Log Cabin Republican Club of Virginia
April 2007 Newsletter
April Meeting - Where Have You Gone, Joe Republican?
The Club was honored in April to have to have author Michael D. Tanner as its guest to discuss his most recent book, Leviathan on the Right: How Big-Government Conservatism Brought Down the Republican Revolution. The central premise of the discussion was that Republicans have lost their way as the party of smaller, more limited government, and have become instead a party of huge spending increases, centralization of power in the federal government and the president at the states’ expense, and an advocate of huge new federal programs that trample the rights of individuals and ordinary citizens. To paraphrase a famous American “philosopher,” we have met the enemy and they are us.
According to Michael, some of the ideas put forward in 2006 as a new Republican agenda included a federal department of the family, a mandate that all individuals buy health insurance, and a $2000 gift to every child born in the United States from the federal government. More frightening than these hallucinations, however, were the recent results of Republican governance. These included a 27 percent increase in non-defense discretionary spending under the current administration, the largest increase in federal spending since the Johnson years, an increasingly active federal takeover of education in the country, and the first new entitlement program in decades, the new Medicare prescription drug plan. These perversions of what it means to be a Republican, however, are perhaps best exemplified by the egregious trampling of the Republican value of federalism known as the federal marriage amendment, which was defeated last year in the U.S. Senate.
To drive home his point that the Party is adrift, Michael pointed out that the ideological vacuum created by a lack of leadership was slowly being filled by five currents of modern conservative thought coalescing into today’s “big-government conservatism.” They include:
Neoconservatives – Traditionally, neoconservatives have always believed in big government, and have their roots in FDR liberalism. They have always been influential in foreign policy but were historically also proponents of government involvement in economic issues. Today they have no problems with the modern welfare state or massive spending to play the world's policeman or fight terrorism.
The Religious Right – Whereas the Religious Right once wanted the government out of their secular and sacred lives, recent trends have shown them to embrace the idea of government power to enforce their views on morality and religion. Today, they embrace multi-million dollar federal abstinence programs and intrusions into people's private lives with their definitions of marriage, and many of their leaders openly speak of government based on Biblical principles.
Supply-Siders – Originally, the theory was that lower tax rates would generate greater tax revenue, but instead of these revenues being used to decrease the overall tax burden, they have been channeled into new government spending programs. Supply-siders rarely advocate specific cuts in government spending.
National-Greatness Conservatives – This group has no fear of big government and supports the existing welfare state, particularly as it applies to middle-class entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare. They believe that the federal government should organize its citizens around grand collective initiatives.
Technophiles – A new post-industrial age in the world economy involving technology and information require new institutions of governance, they say. Government regulatory agencies that were created during an industrial age need to be updated, not eliminated, to function in an information age. Don't eliminate government, make it adapt to the new age to help preserve it.
Sadly, few in the Republican Party seem to remember when Ronald Reagan stated that the government is not the solution, but the problem.
Finally, the question of what Log Cabin Republicans can do to help reverse the demise of the Party was raised. The answer, quite simply, was continued involvement in efforts to emphasize the core principles of the Party.
Michael rated the current batch of Republican candidates for the presidential nomination in 2008 on their fidelity to Reagan principles and their ability to successfully reorganize the Republican Party. Some were rated as “dreadful,” without morals or scruples; some were of still-undetermined quality for their fluctuation on core Republican beliefs, and some were rated as blank slates. He even had predictions on whom the Democratic nominee would be: Hillary Clinton. She is likely to get the nomination because no one is as politically ruthless, but she’s unlikely to win the election because such a sizable percent of voters holds a strongly negative impression of her.
We'd again like to thank Michael D. Tanner for coming to speak to us and sharing his sobering views on the current position and direction of the Republican Party.
One final note regarding our meetings: Please remember that dinner is now available during the meeting, which means that you should be able to get home a bit earlier than in the past. Orders will be taken before the meeting begins and will be served during a brief break. And please note again that we now meet at the Rhodeside Grill at 1836 Wilson Boulevard in Arlington. As usual, the social period begins at 6:30 and the meeting will start at 7:00.
Equality Virginia's 4th Annual Commonwealth Dinner a Great Success
Nearly 1350 people attended Equality Virginia’s annual Commonwealth Dinner in Richmond on April 14. EV is the state’s non-partisan gay and lesbian rights organization, which works to end discrimination against sexual minorities, and this annual event has grown to be the largest gathering for equal-rights supporters in the state.
This year, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts was the keynote speaker, and Gov. Tim Kaine began the dinner by congratulating EV for its numerous successes to date. We were pleased to have both Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites (running for re-election in the 34th District) and Cong. Tom Davis join us at the dinner, and their presence highlighted the bipartisan nature of the fight for equal rights. We thank them both for their attendance and urge other Republican Delegates and Senators to attend this event as well. A voting record for all General Assembly members on glbt-related bills is available on the Equality Virginia website,
www.EqualityVirginia.org.
Membership Renewals –
We remind members once again that your membership dues enable us to continue educating the Republican Party about why it should be socially tolerant and to educate the gay and lesbian communities on what it means to be Republican. Throughout the year, the Log Cabin Republican Club of Virginia meets with legislators, talks to the press, and meets the public at events like Gay Pride Day, and your dues allow us to do these things, and more. Please renew your membership as soon as possible, and get a friend to join as well!
Calendar of Events -
Tuesday, May 8 - Regular monthly meeting at our new location, the Rhodeside Grill, 1836
Wilson Blvd., in Arlington. The social period begins at 6:30 and the meeting begins at
7:00. With our new meeting format, dinner is available during the meeting.
Sunday, May 6 – Elephants in the Park Picnic, 3-6 pm. Join Cong. Tom Davis and local Republican candidates for a great family picnic in Fort Hunt Park, Area A, on the GW Parkway south of Old Town Alexandria. $12 per person. Call (703) 360-9420 for more information. All are welcome.
Newsletters
