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# GOP chooses the few over the many
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/gop-chooses-the-few-over-the-many/
- Published: 2007-08-24T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T00:47:27.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Bennet Kelley The Soap Box*

GEORGE BUSH WILL NOT BE ON THE ballot in 2008, but he has already defined two key meta-issues for the race. After seven years of Nixonian secrecy and claims of expansive and unchecked authority, illustrated by Vice President Cheney’s claim that he was his own branch of government, the Bush administration has called into question John Adams’ maxim that we are “a government of laws and not of men.”

In addition, Bush has become the father of big government conservatism, increasing discretionary spending faster than Lyndon Johnson during the Great Society era. Unlike Great Society big government which used its resources for public infrastructure, a social safety net and for regulatory enforcement to protect the general public; Bush’s big government provides its supporters with billions in tax breaks, an 86 percent increase in government contracting (resulting in nearly $1 trillion in fraud and abuse) and protection from regulatory enforcement (such as fining Utah’s Crandall Canyon mine only $60 for a repeated failure to have proper escape ways only a year before its tragic accident). Although Bush pays lip service to Ronald Reagan’s mantra that government is the problem, he has revealed that the true question is not the size of government but rather who it serves.

Supreme Court Justice Frankfurter explained, the maxim that we are a government of laws “epitomizes the distinguishing character of our political society \[since\] law alone saves a society from being … ruled by mere brute power however disguised. If one man can be allowed to determine for himself what is law, every man can. That means first chaos, then tyranny.”

When White House aide Sara Taylor testified before Congress that her oath and duty are to the president (and not to the Constitution), it was clear that we have a government of men that serves its own master. In the context of such a frontal challenge to this nation’s fundamental beliefs, this election ultimately will be about whose image of government we will adopt — the Founding Fathers’ or Sara Taylor’s.

The Republican nominee will want to avoid this debate altogether as he moves to the center and attempts to distance himself from President Bush. At that point we will be told the campaign’s biggest lie - that this fresh face is nothing like George Bush and that there is little difference between the Republican and Democratic nominees.

Thirty-two years ago Gerald Ford took office during our nation’s greatest constitutional crisis and assured the nation that “Our Constitution works; our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule.”

Today’s Republican contenders have no problem, however, with President Bush’s claiming the authority to monitor phone, e-mail and mail communications of U.S. citizens without a warrant.

For Rudy Giuliani, it is enough that the president’s heart was in the right place since “he did it to protect our national security.” They also embrace President Bush’s use of Guantanamo Bay to detain “enemy combatants” indefinitely where they are subjected to torture. Despite global condemnation, Mitt Romney believes “we ought to double Guantanamo.”

The Republican nominee also will talk about restraining big government, but what he really means is government that helps you and not his supporters. For example, when the Republican nominee tries to sound moderate, remember the fact that workplace safety agencies such as the Mine Safety Commission and OSHA were cut by Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush by over 60 percent from Carter administration levels and by President George W. Bush by 19 percent from Clinton administration levels.

In addition, when he talks about Democrats “not supporting our troops,” remember that the last three Republican presidents have cut VA staffing by at least 45 percent from the prior Democratic administration.

The current Republican contenders have shown no reluctance in choosing the interest of the few over working Americans. All but one opposed increasing the minimum wage, while Mitt Romney wants to eliminate taxes on interest and capital gains leaving only working people to pay taxes.

It is important that Democrats engage this debate whenever possible, since there is no greater “patriot act” than upholding the constitution and there is no greater protection from abuse of power than open government. More importantly, Democrats must give a voice to Katrina survivors who have watched their government abandon them for two years, the families of the recent mine disasters and the millions of Americans who are not among the chosen few this administration serves.

Fifteen years ago Bill Clinton accepted the Democratic nomination declaring that this “election is about... putting government back on your side \[and\] putting people first.” It still is.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 24, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/082407.pdf?ref=smdp.com)