Losing Balance

Traditional conservatives have consistently focused on state's rights, smaller government, the rights of the individual to be free from government intrusion, and fiscal conservativism. But lately and for a while, I've seen these increasingly on the radar of those on the left.

State's rights come in to play in Congressional intervention in the Terri Schiavo case, in state approval of gay marriage, in Oregon's right to die law and California's medical marijuana law. The Republicans in power abandoned their commitment to states' rights in each of these areas.

Smaller government is an old Reagan canard in the face of a federal government that has grown to record sizes under Bush. The Department of Education has expanded its reach into what has been historically a locally controlled institution - the public school. The FCC has appointed itself the moral arbiter of all things broadcast with legislative support for extremely high fines for wardrobe malfunctions and Howard Stern expletives. The FCC has given itself full jurisdictional authority over telecommunications technologies (VOIP) that will eventually replace the state-regulated telephony of today.

The right of the individual to be free from government intrusion is negated in many ways by the Patriot Act. It is upheld in the Supreme Court decision to strike down Texas anti-sodomy laws, a decision excoriated by the far right. It is abandoned in efforts by state Attorneys General to gain access to women's medical records in a hunt for late-term abortions and in one Senator's efforts to give Congress the right to look at any citizen's tax returns.

Fiscal conservativism was at its zenith under Clinton but in today's Republican government, pay as you go is dismissed as unnecessary, tax cuts to the wealthy are more important than reducing the deficit, borrowing trillions to fund privatization of social security without addressing projected shortfalls in the program are all business as usual. The deficit is the largest ever. The trade deficit too has grown higher than ever in history while Congress works to permanently end estate taxes. Smaller government for monitoring the content of the airwaves. The rights of the individual for the Patriot Act. Fiscal  sanity for tax breaks for the wealthy.

The Republicans in power are not traditional conservatives. They are social conservatives, happy to abandon traditional conservative positions in their efforts to impose their social conservative world view on the country. They trade states rights for a ban on gay marriage, small government for FCC control, individual freedom from government for the right to impose moral codes on the public, and fiscal responsibility for more money in the pockets of the rich.

Traditional liberals have had the luxury, for decades, of not attending to these conservative values. They balanced the conservatives and could call for federal programs, big government, possibly intrusive socially progressive policies, and new spending, comfortably knowing that the traditional conservatives would howl and would balance their advocacy by advocating for their own conservative values. No more. Social conservatives don't provide that balance, don't fight for traditional conservative principles. They've abandoned them.

That's why the left is beginning to talk about those traditional conservative issues. Why we see discussions of progressive federalism, see a-list progressive bloggers situationally endorsing small government, hear a liberal outcry against the involvement of the federal government in private lives (see any progressive blog on the Schiavo case or Patriot Act), and contribute to the drumbeat on the left that demands a responsible approach to reducing the deficit, fairly reforming the tax code, and moving to a pay-as-you-go system.

This is an opportunity for the left and the left is taking it. We can develop a progressive view of state vs federal powers without empowering our political opponents. We can talk about where government should grow or shrink, where the line is in legislating morality - progressive or conservative, and we can own the issue of fiscal responsibility. The domination of the social conservative and their disregard for traditional conservative principles gives us the chance to take those principles, modify them to be consistent with an overall progressive agenda, and own them. I think that's started. I hope it continues.

UPDATE: On the flip side, let's hope the right continues to co-opt the worst of the left as they have by becoming the ultimate in nanny-staters.

Comments

[Winston Smith 6079]

Great post!

You forgot states rights when it came to Yucca Mountain and nuclear storage. Nevada wanted none but the U.S. Governement, under the guide of Bush, said "Too bad!"

[Kathy]

Thanks for the nice comment.

I got thinking about this when I saw a C-span snippet where a lawyer was reviewing a bunch of cases in which the administration has abandoned the principles of federalism. I wish I could remember who it was because I know the list is a long one.

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