Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause [Hardcover]

Vichard A. Vigueri (Author), David Franke (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 9, 2006

An essential training manual for all conservatives, Conservatives Betrayed challenges the political right to implement a nationwide conservative agenda and serves as a warning to the Republican Party to fall in line if it hopes to remain in power.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Massive deficits. Out-of-control spending. Amnesty. Nation building. Cronyism. Lies. Pandering. Arrogance of power. Corruption. Influence peddling.

According to outspoken conservative Richard A. Viguerie, often referred to as the "funding father" of the New Right, these outrages depict both the Bush White House and the Republican-controlled Congress. Viguerie says it's time to ask, "Can the marriage between conservatives and the Republican Party be saved?"

It has been conservative issues, organizations, money, and grassroots activists who have turned out the vote for the Republican Party. The GOP wouldn't control the White House, Senate, or House were it not for conservatives. But what have they given in return? Ever-bigger government on every front-the opposite of conservatism! Moral and social issues mostly ignored. A foreign policy in disarray. An invasion of illegal aliens and a "conservatives need not apply" sign at the White House.

In CONSERVATIVES BETRAYED: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause, Richard A. Viguerie:

* documents exactly how the Republican Party under President Bush's leadership has betrayed conservatives and conservatism on most fronts

* lays out a plan for conservatives to once again take control of the Republican Party from the Big Government Republicans and to show how conservatives can move all public policy to the right (including the Democratic Party) by acting like a third force but not a third party

* explains how conservatives got into this mess, and how we will achieve a rebirth of conservatism

NOW comes the real conservative revolution!

Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of American Target Advertising, Inc., was named by the Washington Times in 1999 as one of 13 "Conservatives of the Century." He is also the co-author of America's Right Turn: How Conservatives Used New and Alternative Media to Take Power (Bonus Books, 2004).

About the Author

Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of American Target Advertising Inc, has been called "the funding father of the conservative movement" for his role in forming dozens of conservative organizations. He transformed American politics in the 1960s and ’70s by pioneering the use of direct mail fundraising in the political and ideological spheres. Previously, liberals had a monopoly on the news that Americans received. For decades, conservatives views, issues, causes, candidates, and organizations could not get through the liberal media gatekeeper. Viguerie used computerized direct mail to build the conservative movement, which then elected Ronald Reagan as the first conservative president of the modern era. His effort was so important that GEORGE Magazine listed it among their 100 Defining Moments of the 20th century.

In 1979, Time magazine named him one of 50 future leaders of America, and In 1981, People magazine named him one of the 25 most intriguing people of the year. In December 1999, Lee Edwards in a Washington Times column listed Richard Viguerie as one of 13 "Conservatives of the Century." The Washington Post has called him "the conservatives’ Voice of America." He has been credited with "making it all possible" for conservatives: "multi-million dollar budgets, effective political action, think tanks, publications, and -- most telling – significant numbers of members of the U.S. House and Senate, state legislatures and other levels of elected officials" (The AFL-CIO News).

Viguerie founded Conservative Digest magazine in 1975 and served as its publisher for ten years. He has written four books, including "America’s Right Turn: How Conservatives Used New and Alternative Media to Take Power" (Bonus Books 2004). He and his wife reside in the Washington D.C. area.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 271 pages
• Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing; First Edition edition (August 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566252857
• ISBN-13: 978-1566252850
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #355,619 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Principles above partisanship, August 13, 2006

By 

John C. A. Bambenek (Champaign, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Hardcover)

The marriage between the Republicans and conservatives has been a loveless and unsatisfying marriage. The Republicans keep "stumbling home after midnight, smelling of booze and cheap perfume." And it is time for the marriage to come to an end.

Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause by Richard Viguerie thoroughly lists, more than any other resource I can think of, the balance of indiscretions the Republicans have visited upon conservatism under the Presidency of George W. Bush (and even before that election). The days of the Contract With America are long gone and replaced with what can only appear to be a very similar spending philosophy of Democrats.

Viguerie systematically dissects the policies of the George W. Bush administration in the key areas of foreign policy, immigration, the right to life, the culture of life, the courts, and taxation. He shows beyond a reasonable doubt that the canard that this is one of the most extreme right-wing administrations in history is absolutely absurd. Sure, Bush has thrown conservatives some carrots, but he has shown that he's more than willing to grow the federal government and not buck the system. He, after all, has only recently cast his first veto and has used no rescissions to block pork barrel spending.

Chart after chart, figure after figure, the book painstakingly reveals what is apparent to most conservatives, George Bush isn't one of them.

This disaffection has been brewing for some time and came to a head with the immigration debate. While the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court and the UAE ports deal resulted in acquiescing to the grassroots conservatives, immigration showed the GOP literally telling conservatives to go to hell. The argument was that by leaving the Republican plantation, we got eight years of Clinton, so now we had to suck it down. If that statement seems like it is defecating on conservatives, that is because it is exactly what it is doing. Conservatives should shut up and keep sending money to the GOP. We should leave the governing to the elites.

This book is a challenge to that accepted logic and presents a game plan to attempt to bring principles back into politics. The central premise is that conservatives should stop being wedded to the GOP and start being a movement that hopefully brings both parties into line or at least gives us an occasional chance to vote against the GOP candidate without implicitly supporting a repugnant alternative.

