Peter Berkowitz had an excellent article today on the lost opportunity of reforming American political institutions that the Republican Party, et al, have squandered over the last 10 years.  Here's an excerpt:

Unfortunately, over the past decade, conservatism in America has squandered the reputation for reform that it earned in the 1980s and 1990s. President Reagan led the way with his signature tax cuts, which launched two decades of stunning economic growth. Gov. John Engler in Michigan (1991–2003) and Gov. Tommy Thompson in Wisconsin (1987-2001) gained national prominence for the benefits they brought to their states by cutting taxes, promoting school choice and renovating welfare. The 1994 Republican congressional campaign's Contract with America, which drew on President Reagan's 1985 State of the Union Address to propose concrete legislation to make the federal government more transparent and accountable, promised a new era of conservative reform.

The promise was not fulfilled. Congressional Republicans grew complacent and in some cases corrupt. While he ran as a reformer in 2000—remember "compassionate conservatism"—President George W. Bush was soon consumed with two wars and never regained his footing after Hurricane Katrina.

The reform efforts the Bush administration did undertake—the No Child Left Behind Act, the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and the campaigns to overhaul Social Security and deal with immigration—fizzled at best. Perhaps most damaging to conservative reform over the past decade was the profligate spending that united President Bush and congressional Republicans.

What the author might be missing is this:

Congressional Republicans on the whole...at least the ones of any influence...really don't firmly believe in individual responsibility, self-reliance, and opportunity (the three basic foundational planks of the ACP).  If they did believe in these things, would they have voted for:  TARP, GM bailouts, jobs bills.  Would they have overseen 6 years of the fastest growth in domestic discretionary spending EVER with a Republican in the White House? To say that an opportunity was "squandered" it insinuates that the people doing the squandering really intended to do it, but neglected not to...for whatever reason.

The first thing we have to ask ourselves is:

If the Republican Party dropped the ball on this while they were in control, what gives them the right to carry the banner of limited-government Conservatism, for the FOURTH time in thirty years? Are we willing to continue to support an organization who has been guilty of serial NEGLECT of Government reform?

How many chances are they supposed to get?

What we, as freedom-loving Americans might need to get comfortable admitting is that the Republican party really does not concern themselves too much on a daily basis with individual responsibility, self-reliance, and opportunity...otherwise, it wouldn't continually "squander" its opportunities to move our Government back in that direction.

Meanwhile...one county at a time. 

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