Iowa Defense Alliance

An alliance of Iowans determined to defend traditional Iowa values.

Moral issues are economic issues

Well, the convention has come and gone. I think there is enough commentary about it on this site and others, so I don’t have to tell you what happened. Really though, it was like watching a live soap opera. The drama!

However, I will talk about what really is the crux of the problem between social conservatives and the moderates/economic conservatives. You see, social conservatives realize that without a strong moral foundation this country will always be enslaved to spending on big government social programs. Governor Huckabee detailed this in length in his speech to the GOP convention on Saturday. Steve Deace talks about this on his radio show.  They both make this connection more eloquently than I ever could. I’ll describe as succinctly as possible below.

In social science research papers the last section is called a “discussion” where essentially the author puts forth policy recommendations to “cure” whatever social problem was researched in the paper. Similarly, policy analysts within the government and within private research organizations make similar recommendations to social problems. Elected officials often follow these recommendations when forming public policy. You know what? These policy recommendations are just band-aids to these problems.  High rates of teen pregnancy and unprotected sex? Just put more money in sex education, start sex education earlier, and of course expand access to contraceptives. High poverty rates? Increase welfare spending. High child poverty rates? Increase federal funding for child care. High dropout rates? Increase education funding. And the list goes on and on.

The problem is that these “cures” really do not go to the heart of the problem. And no, tax cuts and returning power to the states are not going to solve these problems either (ahem, I’m speaking to you “economic conservatives”).  What does cure these problems? Families which form the bedrock of a strong society. Families that value life, marriage, and faith. Families that contribute to their schools and communities. Families that teach their children between right and wrong. Families that live independently without government interference. And by families, I mean a mom, dad, and kids.

You cannot separate moral issues and economic issues. Until the moderates in the GOP realize this, there will never be cohesion among that much revered “three leg stool of the GOP”. As a final note, the other two legs of the stool forget the leg that actually uses their legs to organize themselves and get things done on the ground. Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush would never have been elected without social conservatives. PERIOD. The Republican Party would cease to exist without social conservatives. John McCain and the GOP are going to learn the hard way in November about what happens when you throw the social conservatives under the bus and folks it ain’t going to be pretty.


July 15, 2008 - Posted by ConservativeGal | Politics, isugradstudent | , , , ,

15 Comments »

  1. Great commentary Gradstudent. You put it together better than I ever could. I would like to add a little bit more to this though. It takes more than acknowledgement of these basic facts to make it a reality. It takes a strong and moral leader to pull these factions together, the social conservatives in Iowa realized this and overwhelmingly picked Mike Huckabee. Without a great leader with strong moral convictions the GOP is doomed to be a rudderless ship adrift in the political sea.

    Comment by abregar | July 15, 2008 | Reply

  2. Thank you for a well reasoned summary of the value of moral principles lived out by citizens and moral principles exemplified by leaders for the benefit of the nation and society.

    Comment by Raymond V. Banner | July 15, 2008 | Reply

  3. Let us assume your premise that morality is needed in order to insure a less intrusive state. How then, does one achieve a more moral society? How do you achieve “strong families?”

    Is it through the imposition of laws and regulations? Is it through more well intentioned policy? That trick has been played by liberals who have used the power of the state to mold their vision of what society should be and we are still suffering the consequences of their efforts.

    I suggest that there is an instrument far more powerful than government to affect moral rehabilitation. It is an offense to some. It iwould seem to be foolish in the eyes of men. But it is the power of God unto salvation.

    Comment by sdg | July 15, 2008 | Reply

  4. sdg—I would agree with your assessment.

    Comment by isugradstudent | July 15, 2008 | Reply

  5. I have enjoyed the comments submitted here on this issue of morality. I so agree with the comment about God/salvation. We have fallen so far away from the faith that our past generations practiced and which held families together.

    Sin has become a not often used word- not often even thought about. In an “anything goes” society there is not anything that even the government can do to regulate moral intelligence.

