Born-Again Conservatives

The last 5 weeks has seen the rebirth of conservatism in the Republican party. If they had only found that rebirth, just a few years ago, they might still be in control of Congress and the White House.

Today, Republicans are only a political shell that few in this country are really interested in listening to. But, the real question remains unanswered. Can being born-again as a conservative be the salvation of the Republican Party, and, the salvation of this country? Just maybe, their stand against this Stimulus Bill will be their pathway to the political heaven of regaining the confidence of the American people.

If the Obama/Pelosi/Reid Stimulus Package works, the Republicans will continue to be the goats of political history. They will truly look like the "Party of No" that the Democrats are trying to label them as. But, if jobs continue to be lost and the economy gets deeper into recession with inflation rearing its ugly head, Americans will seek Republican guidance. I don't think there's any in-betweens on this one.

I firmly believe that the economic days of Jimmy Carter and his then-majority controlled Democratic Congress, very much like it is today, are ahead of us. Like then, we could be slipping into an economic condition of both a retreating economy and an economy that has rampant inflation. We are, once again, on the precipice of inflation-driving high government spending, economically injurious Federal regulation and control (especially in energy), and of the expansion-sapping effect of high taxation. This is the soup that almost always results in the economic condition called "Stagflation." A condition that Keynesian Economists (like Team Obama) always say can't happen but, almost always does (See a Full Explanation/Commentary on Stagflation at the Wikipedia Website).

The stimulus for Stagflation starts with a recession. Then, through too much government intervention, the economy is not allowed to "selfheal" by shedding the excesses that forced the recession in the first place. Instead the goverment intervenes to delay or try to lessen the utimate shedding of excesses. You can see this kind of government intervention in the banking, credit, and auto industries' and through the potential tinkering with individual, upside-down mortgages. Inflation is fueled by overriding the normal market forces by injecting high taxes and cash into the system. High government spending and the resulting borrowing/printing of money, just cheapens the dollar and forces inflationary price movement. This is even more true today, than in the Carter Administration because we have become so dependent on imported goods. Back then, imported oil was Jimmy Carter's nemesis. Today, it is almost everything we buy.

We may not see Stagflation for another 15 to 30 months. But, when it does start happening, the poor and the retired will be hurt the most. The middle class will also lose in the battle of lagging wages versus rapid inflation. That's when, I believe, conservatism will be seen as the only path out of the economic wilderness that Obama and the Democrats have created for this country.

It should be pointed out that it was "Reaganomics" that pulled this country out of the severely Stagflated economy of the 1970's and 1980-1982 . The primary driver in reversing that situation was reduced government intervention, spending, and reduced taxes.