First a quick summary.
In previous posts we’ve gone through the issues surrounding debt and built a case for economic growth and lower unemployment as viable methods to reduce our debt. Austerity programs do not stimulate economic growth or lower unemployment, at least in the short term. They actually make things worse.
We’ve also looked at the REAL problem which is the rate of growth in Healthcare costs. Austerity programs do NOTHING to bring down the costs of healthcare delivery. Economic growth also does nothing about this problem. Yet deficit hawks are not talking about this as the middle term problem we have to solve. Instead they focus exclusively on reducing the debt.
Why?
Zombie Politics.
This term was originally coined by John Sides. He defines it as “ideas about politics that have become so cemented in conventional wisdom that it is virtually impossible to dislodge them. It doesn’t matter what the data says, or what published research says. Zombie politics means that even though the ideas are dead, they just can’t be killed.”
Here are a few examples of Zombie Politics in action.
The House prevented any tax increases until after the 12/31 deadline passed and even then only enough Republicans agreed so that it could pass with overwhelming Democratic support. That’s because a core belief of current Republicans dating back to Reagan is that low tax rates for high income earners have significant economic impact. Even though this theory has been widely discredited, most recently by the Congressional Research Service; it lives on as the cornerstone of Republican politics.
Hurricane Sandy relief was voted down because, to quote Paul Ryan, “Unfortunately [the bill] refuses to distinguish — or even prioritize — disaster relief over pork-barrel spending.” Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), a powerful House Republican who represents New York’s Long Island, which sustained billions of dollars in storm damage, refuted those claims. “The House bill never contained any of those extraneous provisions,” he said.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said on Wednesday that the failure to vote on the aid bill was the result of “toxic internal politics” in the Republican Party. “Americans are tired of the palace intrigue and political partisanship of this Congress,” Christie said. “Disaster relief was something that you didn’t play games with.”
This isn’t the first time that Republicans have opposed disaster relief. In each case, the same complaints about “pork barrel spending” and “unsupervised slush funds” are voiced, but those are just code words for the core issue. They honestly don’t believe that government can play an effective role as the relief agency of last resort. That’s because they hold fast to the zombie view that government is America’s number one problem, not its solution even in these cases of extreme need.
The first debt ceiling debate is another perfect example. Republicans claimed that letting the president have increased spending authority is irresponsible. Quoting FactCheck.org, “Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner and Rep. Michele Bachmann, have said that the president wants ‘a blank check.’ Not true. First, he’s asking to borrow money to pay obligations Congress has already approved.” Yet this characterization that increasing the debt ceiling somehow empowers Obama to spend MORE is another zombie proverb.
Another zombie maxim is that jobs are created by less government, lower taxes, and fewer regulations. This has been boiled down recently to the frequent comment heard during the last campaign that the government doesn’t create any jobs. Yet World War II is largely credited with the recovery from the Great Depression by the massive government spending which converted the country to a government run munitions factory.
These disproven zombie concepts have been summarized by Grover Norquist when he said, “Our goal is to shrink government to the size where we can drown it in a bathtub.” The problem is that, contrary to Republican claims, the vast majority of American LIKE much of what modern government does.
|
Should Spend More |
Spending About Right |
Should Spend Less |
Don’t Know or No Answer |
|
| Protecting the environment |
59.8% |
27.9% |
7.7% |
4.6% |
| Protecting the nation’s health |
66.8% |
25.0% |
5.6% |
2.6% |
| Halting the rising crime rate |
60.9% |
28.4% |
9.3% |
3.0% |
| Dealing with drug addiction |
58.2% |
27.9% |
9.3% |
4.6% |
| Improving the education system |
69.7% |
22.1% |
6.3% |
1.9% |
| Social Security |
55.7% |
31.9% |
6.3% |
6.1% |
| Solving urban problems |
45.5% |
29.8% |
12.1% |
12.5% |
| The military, arms, and defense |
17.5% |
46.3% |
30.3% |
5.9% |
| Highways and bridges |
38.2% |
47.1% |
9.6% |
5.1% |
| Welfare |
16.0% |
36.1% |
43.3% |
4.6% |
| Parks and recreation |
34.0% |
55.2% |
6.1% |
4.7% |
| Mass transit |
31.7% |
47.3% |
9.4% |
11.5% |
What we are left with is a minority segment of the voting public and their representatives who are determined to REDUCE the size of government at every opportunity. Their beliefs ARE NOT based in fact, but that doesn’t appear to bother them.
The best policies are not those that have the most likelihood to succeed. The best policies are the ones that will ultimately reduce the size of government because this is their religion.
Don’t get me wrong. I am a religious person. I DO believe in God and the power of prayer. But I don’t believe I have any right to impose my beliefs on anyone else. When it comes to governing a country, we have to depend on good data rather than religious belief to confirm that our course is going to benefit the majority of our citizens.
In the next couple of posts let’s see if we can dig into data supporting this claim that conservative republicans possess a blind unreasoning commitment to a particular point of view, why this leads to zombie politics, and why this is something that appears UNIQUE to the conservative movement.


