The Constant Gardener*

Rahm Emanuel, the White House Chief of Staff, said last November, "Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things you couldn't do before." Truer words were never spoken, although the cynicism behind the words was palpable. That is because his point was that a crisis can be used to enact radical politicial reforms, even if those reforms would have little or nothing to do with either the causes of the crisis or the resolution thereof. This is crisis in the generic sense, as simply that which can be used to hype the necessity of a pre-existing agenda. "Please note," says the empresario, "there is nothing up my sleeve. Now, pick a crisis, any crisis. Don't show it to me. And ... voila! It's time for change."

But a crisis does not have to be used cynically. A crisis can be used in it's best sense: as a time when deep issues that are normally overlooked reveal themselves. Historical examples abound. The bombing of Pearl Harbor focused the American people on the dangers of isolationism, and galvanized a nation to a necessary war. Nearer to home, the horrors of 9/11 awoke the nation to its false sense of security, and to the necessity of taking affirmative action abroad. And the devastating economic effects of 9/11 enabled President Bush to highlight the long running Republican argument that taxes were a burden on the economy, and to therefore enact the most significant tax cuts since the 1980's.

But my real point is about something that has been too long overlooked. It is not remembered that Ronald Reagan came into office with three major problems to fix: world-wide Soviet aggression, third-world style inflation brought on by high-taxation and loose monetary policies, and economic stagnation and loss of liberty engendered by the growing bloat of government bureaucracy. Reagan, however, had an almost mystical ability to choose the fights he could win. And early on in his administration he recognized that reining in the entrenched regulatory bureaucracy of Washington was not a winnable war.

He feinted here and there with new rules restricting the bureaucracies, downsizing, and various reforms, but by and large he only paid lip-service to true regulatory reform. Ultimately he left the Washington bureaucracy problem for another day, another administration, another political moment. And the Department of Education, among others, still stands to this day, larger and more intrusive than ever.

But let's take a moment to praise Reagan, not bury him. Two out of three ain't bad, and we owe him a huge debt of gratitude. It is to the current generation's shame that Reagan left a task worth doing, and Republicans have instead taken the easy road of riding the political benefits of an end to the Cold War and seemingly unstoppable economic growth.

It's wake up time. The economic crisis we are now in presents a golden political moment for those of us who care about our country.

To be continued ...

*Kudos to John Le Carre for the inspiration of the phrase.

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