Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2
a ?
ic ot 2/1
er o P CU org
.
Am g t T * C lccu
n ET nia
oi
G ENN nten
B Ce
LL to
BI Go
WAKING UP WASHINGTON
TO WHAT WORKS
By Cal Thomas
By Hugh Hewitt
Wisdom existed
before the
Internet.
Why dont we consult the past and common sense (and yes,
ancient truths contained in such books as Ecclesiastes and
Proverbs) to see what others discovered works, before we
were ever born.
Wisdom existed before the Internet and other forms of
mass communication, and before video games, Facebook,
and Twitter. In fact, as you may have noticed, social media
can impede sound thinking and workable solutions to the
problems confronting us.
Today, we have more information than ever, but less
wisdom; more talk, but less listening; more things in the
superficial showroom (celebrities are a good example), and
less in the intellectual storeroom (that would be knowledge).
We know what workshistorically and instinctivelybut
politics too often gets in the way, as does ignorance. Too
few people pay attention, and the politicians easily pick
their pocketsliterally and intellectually.
This is the America that Chinas leaders laugh at, and the
rest of the democratic world despairs of. Its debt is rising, its
population is ageing in a budget-threatening way, its schools are
mediocre by international standards, its infrastructure rickety,
its regulations dense, its tax code byzantine, its immigration
system hare-brainedand it has fallen from first position
in the World Economic Forums competitiveness rankings to
seventh in just four years.
Mr. Obama and his election opponent, Mitt Romney,
complained about the American dream slipping away. Today,
the countrys main businesses sit on nearly $2 trillion in cash,
afraid to invest in part because corporate bosses cannot imagine
any of Washingtons feuding partisans fixing anything.
Yet there is also another America, where things work. One
hint comes from what those bosses like to call the real economy.
Recent numbers from the jobs market and the housing sector
have been quite healthy. Consumer balance sheets are being
repaired. The stock market hit a record high. Some of this is
cyclical: the private sector is rebounding from the crunch. But it
CENTENNIAL REVIEW is published monthly by the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University. The authors views are not necessarily
those of CCU. Designer, Bethany Bender. Illustrator, Benjamin Hummel. Subscriptions free upon request. Write to: Centennial Institute, 8787
W. Alameda Ave., Lakewood, CO 80226. Call 800.44.FAITH. Or visit us online at www.CentennialCCU.org.
Please join the Centennial Institute today. As a Centennial donor, you can help us restore Americas moral core and prepare
tomorrows leaders. Your gift is tax-deductible. Please use the envelope provided. Thank you for your support.
- John Andrews, Director
Scan this code with your smartphone to read this and previous issues online.
Centennial Review February 2015 2
also reflects the fact that, beyond the District of Columbia, the rest
of the country is starting to tackle some of its deeper competitive
problems. Businesses and politicians are not waiting for the federal
government to ride to their rescue. Instead they are getting to
grips with the failings Congress is ignoring.
(The Economist, March 16, 2013)
The great impediment to solutions has been a focus on
process, rather than objectives. Suppose we focused on what
promotes the general welfare, regardless of which party or
ideology gets the credit, instead of constantly jockeying for
political advantage. Its amazing what problems can be solved
if solutions, not partisan gain, become the goal.
Solutions exist, mostly at the state level, but the major media,
of which I have been a part most of my professional life,
prefer combat to resolution. Real solutions would give them
nothing to talk about, and thus lower ratings, which would lead
to smaller profits.
Cant Say No
Our country is being sucked into a giant vortex of ever-growing
and bigger-spending government. Example: Remember
a couple of years ago when Democrats and Republicans
increased taxes to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff ? It turned
out that all the new revenue was spent on relief for people in
the northeast who were hit by Superstorm Sandy.
Relief for those unfortunate people was a noble
objective, but the tax hike was sold on the basis of
reducing the debt. Right. Giving more money to
Washington and hoping it will be spent responsibly
is like giving a bottle of liquor to a drunk in the
belief he will sober up.
Lets revive
individualism
and idealism.
They will
lead if we
teach them.
Next year we hope its 240, the year after that 480; we hope
it grows and grows. If they each have in them 50 years
of activism, thats 6,000 years of political activism. Thats
millions and millions of conservative tweets. And it matters
because we are always one generation away from losing the
America we inherited.
6. Be For Things: As conservatives, we cannot just be
against things. We have to teach these students how to
be for things. Arthur Brooks at the American Enterprise
Institute, such an important public intellectual today, stresses
that we must be for people, especially the unemployed, the
unskilled, the chronically unlucky.
Ronald Reagan was for things; so was Senator Armstrong;
so are our best contenders for 2016. Dont allow the media
to define us as the party of no. Be the party of yesyes to
a different menu of choices from what the liberals serve up.
7. How to Argue: We have to be for the world. Be for
Israel as well as against Putin. Be for a Navy with 15 carrier
groups, for a fully capable Marine Corps and Air Force and
Army. Its not enough to just be against government waste.
We have to explain why we think it is best for a child to
have one mother and one father for their whole life. We
Centennial Review February 2015 4
Centennial Institute
When you finally see the Promised Land, the land of milk
and honey, the land of freedom, you realize you cant take
that land by yourself. You need this young generation to
enter in and take it. They will do that if we teach them
how. Thats what the Young Conservatives Leadership
Conference is all about.