Even Republicans Don't Like Republicans

Richard Viguerie has written a book, Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause. Viguerie is a key figure in Republican history, the "architect of the Reagan Revolution." As Worldnet Daily says:

Viguerie helped transform American politics by pioneering the use of direct-mail fundraising in the political and ideological spheres. Dubbed by some as the "Funding Father of the conservative movement," Viguerie motivated millions of Americans to participate in politics for the first time.

Other conservatives like Pat Buchanan, Paul Craig Roberts, and the late Jude Wanniski have slammed Bush for his foreign policy. Roberts and Bob Barr have raised civil liberties concerns. Worldnet Daily's story indicates that Viguerie's beef has been with the sheer growth of the federal government:

Viguerie compares spending by the federal government, adjusted for inflation, during the Clinton years vs. the Bush years. In Clinton's first term, federal expenditures rose 4.7 percent. In his second term, they rose 3.7 percent. In the first term of the Bush administration, however, spending rose 19.2 percent.

"If ever there was a case for divided government, here it is," writes Viguerie. "The lesson for many Americans is that today's Republicans cannot be trusted with the keys to both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government."

No matter how you slice it, Viguerie says, Bush makes Clinton look like a spending piker by comparison. For instance, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University in New York keeps records that show how much the federal government spends on average each year for each person in the country.

When this standard of measurement is used, the comparison between the two administrations is even more pronounced.

Cumulative growth in federal expenditures, adjusted for inflation, during the Clinton years actually shrunk by 1.1 percent. Yet, in the Bush first term, it rose 15 percent.

Viguerie wants "Reagan Republicans" to withhold financial support from Republican candidates in 2006 and 2008, and work to change the leadership of the party. He thinks defeats now will lead to victories later.

It would be great if anti-war Democrats do the same to their party. It is time for new coalitions and new alignments in both parties and across the spectrum.