Grand New Party

I've been fiddling with this book review for over a month now.  But I think I'm out of renewals at the library so I better get it done.

Two writers for the Atlantic (Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam) have written a book titled Grand New Party.  It seeks to lay out a road map to Republican electoral success.  I wouldn’t have known about the book but for The Corner, where more than a couple writers have given kind reviews (Rich Lowry for example).  Consider this one mixed.

The first half of the book is a good read for anyone interested in politics.  Douthat and Salam have some great insights on the ascendance of the middle class in America and the constant flux of its political allegiance.

The second half of the book has some policy suggestions, relatively few actually, and some of which the authors concede are somewhat far fetched.  In sum, the book suggests more government, in an effort to appeal to the “Sam’s Club” voters.  The authors don’t differ much from the guys already in Washington in that they don’t offer much in the way of paying for the largesse that they intend to pour down upon the working and middle class voters they target.

The cornerstone of their policy is to raise the Child Tax Credit to $5,000, making the income tax even more progressive than it is now.  There’s plenty of merit to this idea, but once again, how it is paid for is left out. 

On health care they suggest a combination of reforms that are pretty much already in place (health savings accounts, for example) and new ideas such as limits on health care deductibility for the rich (caps on how much employers can pay for in health insurance).  They also tack on means testing for social security and reductions in Social Security contributions for the working poor.

They love the Earned Tax Credit so much, and think that it works so well, that they want to fix it.  Essentially, their new program of wage subsidies gives the money up front instead of at tax time.  The authors project the cost to be $85 billion.  Workers get to walk into an employer with a government subsidy agreement, let’s say, $3 per hour.  If you hire the worker, you’ll get that much from the government.  In their vision, incarceration and welfare rates drop.  It’s hard to see how the reality would be so neat.  You’ll have a new class of workers without subsidies that won’t be as desirable to hire.  This is just one of half a dozen areas where the authors seem to have forgotten the laws of unintended consequences, especially when it comes to government programs.

They call for school choice, but in recognizing the political obstacles suggest other ideas including lump sum payments to schools (not districts) free (or at least eased) of regulation.   They call for more cops on the street, not only for safety but also as a jobs program for the children of Sam’s Club voters.

In two ideas that the authors concede are visionary (or far fetched) I see expansive government and not much benefit. 

On the environment they suggest swapping ag subsidies for “green” subsidies in a scheme that still doesn’t make much sense to me after a third reading.  “Instead of paying farmers to grow surplus crops, the federal government could pay them to turn biomass into charcoal,”.  (P. 217)  It’s hard to imagine how much would have to be offered a farmer to drop corn production and switch to charcoal production.

In the area of higher education, the authors suggest that we “roll back our current credentialing regime completely.”  In its place, they suggest that we have tests to demonstrate proficiency in the skills that would be acquired through the University.  I think that most would agree that this is a fairly narrow view of what a college education means.

We can use more books from Republicans and/or conservatives on how to turn around our party.  This is certainly a valuable addition to the debate, if for nothing else than its insightful look at middle class anxiety.  But the book seems centered on trying to get elected (the worst ailment of our party) and less on developing core principles and winning over the minds of voters.  Perhaps others don't see a distinction, but I'm still looking for that book.  (I haven't read Frum's Comeback).

For another book review you can go back and look at my review of Heroic Conservatism