No compassion for new conservatives

Chris Ledermuller

Ever since George W. Bush was crowned the front-runner for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, he has been packaged as a "compassionate conservative."

Bush himself, his campaign staff and conservative pundits generously use the term, but never bothered to define what a compassionate conservative may be.

Dr. Joseph J. Jacobs is the person who would know. He literally wrote the book on compassionate conservatism.

Jacobs, a billionaire engineer and industrialist, wrote "The Compassionate Conservative," which was first published four years ago, with a second edition released this year.

In the book, Jacobs gives his definition of a compassionate conservative. He basically took the classic low-tax, limited-government image of a conservative while rewriting the meaning of "compassionate."

He believes that people are compassionate when they make other people earn self-esteem and confidence. That sounds noble enough, but "The Compassionate Conservative" turns out to be just another conservative doctrine about how bad liberal programs are.

Jacobs spends the bulk of the book arguing that liberals exploit the disadvantaged by forcing them to be dependent on government handouts and programs, and two myths are the justification for their actions.

The first is a myth of a risk-free society. Jacobs asserts that liberals do not trust individuals to make personal choices, because it might be the wrong one. Government comes in to save the day.

The second is a myth of infinite resources. Liberals are once again at fault because of championing different causes without considering scarce funds. Which should receive more money: a clean environment or healthcare for the poor? Infinite scenarios are possible, but liberals try to avoid prioritizing needs.

Environmentalists and consumer advocates receive the most scorn from Jacobs. He claims that while environmentalists have the concerns of the poor in mind, their support of clean air regulations and restricted growth cause higher prices and ultimately hurt the people they try to help.

Consumer advocates overreact at dangers from prescription drugs to airline safety. Jacobs blames them for irrationally using their influence to ban such useful products as DDT and asbestos.

After a lengthy introduction and 252 pages of Jacobs attacking environmentalism, consumerism, neo-Freudianism, and anything else that tries to mess with the machinations of the free market, he finally gets to "The Compassionate Conservatives Credo [sic]." The term actually has a meaning.

The credo calls for compassionate conservatives to accept the free market, to support a flat-rate income tax and to place most government services at the state or local level. All programs should have an emphasis on individual choice and empowerment.

Overall, the credo is nothing revolutionary and sounds like the position of a run-of-the-mill Republican conservative.

The Republicans seem not to care about the book beyond the snappy title, because the catch phrase "compassionate conservative" is the political equivalent of "Yo quiero Taco Bell."

Chris Ledermuller is a staff writer for the Daily Forty-Niner.