Values Statism

PRESIDENT Clinton’s latest State of the Union address has inspired two reactions among Republicans. The first is to accuse him once again of stealing their ideas (the latest loot being missile defense). The second, more prevalent, is to accuse him of returning to the era of big government (whose end he pro-claimed in his 1996 address). These accusations are, one hopes, contradictory. And neither is likely to cause Clinton much trouble.

Clinton has not returned to big government for the simple reason that he never left it in the first place, except rhetorically. A review of Clinton’s 1998 address—the state of the union was “strong” then too, by the way— gives the lie to the notion that he has suddenly lurched left to keep his base from abandoning him to the impeachers. Last year he called for expanding Medicare to cover 55-to-64-year-olds. This year he repeated that demand. Child-care subsidies? In both speeches. Ditto for the minimum-wage hike, the health-care “bill of rights,” the linkage of free trade to international regulation, school construction, campaign-finance reform, and so on.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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PRESIDENT Clinton’s latest State of the Union address has inspired two reactions among Republicans. The first is to accuse him once again of stealing their ideas (the latest loot being missile defense). The second, more prevalent, is to accuse him of returning to the era of big government (whose end he pro-claimed in his 1996 address). These accusations are, one hopes, contradictory. And neither is likely to cause Clinton much trouble.

Clinton has not returned to big government for the simple reason that he never left it in the first place, except rhetorically. A review of Clinton’s 1998 address—the state of the union was “strong” then too, by the way— gives the lie to the notion that he has suddenly lurched left to keep his base from abandoning him to the impeachers. Last year he called for expanding Medicare to cover 55-to-64-year-olds. This year he repeated that demand. Child-care subsidies? In both speeches. Ditto for the minimum-wage hike, the health-care “bill of rights,” the linkage of free trade to international regulation, school construction, campaign-finance reform, and so on.