When political control trumps policy
Chris Pitts, Columnist
Issue date: 9/21/07 Section: Opinion
On Monday, Sept. 17, Alan Greenspan was interviewed by the New York Times. For those of you who do not know who Alan Greenspan is, he was the chairman of the Federal Reserve for nearly 20 years. In this interview, Greenspan spoke out against the Republican Party, a party of which he has been a faithful member.
“Smaller government, lower spending, lower taxes, less regulation – they had the resources to do it, they had the knowledge to do it, they had the political majorities to do it. And they didn’t . . . political control trumped policy, and they achieved neither political control nor policy,” he said.
Greenspan’s frustration toward the Republican Party highlights exactly why the Republican Party lost a majority in Congress in 2006. In 1994, the Republicans, under the leadership of Newt Gingrich, promised a contract with Americans with the main platforms being: smaller government, lower taxes, lower spending, tort and welfare reform, term limits for Congressmen, and a reduction in Federal Regulations. Unfortunately, most of these things did not get passed; those that did, however, were barely used. For instance, only one page of the thousands of pages that makes up the volumes of Federal Regulations was repealed.
Alan Greenspan was right. Republicans failed and they failed horribly. They chose political war with the Democrats over enacting policies Americans favored and even did a poor job in battle with the Democrats. Politicians need to realize that it is fiscal/economic policy that matters the most to Americans. Smaller government, less government spending and lower taxes have all been a staple of the American political thought for the past 231 years. This is why a policy such as the Fair Tax can draw more supporters to rally at a Republican Presidential Candidate Debate in Columbia, S.C., than people that show up to protest the War in Iraq.
The solution to this problem, however, resides in American’s willingness to contact their representative and express what matters most to them. Until then the politicians will continue to be deluded by the large media outlets that there is something else of more importance than economic policy. Until we take action, politicians will continue to pander to us on issues we don’t care about.
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“Smaller government, lower spending, lower taxes, less regulation – they had the resources to do it, they had the knowledge to do it, they had the political majorities to do it. And they didn’t . . . political control trumped policy, and they achieved neither political control nor policy,” he said.
Greenspan’s frustration toward the Republican Party highlights exactly why the Republican Party lost a majority in Congress in 2006. In 1994, the Republicans, under the leadership of Newt Gingrich, promised a contract with Americans with the main platforms being: smaller government, lower taxes, lower spending, tort and welfare reform, term limits for Congressmen, and a reduction in Federal Regulations. Unfortunately, most of these things did not get passed; those that did, however, were barely used. For instance, only one page of the thousands of pages that makes up the volumes of Federal Regulations was repealed.
Alan Greenspan was right. Republicans failed and they failed horribly. They chose political war with the Democrats over enacting policies Americans favored and even did a poor job in battle with the Democrats. Politicians need to realize that it is fiscal/economic policy that matters the most to Americans. Smaller government, less government spending and lower taxes have all been a staple of the American political thought for the past 231 years. This is why a policy such as the Fair Tax can draw more supporters to rally at a Republican Presidential Candidate Debate in Columbia, S.C., than people that show up to protest the War in Iraq.
The solution to this problem, however, resides in American’s willingness to contact their representative and express what matters most to them. Until then the politicians will continue to be deluded by the large media outlets that there is something else of more importance than economic policy. Until we take action, politicians will continue to pander to us on issues we don’t care about.
Send responses to the editor
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