Arthur Laffer creates trickle-down economics. And it doesn’t work.
Gerald Ford’s administration was in trouble. The country was experiencing stagflation, where prices were going up but employment was going down. What could he do? He announced his desire to lower taxes. This proposal was met with opposition by… Ronald Reagan. Reagan was worried that these cuts would increase the national debt. Then, just a few years later, Reagan changed his mind.
Two major things happened. One was the invention of supply-side economics (also called trickle-down economics) and the other was the tax revolt of the 1970s.
Supply-side economics was invented by an economist named Arthur Laffer. His ideas were based on an old concept but with a new twist. Laffer and his friends published their ideas in The Wall Street Journal and shared them with people like Dick Cheney.
Author and historian Rick Perlstein joins us for this episode. His books are The Invisible Bridge and Reaganland.
Sources:
The Invisible Bridge and Reaganland by Rick Perlstein
The New Right Manipulated Evangelicals into Conservative Republican Politics
A small group of men calling themselves The New Right had a major role to play in bonding some evangelicals to the Republican Party. Yet many Christians don’t know who these guys were or how they used money and influence to accomplish their goal.
Let’s meet the fellas. One was named Paul Weyrich. Weyrich’s contribution to the movement is that he knew how to organize people, a skill he learned from watching liberal protests. He was a former radio newsman from Wisconsin, member of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church when he thought the Roman Catholic Church became too liberal. He saw how liberals were organizing in the US and decided to do something similar with conservatives. The goal was to bring together politicians, activists, money, and the press to have a unified front. Organizational skills were his secret weapon.
Howard Phillips was a follower of RJ Rushdoony’s Christian Reconstruction plan. He gutted the Office of Economic Opportunity for Richard Nixon and then founded a think tank called The Conservative Caucus. He said “we organize discontent” meaning that the New Right used emotional issues to rile up their base.
Then there was Richard Viguerie. He was the king of bulk mail. The New Right used his services to advocate for their kind of politicians, for Anita Bryant, and to raise money. His company RAVCO was investigated for fraud.
These men and more were vital in bringing some evangelicals into the Republican Party.
Our guest today is Rick Perlstein, author of amazing history books like Reaganland and The Invisible Bridge. Special thanks to my friend Paul Hastings of the Compelled podcast for lending me his voice about the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.
Sources:
Reaganland and The Invisible Bridge by Rick Perlstein
Mobilizing the Moral Majority: Paul Weyrich and the Creation of a Conservative Coalition, 1968-1988 by Tyler J. Poff pages 22-23
The Evangelicals by Frances Fitzgerald
Weyrich, Memorandum, April 16, 1973, Paul M. Weyrich Scrapbooks. But accessed through Mobilizing the Moral Majority: Paul Weyrich and the Creation of a Conservative Coalition, 1968-1988 by Tyler J. Poff page 18
Christian Reconstruction: RJ Rushdoony and American Religious Conservatism – by Michael McVicar
The Compelled podcast is hosted by my friend Paul Hastings. It's a testimony show that walks listeners through people's lives so that we can hear how God continues to set people free through faith in Jesus. This episode is part of an ad-swap that Chris did with Paul to get the word out about Truce, but it also serves as a reminder to us that God is still working in the lives of His people. You can learn more about the Compelled podcast at https://compelledpodcast.com/
William F. Buckley Jr. struggled to keep his movement pure against Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, and the John Birch Society
William F. Buckley Jr. helped change the face of conservatism in the US because he gave it intellectual backing. But that doesn’t mean that his ideas were accepted completely. He had several nemesis within his own movement that tried to derail him.
One opponent was the John Birch Society. Buckley’s whole modus operandi was to make conservatism respectable. But Robert Welch and other members of the JBS were using their movement to spread bogus conspiracy theories. They were actively discrediting the movement that Buckley tried to build. So Buckley, National Review, and Barry Goldwater tried to bring it down.
