Ashby 2008

Congratulations to John McCain, almost assuredly the Republican candidate for the general election. I have to say, this election has been like no other presidential election I can remember (1980, Carter v. Reagan, was the first for me). To the candidates’ credit, we have been presented with far more policy options from clearly differentiated candidates than I imagined possible, and it was refreshing. Yes, it was even good to have Tancredo up there, offering his thoughts for the marketplace of ideas.

I have to say, I thought if the Republicans went against type, it would have been to the gay-loving, baby-killing ex-mayor of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, for the party to actually nominate an old-school, non-delusional traditional fiscal conservative, is, hopefully, proof that Republican voters are ready to move beyond the ideologically driven incompetence and profligacy that defined the party under Bush.

McCain is very much a traditional Republican, and, no matter what the economic fantasists of talk radio say, an actual fiscal conservative. The type of fiscal conservative that remembers that the U.S. government has a balance sheet like any other economic entity, and layering on trillions of dollars of debt is not good for the long-term health of the country. The type that actually knows the difference between a tax cut and a tax deferral. Back in the day, we didn’t have to talk about these variations of “fiscal conservative”, because every Republican believed in a balanced budget, (“What kind of a fool would think that borrowed money didn’t have to be repaid?”). Let’s hope McCain is taking the party back in that direction, and we can stop deluding ourselves that tax cuts pay for themselves and so don’t steal from our children. Supply Side, like that other famous economic fantasy, Socialism, needs to be relegated to the dustbin of history.

Surely, one of the best things about McCain being the nominee is that it takes the issue of Torture out of the election. We won’t be subjected to the moral blight of Romney bragging about the terrorists he’d torture, just to prove he’s tougher on terrorism than the Democrats. For this if nothing else, the Republican Party should be grateful – McCain will keep the Republican Party from sounding as if it is run by a bunch of eleven year-old boys trying to prove how cold-blooded they are.

Hope springs eternal, of course, but I am hoping McCain will actually campaign as an old-school, balanced budget conservative. There would be no surer proof of the Straight Talk Express than for him to eventually come out and say that we need to let the Bush tax cuts expire. For McCain to say that, yes, it will be a little painful, but it is much better for the long-term health of our country. For him to again affirm that the Republican Party believes deficit spending, along with all of its other problems, is morally wrong. Yes, I am hoping that McCain will just come out and say that the Supply Side experiment failed, and we need to go back to the boring old approach of actually paying for the government we use, when we use it. Our economy is strong enough to handle it. Our citizens are strong enough to handle it as well.

So Good Luck, Senator John McCain. I hope you do your values proud. I hope you do our country proud.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 10th, 2008 at 9:59 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.