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

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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?

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.

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.

In CONSERVATIVES BETRAYED, Richard Vigueri offers some rational solutions to a government gone wrong.

On page 36 he suggests that " We must demand an end to earmarks and propose structural reforms of Congress to keep this from being a recurrent problem." Bravo!

On income tax he observed - "Perhaps the cruelest irony is that the average American citizen pays more in taxes today than the citizens of Russia or most of the former Soviet bloc of nations in Eastern Europe. We are the ones left living under the policies suggested by THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO: the graduated income tax and the death tax("inheritance" tax)."

He blasts the irresponsibility of sanctuary laws.
"illegal immigration is a transfer of wealth from the American taxpayer to the Big Business and Big Agribusiness corporations."

His two best suggestions were the idea of citizen-legislators and the suggestion that conservatives don't owe the Republican party any loyalty.

On the other side of the issues:
The original conservative movement was definitely betrayed long before George W. Bush took office. Those individuals that he refers to as "big government conservatives" are neoconservatives. They undermined the "old right" a long time ago.

I disagree with the author on the issue of the death penalty. You can use a Biblical argument as a more effective support of the death penalty.
I do believe that DNA thresholds have to be a major part of a capital case. As Mr. Vigueri points out, mistakes have been made.

I don't agree with his harsh assessments of the McCain-Feingold Reform Act. The biggest problem with that bill was that it was weakened to facilitate passage!

CONSERVATIVES BETRAYED's appeal to readers will depend in large part on their political ideology. Liberals will probably rate the book a point or two lower than I did. Some "Conservatives" will rate it a point or two higher than I did.
If you want to read an excellent book on the Conservative movement and it's being altered or "highjacked", try RECLAIMING THE AMERICAN RIGHT by Justin Raimondo.

This book clearly reminds us all NOT to assume ideology by label. The author lays out, statistically, the spending behaviors of various U.S. administrations over recent decades, thus revealing the futility of trusting such labels as "conservative" or "liberal".
Paul Baum, Ph.D.

Brutally frank, a little redundent, but honest as only a died in a wool cloth coat wearing republican can explain what's wrong with the neo-con's agenda for world hegonomy, and international imperialism at the expense of bankrupting the future for American tax payers.

Reading books like these it is difficult not to reach the conclusion that Republicans are slow thinkers. It has taken them almost half a century, and an egregious traitor, to discover that the Republican Party has betrayed them, and still they don't see who the traitors are.
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George W. Bush has been so bold in his acts of treason (not only to the Republican Party, but to all Americans), that, after so much hesitation and self-doubt, a few Republicans are finally beginning to realize that the Republican Party has been infiltrated by traitors. But they are not "big government Republicans," as Mr. Viguerie wants us to believe, nor are they "the neocons and the religious right," as Philip Gold [Take Back the Right] claims, neither are they just fiscally irresponsible Republicans, as Stephen Slivinski [Buck Wild] asserts.
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Actually, the betrayal has not been limited to the Republican party. Both parties have been infiltrated by traitors, and both true conservatives and true liberals have been betrayed. And the betrayal is not the result of the isolated actions of good-intentioned people making big mistakes. No. It has been the result of a carefully conceived plan.
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In his book Tragedy and Hope, first published in 1966, professor Carroll Quigley mentioned in detail why the Conspirators infiltrated and controlled both mayor parties:
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"The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can `throw the rascals out' at any election without leading to any profound or extreme shifts in policy." [p. 1247].
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This explains why the 2000 elections were a charade in which both Gore and Bush participated, and the 2004 another charade with Bush and Kerry as main actors. Contrary to what some brainwashers want us to believe, Bush did not steal the 2000 election. Both the 2000 and the 2004 elections were stolen from the American people.
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Who are the Conspirators who have infiltrated their agents in the Republican and Democratic parties? They are Wall Street bankers and Oil magnates. Who are their secret agents? They are easy to find: all of them are members of the dreaded Council on Foreign Relations. Actually, behind any major act of treason to this country one can find one or more CFR members.
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Books like Viguerie's give conservatives the false hope that they can take back control over the Republican party. But that will no be possible. The only alternative for true conservatives and true liberals is to leave the parties of treason and join another party, or create a new one. And do it as soon as possible, before it is too late to save this country.

Viguerie complains about Bush's expansion of federal spending - at a rate far exceeding that of Clinton (actually, Clinton's spending DECREASED when measured in constant dollars and per capita). Means of "accomplishing" this included expanding Medicare and involvement in school funding and direction, and getting stuck in the Iraq mess. In addition, Viguerie is upset about the vast numbers of illegal aliens, as am I - Bush has DECREASED employer enforcement efforts vs. Clinton, and supports various means of allowing them to stay. Meanwhile, the tax code has become more complicated (Viguerie wants a flatter tax - a ridiculous program in a nation with scandalous increases in wealth disparity - mostly due to corporate welfare and legalized robbery by business tycoons), no federal programs have become abolished, Bush has embroiled the nation in a horribly expensive (blood, money, and international reputation) quagmire in Iraq, and millions of American jobs are lost or suffer reduced pay and benefits due to "free trade" outsourcing (Viguerie wants more).

Failure to take serious action to create a constitutional amendment to establish marriage as between one man and one woman is still another source of Viguerie's ire. Seems like a good step (along with several others pushed in the book) towards establishing a Taliban-like government in America. (Haven't we got more important things to deal with - like global warming, Iraq, the economy, illegal Mexicans, the ballooning trade and federal deficits, conservation, etc.?)

Viguerie does NOT speak to other areas of "conservatism" that have also become identified with Bush II - eg. power-grabs vs. Congress, ignoring laws and treaties he does not agree with, rollbacks of basic freedoms (my guess is that no useful information has been obtained thereby), almost total shutting out of Democrats in the legislative process, Katrina and Iraq bungling, and constant withholding of and distorting information necessary for an informed citizenry. Thus, the reader is left assuming that these aspects are OK with Viguerie.

I used to pride myself on being a THINKING, pragmatic conservative - after all there is enormous wasted in government and it should be cut back. Education and medical care are two areas ripe for considerable quality improvement and reduced costs via government action. However, after Bush and Viguerie I am appalled by the lack of thought and morality now associated with "conservatism," and would hate to be considered such anymore.