The status quo will lead to the situation we have here in Illinois -- party insider Rod Blagojevich running against party insider Judy Baar-Topinka with both having approval ratings on a good day rivaling President Bush. Not even party loyalists like their candidate. The state is on the verge of bankruptcy, in the worst financial shape of any other state, and there is no discernable difference (quite literally) between the policies of either party. Lastly, both are corrupt to the core having fair numbers of high-level staffers in both parties under federal indictment or conviction. That is the future of national politics if we do nothing... a bankrupt government, corrupt politicians, and sham elections between candidates no one likes.

One of the more scandalous, but most insightful, suggestions is dropping support for the death penalty. This stand, more than others, directly contradicts the general conservative support for a culture of life and undermines the moral authority that would otherwise be present if that stand was not there. Controversial, yes, but spot on.

The missing piece of the puzzle, however, is a social justice component (and I don't mean that term in the typical regressive way). Only one sentence of the book makes mention of communities supporting their members but the fact is, there are times where people will need a helping hand from others. Disasters strike, illnesses drain life savings, people die, and so on. A political ideology that does not explicitly have a plan on how to handle those situations is one that leaves a large portion of the population as a captive audience to the left and big government. Big government may not effectively meet people's needs, however many view it as "better than nothing". Arguing against minimum wage laws makes good economic sense, but is politically meaningless when there is no response to the fact some people simply don't earn enough for their families. The argument must seek to address this, and that comes by creating a <a href="http://jcb.pentex-net.com/archives/2006/05/toward_a_living.html">living wage</a> by reducing the cost of living (most of which comes in the form of taxation or increased cost of regulations passed down to the consumer).

Further, if an effective conservative movement is to be founded and empowered, it will take more than focusing on politics. Liberty is impossible unless it includes both political and economic liberty. Likewise, reform is impossible unless it includes both political and economic aspects. The book mentions Google and Yahoo as regressive-supporting companies. There needs to be conservative equivalents so people can vote with their pocketbooks. Arguing for conservative principles while supporting regressive causes (by using companies that are in the tank with regressive causes) is self-defeating, or at least self-impeding.

The book is exactly what it purports itself to be, a starting point and a moment to reflect. It is a quick read and should have nothing foreign for anyone moderately informed about politics. The disaffection of conservatives is a growing one and now, more than ever, is the opportunity to fight for the principles we believe in. Viguerie includes several steps to take to the field of battle which involves common people to run for office, or at least take effort to support conservatives over Republicans. It won't be until common people run for office that we'll have any real reform, or at least a return to some attempt at representing common people instead of the enfranchised elites.

In 2006, when only Congressional seats are up for grabs, conservatives have the chance to make it clear to Republicans that conservatism will win or lose elections for them, just as MoveOn has just proved that moderate and sensible Democrats like Joe Lieberman are not welcome in the Democratic Party. If conservatives engage the political system now, we can win. If we fall silent, we will become like Illinois, where all the potential leaders and talent flee the state and surrender it to the left. For now, Republicans have won only because of the incompetence of the Democrats; that will not be the case forever.

The question is: can we put principle above partisanship?

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended for its thought-provoking content, December 8, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Hardcover)

Written by Richard A. Viguerie, who in 1999 was cited as one of the Washington Times' thirteen "Conservatives of the Century", Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause is a fierce attack upon the Bush administration from the conservative point of view. Viguerie does not speak for the neo-conservatives, who have drastically inflated spending and expanded federal government; he speaks for the old conservatives who believed in the values of fiscal restraint and small government, and who recognize the threat that excessive national debt - much of which is now owed to powers overseas! - poses to national security and to America's future, as more and more of America's annual budget must be applied to interest payments alone. Viguerie is emphatically a social conservative as well as a fiscal conservative; he speaks strongly against "obese government" characterized by excessive bureaucracy, pork-barrel spending, and mounting deficits; the social ills caused by uncontrolled illegal immigration; abortion; judicial activism; and more. Though not all readers will agree with Viguerie's opinions about the "culture war" in America and some will find his antagonistic attitudes toward illegal immigrants and homosexuals distasteful, his core exhortations against wasteful government spending are a desperately needed wake-up call. Even more valuable is his suggestion that conservative voters disassociate themselves from any one party and become a block whose favor needs to be wooed by both parties, in order to exert more influence and power - a suggestion that holds merit for any political subsection. Highly recommended for its thought-provoking content, regardless of whether the reader personally agrees with Viguerie on all points.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Boycott the Duopoly, July 10, 2008

By 

Mick Bysshe "Mickbic" (Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Hardcover)

The author seems to be writing not only to conservatives but to centrists and liberals as well. There is plenty of reason not to closely affiliate with either of the two major parties that are in power. I think there will be unlikely alliances in the future because hyper-partisanship ends up meaning nothing lasting ever gets done.

Not a brilliant book, but he writes things that both Newt Gingrich and Pat Buchanan would probably agree with, as well as those of us who are centrist or left of center.

I am glad he wants us to boycott the duopoly of Democrats and Republicans. That may be hard to do, but if we cannot boycott them, let's at least not get too disheartened when the duopoly fails to meet our expectations.