From the WSJ Opinion Archives
OUTSIDE THE BOX
The Kaleidoscope Turns
The '60s are gone. Big government and internationalism are back.
Remember the first time you peered into a kaleidoscope? With a slight rotation one colorful geometric pattern vanished and unexpectedly became a dramatically different one. The events of Sept. 11 turned America's kaleidoscope, and the grim new pattern that appeared will indelibly change public policy.
In the past three weeks America returned to its roots, to religious faith, self-evident truths and inalienable rights. We have seen the bravery and compassion and sacrifice of firemen and policemen, and we know they represent us all. We have seen our prosperity and values fanatically attacked, which has engendered a determination that our values and beliefs will not be abandoned.
In a sense we have returned to the values of the 1940s and '50s that enabled us to fight a war for freedom and individuality against intolerance and oppression, and then rebuild both the victim and aggressor nations.
Efforts to end the death penalty and legalize drugs will be more difficult to explain and defend. Americans are less likely now to accept the proposed International Criminal Court; why would we turn over judgment of our actions to judges of cultures perhaps opposed to our own and not governed by a constitution?
Substantive tax and Social Security reform also are on hold. So is McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reform and its odd offspring, a constitutional amendment carving campaigns out of First Amendment protection (don't laugh, 40 senators voted for it last spring). In a time of crisis there is little interest in fundamental institutional reform, so these must all await another time.
On the other hand, some ideas that seemed less than likely a few months ago are now back in play. In a weakening international economy, increased trade becomes a priority, so Congress will likely approve a fast-track trade agreement process. A stronger and militarily focused defense, as opposed to the politically correct armed forces of the Clinton years, will return. The need for an antimissile defense is better understood and so will be funded, developed and ultimately deployed. Dependence on Arab oil is much riskier now, so the president's energy proposals to increase domestic supplies will accelerate through Congress. And working with a coalition of nations in the war on terrorism will restore international relations to an importance unseen since the years of the Marshall Plan.
Then will come more government regulation of the economy. Steel import quotas will be an early example; President Bush set them in motion last summer and under the guise of national security they unfortunately are likely be approved.
Some things, though, never change. The debate on tax reduction--to cut or not to cut, that is the eternal question--will rage on as always. For an economy in recession, the No. 1 priority is to increase economic growth. Three supposed growth policies are already in place: Interest rates have been steadily reduced, a good thing; the stimulus of federal spending, "priming the pump," will help too; but the $300 rebate checks mailed to every income tax paying American have done little to boost the economy.
Tax reduction is a proven growth-creation policy, but as always liberals object on the grounds that some taxpayers will benefit more than others, never mind the good it would do for the overall economy. Options include accelerating the tax cuts already enacted as a part of the Bush bill, allowing accelerated depreciation of capital investments, cutting the capital gains tax and reducing corporate income taxes. Congress will pick and choose and soon enact a growth package; whether it will be sound and substantial remains to be seen.
Mr. du Pont, a former governor of Delaware, is policy chairman of the Dallas-based National Center for Policy Analysis. His column appears Wednesdays.