Another enemy was Ayn Rand. Buckley and Rand were libertarians, but they disagreed on something important: religion. Rand was an ardent atheist, while Buckley believed Christianity and conservatism were inseparable. When Buckley started Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) he discovered that his young followers were incorporating many other ideas into their ideology. Rand’s writings were impacting the students. So Buckley had to work to expel those ideas from YAF.
Libertarian economist Murray Rothbard was another enemy. Rothbard actively encouraged his followers to split YAF and leave the organization.
Extremism leads to extremism. Extremism lends itself to ideological purity, which means that groups like YAF were destined to split and split and split again. Buckley has his work cut out for him.
Sources
Buckley: William F Buckley Jr. and the Rise of American Conservatism by Carl T. Bogus.
The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism by David Farber
Burning Down the House by Andrew Koppelman
Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus by Rick Perlstein
God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley Jr
Heather Cox Richardson’s YouTube series on the history of the GOP
Hoover Institution article on the impact of Buckley and Firing Line
Senator Robert Taft couldn’t get the nomination. He tried to be the GOP’s nominee for president three different times but could not get elected. Conservative Republicans’ failure to get nominated by their own party was a source of much frustration. What could they do? Concerns of conspiracy spread through people like Phyllis Schlafly whose book A Choice Not an Echo claimed that “elites” were steering the party.
William F. Buckley Jr. and God and Man at Yale
It was in this world that a bright young man with an untraceable accent found his appeal. William F. Buckley Jr. was born into a wealthy family that was deeply Catholic and driven by concern over the New Deal. They were libertarians and wanted a small government. Buckley lived a childhood of privilege, riding horses, playing piano, and mostly private education. His first book, God and Man at Yale, was a sharp critique of his alma mater, stating that they should have done a better job promoting laissez-faire economics and religion. The book was a smash hit, in part, because Yale fought its charges in the press.
William F. Buckley Jr. gives conservatives an intellectual voice
Buckley followed it with a rousing defense of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s tactics in the early 1950s, but the book was published just as the senator was revealed to be the demagogue he was. So Buckley decided to shift his effort to creating a journal of opinion that would appeal to conservatives. National Review became the “it” publication for conservatism in the US, and the most successful journal of opinion in the country. Its greatest impact was giving conservatism an intellectual voice in an era when the “liberal consensus” dominated.
Buckley then went on to start in the PBS television show Firing Line, a funny thing for a libertarian because the show was sponsored, in part, through government funding. Buckley succeeded in giving conservatism an intellectual voice. In the process, he won his greatest victory: convincing Ronald Reagan to become a conservative.
Videos of Buckley
I don’t usually spend a lot of time posting videos like this as proof of an episode, but Buckley is so beloved in some circles that I think it is necessary for this one. The first video is Buckley’s debate with James Baldwin. If you don’t believe that Buckley carried a string of racism, this video should be proof enough. Listen to his response to Baldwin.
The second video I want to share is his interview with the Gablers. One of the things we in the media struggle with is platforming. Who has the right to be boosted by your show? I struggle with this on Truce because I can’t properly screen everyone I have on the program, and I’m just one person. Should Buckley have invited the Gablers on his show?
Sources
Buckley: William F Buckley Jr. and the Rise of American Conservatism by Cart T. Bogus.
The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism by David Farber
Do you have any personal connection with Buckley? Did you see his shows or read his writings?
Why did conservatism need an intellectual voice?
How did conservatism change between Bob Taft and Buckley?
Buckley believed in a limited government, one that incorporated Christianity. Would you like his version of the American government?
Buckley claimed that he wasn’t racist, but believed that black people were incapable of governing themselves. They should have earned the right to vote in the South. Is this racism?
National Review welcomed segregationists to write in the journal. Would you read a publication like this?
Buckley advocated for a smaller government but also stared in a TV show on public television. Does this strike you as hypocrisy?
