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 Date:10/6/2009

 

It's Your Call
Awakening a Giant
Gary Miller observes how conservatives are rearing their heads to a call of activism against Obama’s agenda.

Sir Francis Bacon, the great English philosopher, scientist, lawyer, and statesmen once said, “If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts.” This may ring true for the Obama Administration and many of Obama’s staunchest supporters, as Obama’s presidency has quickly hit turbulent waters after having cruised easily through the election with well-trimmed sails and a nicely set rudder.

On the other side of the political spectrum, people have accused Obama of enormous hubris and sarcastically referenced his status as a messiah of sorts: The One. After all, Obama had a plan to “remake America” and “spread the wealth around” – much to the disdain of the many Joe the Plumbers across the nation, yet to the delight of the academic elite parading within Obama’s circles. What with Democratic control in the House and the Senate – and not just Democrats, but very liberal Democrats in the best political positions – this administration would prove to be a sure thing, with a certain outcome. Right?

Enter the conservative activists
Historically, Democrats have cornered the market on grass-roots activism to support their principal causes and have garnered attention for their most fringe ones as well. In fact, their activism is something that Democratic political leaders could always rely upon. (Working in Manhattan for many years, I have on many occasions had to step through throngs of people hailing for Bush’s arrest and for stopping the war in Iraq, even PETA activists informing me that meat is murder.) But for the most part, save for the occasional anti-abortion protests, conservatives are not activists. At least until now.

Earlier this year, in the wake of frustration with bailout funds, stimulus plans, and talk of tax increases on “wealthy” Americans, we began to see numerous tax protests across the country. While tax protests are normally reserved for Libertarians, we witnessed many mainstream conservatives participate in these “tea parties,” each an obvious tip-of-the-hat to the Boston Tea Party, a precursor to “the shot heard ‘round the world.” The rage soon became for conservatives to confront legislators at town hall meetings to protest not only taxes but “Obamacare,” with protestors rejecting any form of socialized medicine. This phenomenon quickly dominated news headlines across the country and soon became a factor in the healthcare debate. One such “protestor” this summer was a 35-year-old stay-at-home mom, Katy Abram, who confronted Senator Arlen Specter, challenging him in a voice quivering with nervousness, to tell her what he was going to do to restore the country to an America consistent with the vision of its founding fathers. Mrs. Abram claimed no involvement in politics, but warned Specter that he had “awakened a sleeping giant.” I think this simple remark captured it all. And there must be millions more like her, rising up in (or on the verge of) protest, who like America the way it is… or perhaps was.

Last month, some of these millions converged on Washington in perhaps the pinnacle of conservative activism to date. They chanted, wore costumes, and held signs addressing a number of conservative concerns. Some directed their protest at policy, others toward Obama directly, while others were merely touting their patriotism. Some pundits and journalists tried to downplay the event, suggesting only 50,000 to 60,000 protestors were present. Others proclaimed attendance upwards of a million or more. Whatever number one chooses to believe we can ask ourselves, when was the last time we saw mainstream conservatives engaged in something like this? It is evident that politicians are ill-prepared for conservative activism; after all, it is so new. They have tried denial, claiming it is “fake” activism, organized by lobbyists – i.e. “Astroturf,”  according to house speaker Nancy Pelosi, as opposed to truly grass-roots. They have lashed out at these town hall protestors, referring to them as “un-American,” “brown shirts,” “Nazi-like” in their tactics. But however one chooses to view these tactics, they are tried and true, and straight from the playbooks liberals have used for decades. This is a medicine, formerly their own, and I wonder how it tastes to them now.

The squeaky wheels
So we now have conservatives squeaking like never before. Perhaps they have been pushed too far, to the detriment of those doing the pushing. There is an economic theory about taxation – the Laffer Curve – which suggests that there is a tax rate that when exceeded actually lowers tax revenue, perhaps as incentives to earn marginal income get taxed away, or increasing tax rates cause marginal income to be more likely deferred or sheltered. Maybe there is a similar curve, more social in orientation, whereby the conservatives’ tolerance to liberal ideology is surpassed, such that the liberal cause is diminished as a whole; conservatives having been pushed to the limit not only reject but push back as well.

Take the healthcare issue. I have always accepted the status quo, and recognized healthcare insurance as an important part of my well being. Until recently, when I purchased my own health plan directly, I had always received and paid for health insurance through my employer. When confronted with taking my own position on Obamacare, which contemplates mandating employers either provide healthcare insurance or face penalties, I began to question why employers provide healthcare insurance in the first place – something I had never even thought about or questioned before. When forced to think about this issue, I became baffled by how what once was merely a perk to attract talent during post-war America possibly being codified into law? This thinking gives rise to my rejection of much of Obamacare. But now I am questioning the regulation of any employer benefit at all. This is the push back. In other words, perhaps by being forced to think about these issues, I end up being more conservative and perhaps even more vocal about it.

At the end of the day, most of us accept that the feel-good ideology of the Democrat’s liberal base has always conflicted with the realistic pragmatism of conservative Republicans, but the centrists ultimately seemed to rule the day. This phenomenon allowed most people to find a way to live in comfort with our nation’s ongoing political discourse, even to largely ignore it if they chose, never being too fearful of either the extreme right or the extreme left getting their way. But there is a new sheriff in town and he’s from the far left, unlike any we have ever seen, and his posse is like-minded. There is talk of tax increases, fear of healthcare reform as a stepping stone to a single-payer system; concern about gun control, legislating pay in the private sector, activist Supreme Court justices, big deficits, bigger role of government – some heavy stuff to say the least. Conservatives can no longer leave “their side” of the political discourse to Rush and the Fox network, not taking their part in it because they are too busy working or think, well, taxes aren’t that bad. The Obama Administration has taken these issues to their doorsteps and knocked loudly. The sleeping giant is rubbing his eyes, waking up, and about to start stomping – who knew? – definitely putting some doubt in the “certainty” of Obama.

Gary Miller works on Wall St. in the Structured Finance industry and also hosts a political blog called The Liberty Corner Post. You may see his work at http://libertycornerpost.blogspot.com