On May 15th, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform discussed his new book, Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government's Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives, and entertained questions from an audience at the New America Foundation.
Norquist began by analyzing the political landscape of American politics, dividing it into two inimically opposed coalitions: the "Takings Coalition," comprised of groups with a shared interest in feeding upon the earnings and wealth of others, and the "Leave Us Alone Coalition," composed of those with a common interest in keeping the government out of their lives.
While the components of each coalition contain diverse viewpoints on many issues, all are motivated to cooperate and vote by shared interest in one area: the degree to which a government should interact with the social and financial autonomy of its citizens.
The contrast between these two coalitions represents the ideological divide that will shape American domestic policy for the next several generations, according to Norquist. Their balance of power will decide the direction that American policy moves toward for the next generation.
Norquist went on to identify the trends that would alter this balance in the future, including differing fertility rates, the decline of hunting, and the expansion of stock ownership. He also discussed important legislative priorities for the "Leave Us Alone Coalition," such as portable health savings plans and individually mandated savings accounts- New America Foundation
Bio
Steven C. Clemons
Steven Clemons directs the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, which aims to promote a new American internationalism that combines a tough-minded realism about America's interests in the world with a pragmatic idealism about the kind of world order best suited to America's democratic way of life.
Clemons is also a Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation and previously served as Executive Vice President. Publisher of the popular political blog The Washington Note, Mr. Clemons has been a long-term policy practitioner and entrepreneur in Washington, D.C., where he has served as Executive Vice President of the Economic Strategy Institute, Senior Policy Advisor on Economic and International Affairs to Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and was the first Executive Director of the Nixon Center.
Prior to moving to Washington, Mr. Clemons served for seven years as Executive Director of the Japan America Society of Southern California and co-founded with Chalmers Johnson the Japan Policy Research Institute, of which he is still Director. He is a member of the board of the Clarke Center at Dickinson College, a liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pa., as well as an advisory board member of the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College in Chestertown, Md.
Clemons is also a board member of the Global Policy Innovations Program at the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs and a member of the board of the Citizens for Global Solutions Education Fund. Mr. Clemons writes frequently on matters of foreign policy, defense, and international economic policy. His work has appeared in many of the major leading op-ed pages, journals, and magazines around the world.
Grover Norquist
Mr. Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a coalition of taxpayer groups, individuals and businesses opposed to higher taxes at both the federal, state, and local levels.
ATR organizes the TAXPAYER PROTECTION PLEDGE, which asks all candidates for federal and state office to commit themselves in writing to oppose all tax increases. To date, President George W. Bush, 193 House members, and 41 Senators have taken the pledge. On the state level, 7 governors and 1,221 state legislators have taken the pledge.
Mr. Norquist is author of the book Leave Us Alone -- Getting the Government's Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives. The book is an optimistic look at how the conservative movement can and will grow during the next 25 years.
Mr. Norquist is a refreshing look at contemporary politics in America. As it is, human beings understand the world around them by means of relating a systems of concepts to knowledge.
Between the 'Takings' coalition and the 'Leave Us Alone' coalition, it's easy to see how Americans (but more importantly,those who vote) are divided by what they want, on one side, and what they expect, on the other.
"Leave Us Alone" is a comprehensive look at what Americans should know about themselves as a voting public, and where they (and their candidates, parties, and ideologies) stand when and how they vote.
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