Rays of Optimism

A favorite saying - "this, too, shall pass" - has been used in our family to temper inflated egos and console bitter disappointments. Lately, it's been an encouraging reminder to conservatives that even the darkest nights are eventually broken by the dawn.

This recession has been one of spirit as much as economics for conservatives. In an extraordinary twist of circumstances, the Fall 2007 economic collapse ushered in an unprecedented foray into liberal-progressive radicalism. It would have been easy to become fatalistic and disheartened, yet Americans didn't. Tea parties were the first rays of daylight, and they reminded us of what America has been and could still be:  That we will be our own masters as long as we choose to be.

Liberal-progressives tried in the 1920s to change the very heart and soul of the America experiment. They failed then, and it appears their Keynesian government spending, crony capitalism, crushing socialist-style central economic planning, public union riots, and grand liberty-annihilating nanny-state programs like the health care law are failing just as badly today.

Young adults, often the most idealistic and susceptible to Utopian dreamers' promises, are learning the hard way that government planning doesn't produce the jobs they need to live independent lives.  They bought the progressive dream in 2008 by a margin of 66% to 32%.  Today only 31% of young voters approve of the progressives' economic course.

The recent survey of 18-29 year olds by thepollingcompany,inc./WomenTrend also found that 76% would like to see federal spending reduced and 69% said the federal government, not others, should make sacrifices right now.

Rasmussen Reports, which tracks a variety of public attitudes, recently reported that 66% of American adults think "the bigger danger in the world today is a government that is too powerful rather than a government that's not powerful enough. Just 17% say the larger problem is a government that's not powerful enough."

These "government too powerful" voters may be envisioning one example of progressive failure - its energy policy.  As progressives fritter away precious time and finite resources on its elusive green energy,

estimates of conventional energy reserves - particularly in America - continue to grow. U.S. oil-deposit estimates have been raised recently by a factor of five to 135 billion barrels, and new methods of natural-gas extraction have put a 100 year's supply within reach. Predicting peaks in energy resources and wagering public funds on renewables is a game of chance. Better to trust the instincts of the free market, which has a solid record of picking winners and providing the best products at the lowest prices.  

Americans intuitively agree.  According to Rasmussen Reports, 75% of Americans say "U.S. not doing enough to develop its gas and oil resources."  One can only imagine the nation's economic turnaround once these energy resources are unleashed.

As repudiation of the liberal-progressive agenda grows, so does the American spirit.

We still have a way to go to a full economic recovery, but the rays of optimism grow as thoughtful conservative men and women developing concrete policies to get us there. On this Independence Day, give thanks to them and for them.

posted by Lil Tuttle