There’s been a lot of ink spilled the last few weeks about what turns people off about the “conservative” message carried by Doug Hoffman and Sarah Palin.<\/p>\n
Here’s my beef in a nutshell. <\/p>\n
When Palin was governor of Alaska, her state led the nation in the amount of porkbarrel spending and earmarks, which she now attacks. <\/p>\n
Alaska also led the nation in the amount of Federal spending per capita, gobbling up nearly $2 for every $1 the state’s residents paid in taxes.<\/p>\n
(Most “liberal” states, like New York, actually receive less money back in spending than we pay in taxes.)<\/p>\n
Her state (where I lived most of my life) has never been a libertarian, moose-hunting frontier. <\/p>\n
On the contrary. It is a place that symbolizes the kind of “rural socialism” that dominates much of small town America.<\/p>\n
The same rural socialism is endemic here in the North Country, where 45% of the take-home pay is supplied by taxpayers — most of them living elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Mr. Hoffman himself began his public career as CFO for the 1980 Olympic Games, which had to be bailed out by taxpayers to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n
During the campaign I asked him repeatedly what Federal programs he would cut to reduce government spending in the district.<\/p>\n
I thought it would be a chip shot. After all, reducing the Federal deficit was the cornerstone of the Hoffman campaign.<\/p>\n
But he could cite only two examples: a schoolyard paving project in Lake Clear and the general concept of “earmarks.”<\/p>\n
He declined to name a single major spending program (healthcare for the region’s elderly? stimulus money for rebuilding the Crown Point bridge?) that he would condemn or substantially reduce.<\/p>\n
But the truth — as any serious person knows — is that smaller government is impossible without cutting three major programs: national defense and intelligence, social security, and medicare. <\/p>\n
(Earmarks represent roughly 1% of the Federal budget.)<\/p>\n
The irony is that there’s only one politician in New York (in the country?) who’s actually talking about making substantive cuts to government.<\/p>\n
That’s Democratic governor David Paterson. And unlike Palin, he didn’t quit. <\/p>\n
Until the conservative movement can develop a coherent and credible platform, one that goes beyond the “I want to give you your money back” slogans, the credibility gap will continue to grow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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