Politics

The Battle for Free Enterprise and Limited Government Is a Long-Term Fight

Nov. 8, 2012 9:54am

- President, American Enterprise Institute

Arthur Brooks is president of the American Enterprise Institute.

For the last eighteen months, we’ve been engrossed in (and sometimes disgusted by) the minutiae of electoral politics, first through GOP primary, and then through the rough-and-tumble of the presidential campaign season. Tuesday’s election was important, to be sure. But we shouldn’t lose track of the fact that the fight for free enterprise and limited government isn’t about one horse race; it’s a long-term fight for key American values.

Where are we today? In effect, the same place we were on Monday: President Obama will continue for another four years, the Republicans keep the House of Representatives by a large margin, and the Democrats maintain a slim majority in the Senate. In other words, America will continue what has for much of the last generation become a tradition of divided government.

To be sure, this was a bitterly fought election, and Governor Romney and President Obama outlined sharply contrasting views of the future of the country–though with a divided congress and such a sharply split popular vote, it was unlikely that either would win the kind of mandate that, for instance, Ronald Reagan won in 1980.

With the legislature divided on party lines and a president holding only a tenuous mandate, we have a recipe for gridlock. Americans routinely tell pollsters that they detest gridlock and want the parties to reach across the aisle and work together. Many analysts suggest that it’s this partisan gridlock that is most responsible for Congress’ historically low approval ratings, which have hovered in or near the single digits for much of the past two years.

Gridlock today is especially corrosive because of the enormity of the challenges we face—and the urgency of solving our problems. Our national debt is higher than GDP, unfunded liabilities loom on the state and local level amounting to trillions of dollars, we have a culture of bailouts and subsidies without limiting principle, and our government consumes more and more of what the private economy produces.

Brooks: The Battle for Free Enterprise and Limited Government Is a Long Term Fight

Statue of Alexander Hamilton in front of the Treasury Department building in Washington D.C. (Getty)

Getting beyond gridlock, though, will require compromise. To some, this may sound like surrender. It need not be. For instance, pro-growth comprehensive tax reform that is revenue neutral (or even revenue reducing) can help grow the economy while decreasing the Byzantine complexity of America’s tax code. It may mean giving up some of the welfare transfers that the left loves and the deductions that the right loves; but each side will have to give up some sacred cows. It need not mean increasing tax rates of giving the government beast more sustenance.

But compromise on core principles is never acceptable. Ultimately, no compromise is worth making if it undermines free enterprise, allows the continued and unchecked expansion of the state, or furthers the notion that Washington can or should to pick economic winners and losers. In other words, we can build on truths shared between parties and ideologies on policy issues. But we cannot have compromise between the majority who support American free enterprise and the minority who wish to see it fail.

Finding common ground on policy while standing firm on principle is the grand political tradition of our republic. Our founders, who were greatly divided on the important policy questions of their day from tariffs to federalism, did not waver in their commitment to limited government and individual liberty. The moral covenant between government and the people established by the Declaration of Independence and reflected in the immortal phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” was not up for negotiation.

Do not be lulled into complacency by those who suggest that our long-term fiscal imbalances are not real, or who say that plunging off the fiscal cliff somehow represents responsible policymaking. We cannot continue to kick the can down the road until we achieve some future Platonic congress. We have to begin this year to fix our unbalanced entitlements, enact a pro-growth economic agenda, and get spending in check. This will require overcoming gridlock, which means compromise on policy. But never on values.

That’s the long term battle facing America. And that’s the battle that we must recommit to today.

 

Arthur Brooks is the president of the American Enterprise Institute and the author of The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise

Comments (21)

  • hslusher
    Nov. 9, 2012 at 10:59pm

    Sorry America will continue to decline. The Takers out number the makers and they want their free stuff. Ignorance of free market shows people have no idea how fragile the markets are.

    Report this comment

    hslusher  
  • crusaderx9
    Nov. 9, 2012 at 2:21pm

    This article describes the obvious – it is empty of solutions…

    Ultimately, freedom in all its forms will be decided IN THE STREETS as america devolves further into warring tribes. The balkanization of america is almost complete and the obama regime has used all of its implements of power to destroy the american dream.

    The writer of this useless article is a fool for thinking he carries a message…

    Report this comment

    crusaderx9  
  • jonhamilt
    Nov. 9, 2012 at 1:23am

    I think this article is great, my question is, how do we accomplish these things?

    Report this comment

    jonhamilt  
  • Mr.Fitnah
    Nov. 8, 2012 at 8:13pm

    Um its over. the takers outnumber the makers and they want their free stuff.

