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Lost Opportunities on the Right
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13609 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1988 |
2,065 Words |
| Author
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Herbert London
Herbert London is dean of the Gallatin Division of New
York University and Senior Fellow of the Hudson Institute. |
To assess the effect of the two Reagan administrations on conservatism, several cautionary notes must be observed. For one thing, no one can predict with any certainty what the effect of the Reagan years will be. As Edmund Burke once said, the future isn't determined by the past. Second, no president ever accomplishes everything he sets out to do. President Reagan aimed to reverse a half-century of history; that ambitious program could not possibly be completely successful. Third, the Reagan administrations do not have coherence. Several initiatives are compatible with long-standing conservative themes, while others continue reflexive New Deal ideas--for example, Social Security benefits. Fourth, the full effect of the Reagan years won't be known for some time. Presumably, President Reagan planted ideas that will flourish under another president's care or will die in the ground, unwatered by an administration with a different agenda. Fifth, some of President Reagan's unacted-upon suggestions may have longer-term benefits than ideas put into motion. For example, the elimination of the corporate income tax, which translates into double taxation on dividends and discourages investment, and the deployment of some forms of the Strategic Defense Initiative immediately come to mind.
Despite a prevalent criticism that the Reagan administrations have been short on ideas and long on ideology, the reverse may be true. These administrations were inundated with ideas, particularly ideas partial to privatization schemes that could improve efficiency of program delivery at a cost lower than government-sponsored programs, but the opposition of bureaucrats, organized labor, and special-interest groups inhibited implementation of their plans. Although all government spending programs should be candidates for budget reduction since they suppress the incentive for private investment, the trend toward increased domestic spending has not been reversed by the Reagan administrations. It is useful to recall that Senators Dole and Byrd said at the signing of the tax reform bill that for each dollar reduction in taxes, two dollars would be cut from the federal budget. That, of course, did not happen. One might conclude that the reason it did not, notwithstanding opposition inside the Beltway, is the administration's lack of ideological ardor in pursuing this goal.
The Importance of Rhetoric
The watering down of conservative ideology for pragmatic considerations will influence conservatives who look to Ronald Reagan as their spiritual father. It is now apparent that Reagan was less committed to conservative ideals than his public pronouncements
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