Acting White: The Reagan GOP Fallacy

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ran a recent editorial asking the question, “Should the GOP Forget Reagan?” Perhaps they should, but maybe this is the wrong question. Forgetting someone you think was right is a lot harder than letting go when you believe they were off the mark.

Reagan, and his near-term stand-in, the recently departed Jack Kemp, espoused the philosophy, as described by the WSJ, of “work, save, and invest”, with the help of only modest government intervention. On the surface, this is a philosophy I can get behind, but it failed us, and the Republicans have not taken the time to understand why, so they still cling to it even though it’s killing them and the country.

So why did a governing philosophy that seems to make good sense land us in such a mess? First of all, the mess was inevitable regardless of the party in power, modest Republican or immodest Democrat. Fettered or unfettered capitalism, and its purveyor, US corporate HQ, never bought into Reagan’s philosophy. (I'm not sure Reagan bought into his own ideas). Oh sure, business liked the part about having free run, but they used this freedom to develop and mature US consumer appetites for fancy living, which is just the opposite of work, save, and invest. The rest of the world has beaten its way to US shores to jump on the super-consumer band-wagon.

The Democrats are no better. Just recently, we see Demo leaders circling the wagons to protect corporate ability to run tax free, or amok, to provide goods and services that the country does not need. Reaganomics et al never placed a premium value on smart and patriotic companies investing in real advancement, rather than the high-living that makes importers, distributors, and bankers richer, and which requires more free time and bigger credit-limits for dumb-down consumers to enjoy their debt-fueled sedentary flat-screen comforts.

Yes, we should forget all the presidents, Congress and the Senate too, and perhaps Obama after four years, but not before we understand and strike-down the implicit governing philosophy which encourages US corporations to engage consumer-citizens as though they are drug addicts, with no care for our long-term demise. And if we were really serious about digging our behinds out we would institute consumption taxes, and savings tax breaks, while eliminating graduated income taxes and tax havens for all.

James C. Collier

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