    Report this comment

    Mr.Fitnah  
  • IntegrityFirst
    Nov. 8, 2012 at 1:34pm

    Our founding fathers wanted our government to be divided and gridlocked precisely because when a compromise would be reached, it would be good for all American citizens. Gridlock forces compromise and agreement. We don’t want a one party rule (although it would be a dream if we could have all Representatives and Senators be constitutionally-minded… and honestly, I don’t understand how we can even have two parties considering that the Constitution is very specific in what the federal government has the ability to do and not to do).

    However, because we are now divided so far that any sort of compromise is most likely out of reach. Particularly because the Democommies won’t budge on anything. They have moved so far to the left, and stated repeatedly that we must raise taxes.

    Report this comment

    IntegrityFirst  
  • kaydeebeau
    Nov. 8, 2012 at 1:06pm

    Nice thought there Mr Brooks – unfortunately the democrat’s idea of compromise is come over to my side a little at at time but don’t expect me to come to yours. Compromise with the democrats is a one way street and we can’t go any further left and survive or have any hopes of survival.

    Report this comment

    kaydeebeau  
  • Ghandi was a Republican
    Nov. 8, 2012 at 12:10pm

    Obama is the 1. The representative appointed to impede his nefarious agenda are the 230! Good lick “the one”!

    Report this comment

    Ghandi was a Republican  
  • CombatMissionary
    Nov. 8, 2012 at 12:04pm

    We lost because as a party we’ve gotten off-focus. We’re eating our own tails. We need to remember what united the founders: state’s rights.
    We can’t come to a consensus among ourselves about what we believe.
    Tea Partier, GOPer, Libertarian, WE ARE NOT ENEMIES.
    Our problem is, we’re trying to pass Federal laws according to OUR consensus, when WE DON’T EVEN HAVE ONE.
    We’re wondering why we lost, and we STILL have people bickering about whether Mormons are Christian.
    You know what the founders would have said? “WHY DO YOU CARE?”
    OK, Evangelicals, call me a non-Christian. I’m a Mormon. Think what you want about me. That’s fine. I don’t sit up at night worrying that Evangelicals don’t think I’m a Christian.
    What I DO want for my wife and kids is to grow up in a free country. That means telling people to be who they are, which is WHAT WE WANT ANYWAY!
    “Hey, New Yorker, why do you need Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (“I know NOTHING!”) to tell you what kind of car to drive? Why do you need Nancy Pelosi telling you what kind of light bulb to install in your house? Why do you need Harry Reid telling you how much to pay in Union dues? Aren’t New Yorkers smart enough to figure that out for themselves? And what do you care about how they do business in Miami or California or Colorado or Texas? Let’s all agree to let each other be who we are, and decide how we do business in our own states!”

    Report this comment

    CombatMissionary  
    • CombatMissionary
      Nov. 8, 2012 at 12:06pm

      We lost because THAT’S the message we’re no longer presenting. Plain and simple. Let’s elect our fundamentalists to the House and Senate, and then pick a Presidential nominee that’s a little more moderate, but has a state’s rights agenda. Then dismantle the Federal machine, agency by agency. THAT is how we get our country back, ladies and gentlemen.

      Report this comment

      CombatMissionary  
    • loriann12
      Nov. 8, 2012 at 12:22pm

      I’m a Baptist, and you’re a Mormon….we may disagree on the small details, but as far as I’ve studied we agree on the big issues. I have questions about some things, some that don’t agree with what I believe, and can’t understand some, but I’ll take a Mormon who loves this country over a Marxist POS that wants to destroy capitalism any day. At least Romney is American (and I’m not talking about where Obama was born – I spent 4 years in Hawaii, my son was born there – he was not steeped in American values, but Marxist values). Indonesia is a third world country, and that’s what Obama wants for America. Half the Native Hawaiians want to be free of America, and go back to being soverign. They feel as if they were conquered. That’s the attitude Obama grew up with. When I was in Hawaii, from 1997-2001, some winter states, like New York, would give their indigent a one way ticket to Hawaii, and they’d sleep on the beaches, and under the overpasses.

      Report this comment

      loriann12  
    • CombatMissionary
      Nov. 8, 2012 at 12:32pm

      @ Loriann:
      And I’d take a Baptist who’s committed to the Bill of Rights over Harry Reid any day. That dude makes me SICK.

      Report this comment

      CombatMissionary  
  • Ghandi was a Republican
    Nov. 8, 2012 at 12:00pm

    It doesn’t have to be this way.. Every State should simply refuse to comply with anything that smells of over reach. Then overload Holder with court cases to prove that they are legal. 2008-2012 in reverse,
    If the Federal Government needs more money- Let them Print it. States should stockpile Gold. When the dollar is finished- the States will be in position to re-issue a new currency. California, NY and many others will simply be bankrupt. If they want baled out they will have to come hat in hand in bankruptcy, surrendering all their assets.
    Sounds difficult, but the Natural order of things will streamline the process. Just have the infrastructure in place. Let Trump, Ron Paul, Ryan, and Sarah Palin chair the “Committee for a competing New World Order” It would be set and ready to convene… The loons and their 100 year old “New World Order” will be dead before it gets off the couch.