    From what I experienced at the Rep. Convention- there are many who believe our party must put an emphasis on social issues. With continued effort we can make a difference. I’m in this for the long-haul and the nasty comments about Christians posted on some of the blogs only reinforces my conviction to fight for what I believe to be the issues that matter to the survival of America.

    Comment by CharacterCounts | July 15, 2008 | Reply

  6. There is only one way to achieve this ‘more moral society’

    AS sdg said….’but the power of God unto salvation’

    We Christians need to stand up and set the example and the standard, in EVERY area of our lives.

    One of my favorite quotes, “We have no government armed with the power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.… Our Constitution was made only for a moral and a religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” John Adams, 11 Oct 1798

    Comment by nic | July 15, 2008 | Reply

  7. I believe that it is all well and good to point out injustice and immorality. But in the end, only those men and women, whose hearts have been renewed, that can be expected to live moral lives.

    That renewal cannot be achieved by government. And we don’t need government to preserve the moral environment for the message of the gospel to thrive. The church spread throught the Roman Empire during the height of its decadence and immorality. And the church is spreading in hostile lands today.

    So I don’t see how a moral agenda will advance our ideals.

    Comment by sdg | July 15, 2008 | Reply

  8. Gradstudent talked of “band aid” policies… I agree what we are doing now is not working- all the money being given to funded programs. Surely some are successful but in my opinion, many of the state/government programs set up to help families are working against strengthening families.
    They promote people being dependent on the help- and this goes on from one generation to the next.

    An example- the continued funding for education. NO Child Left Behind… and what are the test scores showing? Iowa continues to struggle with the results of the testing, standards & benchmarks, smaller class sizes. We close up small schools thinking that bigger is better. We have a long way to go but still need to work to improve life for Iowans, so I will continue to care about social issues- even moral ones.

    Comment by amesvoter | July 15, 2008 | Reply

  9. I get tired of hearing the same old tired argument that we cannot legislate morality. I say to that, Bull. It is all a matter of whose morality we follow. We can follow the moral relativism that seems to dominate the Democratic Party and has begun to creep into the Republican Party. Or we can use the moral absolutes of the social conservatives of the Republican Party. To be a true and moral society we need to have moral absolutes.

    Comment by Used in Iowa | July 15, 2008 | Reply

  10. Isn’t the one “band-aid” they wanted to give the pregnancy pack teenagers in Mass. a condom? Yeah, that will cure it. That should be able to show them the love and attention they are craving.

    Great post. How long before people realize that socons are also ficons?

    Comment by Iowans Rock | July 15, 2008 | Reply

  11. What it boils down to is that we need to elect leaders that lead with their morals. If our Republican leaders don’t lead with their morals what is the difference between them and the Democrats.

    Comment by abregar | July 15, 2008 | Reply

  12. Used in Iowa, I believe in moral absolutes also. I believe that to have a truly moral society there is an obligation to keep holy one day in seven . I also think that to have a truly moral society we need to abolish idolatry in any form. Since these are moral absolutes, I feel we need to legislate them. Would you agree?

    Comment by sdg | July 16, 2008 | Reply

  13. Maybe I misunderstood your earlier post. It seemed that you were not inclined to legislate moral absolutes. I would not be adverse to that, but for the most part I don’t think that it would be necessary if we had leadership that also believed the same moral absolutes. There are a few issues that would take legislation, abortion is just one of those issues. I think at this point our position is a tad bit weak politically so we need to find, promote, and elect the right leadership.

    Comment by Used in Iowa | July 16, 2008 | Reply

  14. Thank you for this post! It is loud and clear how social and fiscal issues cannot be separated. We are not a “one issue” group. They all tie together and the social issues are the foundation.

    Comment by All4Iowa | July 16, 2008 | Reply

  15. You made some great points. It should be interesting to see how this whole thing plays out in the fall.

    Comment by conservative dad | July 16, 2008 | Reply


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