George W. Bush: not a conservative
Conservatives believe the most important value for the American people is freedom. Under former President Bush, our government became more invasive and unfortunately, more apathetic to the constitution. It began with the Patriot Act which is a clear violation of privacy rights. Although the right to privacy is not specifically enumerated in the Constitution, the Supreme Court has frequently upheld it as an implied or assumed right of every American.
Since the Patriot Act apparently didn’t go far enough in limiting personal freedom, Bush signed into law a bill that allows the federal government to wiretap personal phone calls. While I understand the security issues, I can’t understand why a party that prides itself on supporting personal freedom would allow the federal government this ridiculous amount of power.
Bush also signed into law a bill that federalizes airline security and another that created the Department of Homeland Security. Conservatives have historically operated under the belief that the free market virtually always nets better results than the government. Assuming Bush favors quality airline security, why would he take steps to federalize it? Perhaps because he isn’t a true conservative. The Department of Homeland Security is an interesting case. 9/11 was caused, in part, by a breakdown in the intelligence community due to too many levels of bureaucracy. So what is Bush’s answer? Create another department that will add another layer of bureaucracy. Though exceedingly popular at the time, the Dept. of Homeland Security has quickly fallen victim to the inefficiency of so many government agencies before it.
On the domestic front Bush signed into law No Child Left Behind which sets difficult and strange requirements on public schools such as a high mandated school attendance rate, as if the teachers have any control over whether sick children stay home or not. True conservatives want to keep local communities in charge of their own schools, while former President Bush thinks that bureaucrats in Washington seem to know best.
Bush also signed into law the Medicare Prescription Drug bill which expands the government program by hundreds of billions of dollars. Once again, the former president forgoes free market efficiencies for costly and inefficient government programs.
Bush also limited first amendment freedom of expression by signing into law Campaign Finance Reform. This law limits the amount of money Americans may donate to presidential candidates and clearly limits freedom of expression as decided by the Supreme Court in Buckley v. Valeo.
Additionally, former President Bush tried to pass immigration reform in 2007 which would provide amnesty to an estimated 12 million illegal aliens that are breaking our laws every day that stay here. The conservative ideology that I know doesn’t reward lawlessness.
Economically, President Bush has been extremely liberal through subsidies and bailouts. Possibly the worst subsidy of all was the Farm Bill which gave millions of dollars to large plantation owners and relatively little to small farms. Most conservatives recognize that subsidies are almost never justified and are usually just an easy way to buy votes. One of the farm subsidies is to pay farmers not to grow crops, in other words subsidizing idleness.
But the former president even found a way to outdo that lapse in judgment by supporting massive bailouts for financial companies that mismanaged and even U.S. automobile companies that can’t compete with foreign car companies. True conservatives believe in the natural selection of the free market. In essence, if a company is unable to compete, then it has no place in business, yet another reason why it seems Bush surrendered his conservative principles quicker than France surrendered to Germany.
Lastly, conservatives have historically been suspect of pre-emptive war. When running for president in 2000, Bush said he would not engage in nation building. But President Bush lost that conservative principle too, and has single handedly turned the Republican Party into a party that thrives on foreign intervention.
Conservatism has a rich history of great leaders like Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. Since the tax cuts in the summer of 2001, I have difficulty thinking of any truly conservative stance that President Bush has taken on any piece of legislation. Unfortunately, because he calls himself a conservative his big government, big spending and invasive foreign policy is now what some people associate with conservatism. President Bush has done a great injustice to conservatives by not being one.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Mar 6 2009. Filed under Opinion.
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