Mark Steyn beautifully makes an important point: the Gingrich Revolutionaries of 1994 have become the arrogant, out-of-touch SOBs they replaced.

Lesson: It's not the people, it's the system.

Comments

[cactus]

I would argue that the people make the system. Otherwise, systems would last forever. I would also argue that the Gingrich Revolutionaries are no more corrupt now than they were then... they just had better press then, perhaps because it takes a while before actions have effects.

We can even show, using Steyn's own methodology, that the Gingrich Revolutionaries were not particularly useful at their stated goals, even at the time of the Gingrich Revolution itself. Steyn's thought process (it appears early in his essay) indicates that he views the difference between a nation with a government and a government with a nation to be one of how many people work for the government. The White House OMB table 17.5 lists civilian federal executive employees per 1000 of the population. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2007/sheets/hist17z5.xls)

The data indicates that from 1992 to 1994, this figure dropped from 11.8 to 11.1. Thus, in the two years of the Clinton administration in which Republicans were the minority in Congress, the number of federal executive employees per 1000 dropped by 0.35 a year.

The figure dropped from 11.1 in 1994 to 9.4 in 2000.... or about .28 a year. Thus, if the Gingrich Revolutionaries were doing any prodding, it served, if anything, to slow the drop in government employment.

I note that during the length of the Reagan administration, famed for its small government approach (although a Republican might add "hindered by a corrupt Democrat congress"), civilian federal government employment went from 12.4 to 12.5 per thousand. Thus, Reagan actually increased the size of the Federal Government.... no doubt Steyn would not approve.

Perhaps the problem is not that the messengers have changed. Perhaps its just that sometimes, when you look at the numbers a bit more closely, the message itself is a lie.

[Jake]

The problem with the Gingrich Revolution is that they forgot one of their main planks of the Contract with America. That is term limits. Almost every politician who serves over 12 years is corrupted by power.

[Jake]

Cactus:

Do you realize the federal government has 147 different job training programs. Each program has its own bureaucracy. Two thirds of the training dollars goes to bureaucrats. One third goes to students.

in 1994, the Republicans tried to consolidate the 147 programs into 3. Under their proposal, 80% of the money would go to students. 20% would go to bureaucrats. The resulting firestorm from Democrats and Government Unions was awesome. The Republicans gave up. The fight demoralized the Republicans and from that moment on no politician has had the guts to go up against the corrupt government unions.

[cactus]

Jake,

What else was in the consolidation bill? Perhaps there was a good reason for opposing it?

Also, regardless of anecdotes, always check the data. Check the link I provided. Clinton did a good job of reducing the size of government (as per Steyn's example on Canada) both before and after the Republican Revolution. He somehow managed to take on the corrupt government unions. In fact, if you click the link, you will find that he actually shrunk the executive branch's civilian payroll by about 378,000 people. (By contrast, Reagan increased it by about 233,000 people, and the Republican president and congress combo we have had since 2000 have kept the number just about constant.) Thus, your statement that "no politician has had the guts to go up against the corrupt government unions" is incorrect - apparently at least one, Clinton, did take them on, and he did so successfully. But the folks who talk about small government.... talk is cheap, but what they inflict on us, the American public, is expensive.