What's At Stake
Phil Alito
Issue date: 11/2/04 Section: Special: Election Issue 2004
The effects of this election will be felt for decades. Indeed, issues like the War on Terror, tax cuts, and Supreme Court appointees really pose fundamental questions about the future of America: what is America's role in the world? How will we fight terrorism? What role do we want the government to have in our everyday lives? Are we willing to allow the judiciary to make policy? As much as this election is a referendum on the policies of George Bush, it is an election in which voters will determine the answers to these questions. The election of John Kerry would be more than a setback for conservative policy, it would be a devastating blow to conservative thinking. A Kerry presidency would effectively cement a philosophically liberal way of approaching these questions for the next generation. The stakes have never been higher for conservatives in America.
American conservatism is rooted in limited government, a strong military, and the conservation of an entrepreneurial, individualistic, and religious spirit that qualifies as uniquely American. If John Kerry is elected, conservatives can expect all three of these core aspects of conservatism to suffer, and to suffer badly.
Every one of Kerry's domestic policies would result in an increase in the size of the federal government. His health care plan, which aims to cover Americans in the same way members of Congress are covered, would cost $7,000 per person. Contrast this with the President's plan, which allows an individual to control his or her health care through a tax-free Health Savings Account. Kerry's education plan, too, would expand government. He has called for ensuring more quality teachers, more school services in his "Schools Open 'Till Six" plan, and for upping funding for the No Child Left Behind Act. So where will this money come from? The logical answer is through taxes. Although Kerry has promised not to raise middle class taxes (Bill Clinton made the same claim in 1992), Kerry will be forced to do just that in order to fund new government programs, effectively combat terrorism, and cut into the deficit. These policies empower bureaucracies rather than individuals and pump money into a leviathan.
American conservatism is rooted in limited government, a strong military, and the conservation of an entrepreneurial, individualistic, and religious spirit that qualifies as uniquely American. If John Kerry is elected, conservatives can expect all three of these core aspects of conservatism to suffer, and to suffer badly.
Every one of Kerry's domestic policies would result in an increase in the size of the federal government. His health care plan, which aims to cover Americans in the same way members of Congress are covered, would cost $7,000 per person. Contrast this with the President's plan, which allows an individual to control his or her health care through a tax-free Health Savings Account. Kerry's education plan, too, would expand government. He has called for ensuring more quality teachers, more school services in his "Schools Open 'Till Six" plan, and for upping funding for the No Child Left Behind Act. So where will this money come from? The logical answer is through taxes. Although Kerry has promised not to raise middle class taxes (Bill Clinton made the same claim in 1992), Kerry will be forced to do just that in order to fund new government programs, effectively combat terrorism, and cut into the deficit. These policies empower bureaucracies rather than individuals and pump money into a leviathan.