    Report this comment

    Ghandi was a Republican  
  • Zorro1
    Nov. 8, 2012 at 11:57am

    Parasitism is winning in America and will get worse. Many parasites (parasitoids) eventually kill their hosts but it can take a long time.
    Because the process is slow, it is not obvious to parasitoids that they will die along with their hosts unless they can find a new host.
    In today’s world there are fewer and fewer countries that will survive to be new hosts.

    Report this comment

    Zorro1  
  • VRW Conspirator
    Nov. 8, 2012 at 11:48am

    EXACTLY….even if Romney had won, this would have had to be the agenda…
    strip away the deductions for everyone…
    strip away the TAKERS that pay nothing… elderly with Social Security shouldn’t be paying taxes on it, that is the only exception…
    lower the rates to the EFFECTIVE current rates….
    the upper brackets….effectively pay about 22-24% after deductions…
    I am in the 28% bracket but with deductions I pay 5-8%…most in my bracket pay about 10-12%
    Most in the 20% and below bracket pay NOTHING!! effectively..they get everything back…
    Those in the lowest bracket actually GET BACK more than they are taxed due to credits and deductions…that HAS TO END! it is only FAIR right….

    0% tax for those below the poverty line…20% of USA..the lowest quartile
    5% for those in the next bracket…the second lowest quartile..the working poor
    10% for those in the middle..the middle class…the third quartile
    15% for those in the upper middle class…the fourth quartile…
    20% for those in the highest income earners..the fifth quartile…

    seeing as we have 60% of the people paying 10% of more…we get an overall effective tax rate for the entire population around 16-18%…right were Art Laffer and others have said we could fix a type of FLAT TAX and still fund the government at current…meaning 2008 levels…..

    Report this comment

    VRW Conspirator  
  • encinom
    Nov. 8, 2012 at 11:36am

    The battle for limited government freedom also includes abandon the policies of religious tyranny over the morals of Americans. Americans rejected the limits to the rights of individuals to marry who they choose and rejected candidates that sought to limit the control a woman has over her body.

    Report this comment

    encinom  
    • Josh
      Nov. 8, 2012 at 11:51am

      no, ur wrong the govenment should not be involved in marriage leave it to the states, and the same thing with abortion, i think we shld leave it to the states, but its debatable specialy for christians cuz they consider a human from moment of conception.

      Report this comment

      Josh  
    • VRW Conspirator
      Nov. 8, 2012 at 11:52am

      actually…NOBODY gives a damn about those issues when they vote EXCEPT progressive idiots that seek to polarize people…
      libertarian and libertarian minded conservatives believe the those issues should be handled at the STATE level…not the Federal….as they have been throughout our history until the hippies decided to try and turn this country into their Marxist Utopia….
      overturning Roe v Wade would do that…give the control and the cost back to the States…
      State gay marriage amendments and propositions do that…
      the Federal Court system should IMMEDIATELY return ALL cases about gay-marriage, drug use, abortion, education, and the like BACK to the State Supreme Courts….PERIOD!!

      Report this comment

      VRW Conspirator  
    • mficentral
      Nov. 8, 2012 at 11:53am

      The Religious Community doesn’t want to limit your rights. Just don’t force us to be included in you “right to kill”. Just leave religious people alone. Forcing others to do your will? How is that infringing on your rights?.

      Report this comment

      mficentral  
    • Ghandi was a Republican
      Nov. 8, 2012 at 12:09pm

      WoW- Did you think that up all by yourself? Nobody is infringing on anybody except the left. That’s what progressive/collectivism is all about. We just votes 230 (representatives) to 1. Obama is the 1.

      Report this comment

      Ghandi was a Republican  
    • The_Cabrito_Goat
      Nov. 8, 2012 at 2:37pm

      I was going to comment, but it’s Encinom we are responding to.

      Why bother?

      Report this comment

      The_Cabrito_Goat  
  • Josh
    Nov. 8, 2012 at 11:35am

    for example when the government says a insurance company must pay for birth control or to let kids stay on their parents insurance till 26 thats not ‘free enterprise’, this should be easy to explain to anyone (yes even latinos). Why do we have to go with a whole explanation about religious freedom, just explain that where does the government take such kind of power to tell any company what they must provide, its nothing to do with religious freedom plain and simple its dictatorship! whats so hard to understand.

    Report this comment

    Josh  

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