BIRDS OF A POLITICAL FEATHER

PADDY PEARSE

Part 3 of 5

CLASSICAL CONSERVATIVES

Classical Conservatives, Old Guard Republicans, Country Club Republicans, or Neo-mercantilists trace their history from Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist Party, and the nation’s only consistently conservative party. Many of the Federalists were converted Tories who opposed the Revolution and longed for close ties to the English and their form of government. If fact, Hamilton and the members of the Society of Cincinnati, advocated the abolishment of the States which would be coalesced into one strong central ruled by a “monarchial” level ruler. This was the object of the first constitutional draft submitted by James Madison, which was quickly aside by the States who would not give up their sovereignty.
However, this use of conservative is not “conservative” as the word is used today. They strive to safeguard the status quo. This is why many were Tories, who sought to maintain the existent classes, at the time of the Revolution. They believe in relative status, earned by past approved personal actions or family stature or wealth. They are the Republican image that all Republicans are branded with.

Basing his political economic philosophy on Hamilton’s economic plan, Henry Clay founded the Whig Party with its American System for the development of the newly acquired territories in the West. The Republican Party was formed in 1854 (Platform) to fill the void caused by the demise of the Whigs. The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 (Platform) established the Republican Party that has existed till this date.

Although shifting some through the years, the threads of the Federalists, as set forth in Hamilton’s ”Report on the Subject of Manufactures”, together with some modernizations, remains the core of Conservative principles: 1) Advocates a strong central government who has as an principle function the promotion of commerce and industry; 2) Believes in “loose” Constitutional interpretation; 3) Rejects state sovereignty and, therefore, the Constitution as a compact; 4) Considers the states to be adjuncts to the federal government; 5) Views the Constitution as having been created by the people and not by the states acting for their citizens; 5) Accepts treaties as being a basis as the supreme law of the land; 6) Accepts general welfare as a general power granted by the Constitution to the central government to enact whatever laws it wishes to promote commerce; 6) Adheres to the Washington Consensus; 7) Favors protected trade through restrictive international trade agreements; Accepts war as a means to protect commercial ends; 9) Accepts monopolies and oligopolies; 10) Seeks to build protectionist geographic trading blocks, such as NAFTA and FTAA; 11) Pushes to have trade agreements include eased capital investments restrictions in partner countries and free migration with a fast track to citizenship; 12) Favors central banks, including an international central bank, such as an expanded International Monetary Fund; 13) Opposes return to the gold standard as being a restriction on the available money supply and favors the retention of the present fiat money system; 14) Seeks marked reductions in or elimination of governmental controls on industry and commerce; 15) Opposes government assumption of healthcare; 16) Strongly favors Globalization and, to a lesser extent, Transnationalization; 17) Supports a strong national defense; 18) Supports strong law enforcement and suitable criminal punishment; 19) Is against burdensome taxes on individuals, preferring the elimination of the income tax substituting a consumption tax; 20) Sees taxes on corporation as double taxation; 21) Is not uneasy with the current trend of American manufacturing, commercial, financial, and infrastructural assets coming under the control of foreign interests; 22) Tends to ignore any possible restrictions that might be imposed by the 9th and 10th Amendments; 23) May or may not support family values; 24) Supports greater controls on labor unions, particularly those of public employees. 25) Supports the 2nd Amendment.

Conservatives have been called “Old Guard Republicans” and “Country Club Republicans”. Classic Conservatives might be known as Whigs, Federalists, Mercantilists, or Neo-Liberals. The better known proponents of Neo-Mercantilism are: George H. W. Bush; George W. Bush; Jeb Bush; Mitt Romney; Rick Santorum; Rudy Giuliani; Newt Gingrich; Dick Chaney; John McCain; Haley Barbour.

TO BE CONTINUED: Progressivism

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