True Conservatism

As you already know, Mike Huckabee won the Iowa Caucuses. This, of course, will cause the Republican Establishment to complain even louder than before that Huck is not a true Conservative.

I want to say a few things about this “true Conservatism.” Where is it? Are we to assume that Conservatism is practiced most purely by the Republicans in Congress? If that’s the case, then I’m glad Huck is not a “true Conservative.”

The Conservative message has been hijacked by the Washington Republican Elite and twisted to favor their constituency: corporate CEO’s. Conservatism as Ronald Reagan preached it is about the little guy. It is about protecting the middle class from harmful government policies. Conservatism is not about pandering to the corporations, special interests, and foreign lobbyists. It isn’t about pork-barrel spending. It isn’t about destroying our manufacturing with reckless, lopsided trade agreements. It isn’t about faith based economics. And it certainly isn’t about incompetent administration officials or corrupt congressmen.

When Reagan ran for president, the middle class was threatened by an over-intrusive government. Today, the middle class is threatened by a corporate owned and operated government (the Washington-Wall Street Axis). Ronald Reagan sought to change the policies that were harming the middle class, and the Republican Establishment hated him for it. Mike Huckabee is trying to do the same thing, and the Republican Establishment hates him for it, too.

The problem here is that the Republican Party is too closely linked with corporate greed. The solution to this problem is not found in the nomination of an ex-corporate CEO. It is time for someone new, who will lead the party back to supporting the middle class over corporate interests.

–J.E. Heath
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