The First REAL Fiscal Conservative was a Democrat

Written by Roberta Biros

There is much to learn from history. All of the difficulties that we face as a nation now are not much different than those that have been since this Nation was founded. Our Country is currently in a fiscal crisis, and we are trying to invent new ways out of it. Rather than looking for new ideas, it is often helpful to learn from history instead.

At this moment, legislators in Harrisburg are drawing lines in the sand in preparation for the 2009-2010 budget battle. Many Democrats are hard set on raising taxes (either the Personal Income Tax, the Sales Tax, or some “new” tax) in an effort to balance the budget, and many Republicans are determined to prevent increased taxes and instead prefer to cut spending to make ends meet. While most of the stories that you read are based on Democrats vs. Republicans, that summary is actually unfair. This is not an issue of “party” . . . it is an issue of fiscal philosophy where ideals can easily cross party borders.

I am a fiscal conservative. I support fiscally conservative issues, legislation, and legislators. I am, however, also a Democrat. I’ve been criticized by Democrats for not being “Democrat enough”, and I’ve been criticized by Republicans for not being “conservative enough”. As a fiscal conservative, however, I share the same fiscal philosophy as other Democrats (believe it or not). Most notably, the Blue Dog Democrats are a growing caucus of fiscal conservatives that share many of my concerns. Fiscal conservatism is not “owned” by the Republican Party. Instead, it is “shared” by all fiscal conservatives. When you look back at history, the MOST fiscally conservative President in the history of the United States was Andrew Jackson, a Democrat.

There are issues that we all like and dislike about past and current political leaders. There will always be philosophies with which we agree and disagree across party lines and within our own parties. In the case of Jacksonian Democracy, there are many philosophies with which I completely agree. For instance, Jackson believed in Laissez-faire economics, which is the concept that the Government should NOT intervene in economic issues and it should not be involved in the “funding or regulation of schools, hospitals, industry, agriculture, and social welfare programs” (as per a definition in WikiPedia HERE). As an illustration of his commitment to fiscal conservatism, Jackson was the ONLY President to have paid off the national debt. Jackson was a Democrat, but there are many Democrats today that would disagree with his fiscal philosophies.

I think it is important for the issues in Harrisburg over the coming weeks to stop being about Democrats vs. Republicans. Instead, the state budget needs to be looked at from the prospective of “what is best for the people of Pennsylvania”. I personally feel that we should “Starve the Beast” and force government to live within its means so that “We the People” can keep more of our own hard-earned money. The question is . . . what do our legislators think?

As always, just my opinion.
~Roberta Biros, Mercer County Conservatives

SIDE BAR:

As an additional personal note, it is worth noting that I also agree with Andrew Jackson’s strong belief that “long tenure in the civil service was corrupting, so civil servants should be rotated out of office at regular intervals” (as per a definition in WikiPedia HERE). On this issue, there are MANY Republicans and Democrats that would strongly disagree with Jackson. Those that disagree with the philosphy are usually those that are ‘corrupted civil servants’ . . . Democrats and Republicans alike.

.