Philip K. Howard’s Manifesto: Tea Partiers, Centrists, and Lefties React
Fed up with broken government, lawyer and author Philip K. Howard proposes five ways to liberate America. Plus, Tea Partiers and lefties react.
Government is broken. It spends money we don’t have, takes no responsibility for the future, and suffocates daily freedoms under a thickening blanket of unnecessary bureaucracy and litigation.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties are to blame. But changing leaders is not enough. Decades of accumulated law and bureaucracy have made it impossible for anyone to use common sense. New leaders come to Washington and immediately get stuck in the bureaucratic goo.
Here is my idea on how to clean out government plus 5 reactions from Tea Partiers, Centrists, and Lefties alike.
My Manifesto for a New PoliticsBy Philip K. Howard
Hailed by David Brooks for seizing "the crucial theme of the moment," lawyer and author Philip K. Howard proposes five ways to liberate America, streamline government, and revive our can-do spirit
Throw the Bums OutBy KT McFarland
Just throwing money at a problem never solves it; it just kicks the can further down the road, says KT McFarland, who has held national security posts for Nixon, Ford, and Reagan. Government needs to start from scratch.
Don’t Destroy Government, Use ItBy Will Marshall
We progressives have, if anything, more reason to worry about the incapacitation of government than conservatives, says Will Marshall, president of a centrist political think tank.
Give the Power to Individuals!By Eugene Steuerle
Haven’t we learned by now that new officials are trapped in the same stultifying culture as those who left? The only answer is to empower the people themselves, says Eugene Steuerle, a former government official.
Just Use Your Common SenseBy Henry Stern
Some politicians are outright crooks, in it for the money; while others are just frightened rabbits. So reforming politics through politicians is nearly impossible, says Henry Stern, former NYC Parks Commissioner.
We Need New Leaders Now!By David Webb
Our institutions are incapable of internal self-correction and must be revamped, says David Webb, a talk radio host and founding member of the National Tea Party Federation.