to grab as much power as it can and impose its values on the country.

It is that lust for power that drives Republican politics in America today. Conservative principles have been abandoned for cronyism, big government spending and the coveting of wealth and power. The idea of separation of church and state could be completely redefined by the party that is supposed to believe in Constitutional Restraint. All of these items make me wonder where true Conservatism is in America.