HotShot Blog

Over the last four years, conservatives have held nearly absolute power over the federal and most state governments. The result: a failed foreign policy, exploding budget deficits, increased poverty, and the continued erosion of the basic foundations of society.

Americans are finally beginning to realize the failure of conservatism to address the challenges facing our society. A solid majority now conclude the war in Iraq was a mistake and that it has made us less safe. The economy continues to benefit relatively few, while real wages fall for most working Americans. And despite conservative rhetoric about fiscal discipline, spending has skyrocketed both on defense and non-defense items.

Even the Republican base is finally starting to peel away from the Washington establishment and voice dissent. Every major poll now shows Bush at or under 40% approval. The drop arose not from Democrats or Independents changing their mind, but from 10% of Republicans who no longer support their president. Republicans like this columnist who expresses outrage over the priorities of Washington Republicans.

There are two types of big government. There's big-government liberalism, in which the government administers broad-based entitlements (Social Security, Medicaid) and provides services collectively that individuals can't purchase on their own (police protection, roads, public parks, etc.). Has this vision suffered from excess and waste? Of course. But it has raised the standard of living for most Americans. The elderly can't buy affordable health insurance on the private market, and most individuals can't purchase their own personal police or fire protection. At the very least, big-government liberalism's heart is in the right place.

There's nothing good about big-government conservatism. It's an iron triangle of politicians, lobbyists and industry wallowing in the spoils of government contracting and favoritism linked to campaign contributions. The recipient of big-government liberalism is likely to be a 90-year-old who can't get out of bed, or a pregnant teen in need of pre-natal care. The recipient of big-government conservatism is a Halliburton executive or someone who lobbies on Halliburton's behalf.

Rundio's point is resonating across America in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It became clear over the past weeks how eliminating and defunding working government programs can have an egregious impact.

In fact, even before Katrina, national opinion has been shifting in favor of good government. Chris Bowers wrote an article back in February that the GOP base has grown to accept government programs. In the latest Pew study, only 46% of Republicans believed that government is always wasteful and inefficient, slightly less than the 49% of Democrats.

There is no indication yet that shifting attitudes will favor Democrats over the coming years. But one thing is clear. As E.J. Dionne and many other columnists now write, the era of Bush conservatism is over.

And so the Bush Era ended definitively on Sept. 2, the day Bush first toured the Gulf Coast States after Hurricane Katrina. There was no magic moment with a bullhorn. The utter failure of federal relief efforts had by then penetrated the country's consciousness. ... The source of Bush's political success was his claim that he could protect Americans. Leadership, strength and security were Bush's calling cards. Over the past two weeks, they were lost in the surging waters of New Orleans.

But the first intimations of the end of the Bush Era came months ago. The president's post-election fixation on privatizing part of Social Security showed how out of touch he was. The more Bush discussed this boutique idea cooked up in conservative think tanks and Wall Street imaginations, the less the public liked it. The situation in Iraq deteriorated. The glorious economy Bush kept touting turned out not to be glorious for many Americans. The Census Bureau's annual economic report, released in the midst of the Gulf disaster, found that an additional 4.1 million Americans had slipped into poverty between 2001 and 2004.

This country had forgotten that most government programs and services that we enjoy today were erected to solve problems that existed in the past. Social Security kept the elderly from starving on the streets. Food stamps and school lunch programs help ensure that children get adequate nutrition even if through no fault of their own they grow up in poor families. Medicare is the most popular insurance plan in the country.

Katrina served as a painful reminder of why we need these programs. With a solid majority now opposed to conservative policies, Washington will soon have to change its priorities.