Op-Ed Article

Dick Armey Former Republican House majority leader from 1995-2002

Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2006

 

Dick Armey wrote an op-ed article in today’s Wall Street Journal that discussed the rout of the Republicans in this week’s elections. In summary Armey contends that for the correct reasons the Republican Revolution of 1994 officially ended this Tuesday, with Democrats taking control of both the House and the Senate.

 

In addition to Iraq, Armey pointed out widespread voter backlash against the “culture of corruption.” Armey feels that too many Republicans forgot or abandoned their national vision, letting parochial interests dominate the decision-making process.

 

Armey contended that the 1994 Contract with America established a national vision for the Republican Party. That is, the positive Reagan vision of limited government and individual responsibility provided a great deal of discipline and allowed the Republicans to govern accordingly. Armey contends that in 1994 the primary question was “How do we reform government and return money and power back to the American people?”

 

Armey goes on to state that the policy innovators and the “Spirit of ‘94” were largely replaced by political bureaucrats driven by the narrow vision of “How do we hold on to political power?” The aberrant behavior and scandals that ended up defining the Republican majority in 2006 were a direct consequence of this shift in choice criteria from policy to political power.

 

Armey states that the most evident example of the failure to maintain the “Contract” was the complete collapse of fiscal discipline in the budgeting process. Armey feels much more important to Republicans than abortion to stem-cell research is the traditional reputation of Republicans to spend carefully. The inability of Republicans credibly to claim that the administration was fiscally responsible undermined their standing with Conservatives and Independents. Furthermore, Armey feels that the failure of Republicans to fight for Social Security reform; that is, the privatization of some aspects of Social Security was fiscally irresponsible. Specifically, both Medicare and Social Security are woefully under funded, which is fiscally irresponsible.

 

Armey feels that instead of focusing on major issues such as the problems of Social Security, the Republicans wasted their efforts on wedge issues like illegal immigration and gay marriage. In essence, the failure of make substantial reforms cost Republicans the independent voters. For the first time in 10 years a majority of independents sided with Democrats by a large margin.

 

Armey contends that Republicans need to shed their dominant insecurities that the public just will not understand a positive national vision that the public just will not understand a positive, national vision that is defined by economic opportunity, limited government and individual responsibility. In summary, Armey feels for the Republicans to rebound from this trouncing they need to create a winning constituency for lower taxes, less government and more freedom.