Jeff Jacoby does good work as the only conservative holding down
the fort at the Boring Broadsheet, aka the Boston Globe. I
don't mean to single him out for something I've seen quite a few
pro-McCain conservatives do, albeit less succinctly. But Jacoby's
conservative case for John McCain
does a disservice to Ronald Reagan:
Conservatives bristle at the thought of a Republican president
who might raise income and payroll taxes. Or enlarge the federal
government instead of shrinking it. Or appoint Supreme Court
justices who are anything but strict constructionists. Or grant a
blanket amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.
Now, I don't believe that a President McCain would do any of
those things. But President Reagan did all of them. Reagan also
provided arms to the Khomeini theocracy in Iran, presided over
skyrocketing budget deficits, and ordered US troops to cut and run
in the face of Islamist terror in the Middle East. McCain would be
unlikely to commit any of those sins, either.
Reagan wasn't perfect but let's at least provide some needed
historical context here. Yes, Reagan went along with some tax
increases. But he was also a significant net tax cutter. The top
marginal income tax rate was slashed from 70 percent to 28 percent
under his watch. The number of tax brackets was cut from 14 to two,
the closest we've ever come to a flat tax in this country. Reagan
also cut many domestic spending programs, though not by a large or
enduring enough amount to keep the federal government from growing
during his administration. But the feds' bite on the economy was
lower when he left office and the deficit had been cut to 2.9
percent of GDP.
On the Supreme Court, only Sandra Day O'Connor was an unforced
error. And even O'Connor moved the court marginally to the right
compared with her predecessor. In 1987, Reagan first tried to
appoint Robert Bork, then Douglas Ginsburg, and had received
numerous assurances that his eventual nominee, Anthony Kennedy, was
actually a conservative.
It's also worth noting that Reagan's failures, instead of
pointing the way to a more pragmatic conservatism illustrate
mistakes for future Republican officeholders to avoid. Reagan's
deficit spending eroded supported for his tax cuts, as did the
payroll tax hikes. The Reagan tax increases did not result in a
balanced budget. The Reagan amnesty did not reduce illegal
immigration and accompanying employer sanctions were never
enforced. The Iran-Contra scandal hobbled Reagan's second term.
Has McCain really learned from all these mistakes? McCain has
favored legalizing an even larger number of illegal immigrants,
under only slightly stricter conditions than the 1986 amnesty, with
the same assumption that better enforcement will follow. His
position the Bush tax cuts is well known, and he figures to be
influenced as much by the Concord Coalition as Jack Kemp on fiscal
policy.
McCain was one of the supporters of withdrawing from Lebanon (he
and Reagan were right about this, in my view -- the correct answer
would have been not to intervene there in the first place without
regard to our national interests and under such ridiculous rules of
engagement). He backed the O'Connor and Kennedy nominations.
McCain's supporters should find another way to talk up their
candidate besides talking down Reagan. And they should offer a more
inspiring conservative agenda than repeating the Gipper's
mistakes.
topics:
Taxes, John McCain, Islam, Supreme Court, Iran, Conservatism, Immigration
