Bipartisan Green Shoots

From a recent (June 2023) document come these four quotes by a conservative political organization:

But the free market alone does not guarantee that individual and public interest will in fact align. Market fundamentalism’s basic error is to misunderstand this point.

Rather than rewarding businesses for taking on potentially ruinous levels of debt, by allowing them to deduct interest payments from their taxes, the law should make the downside more costly for investors and do more to protect workers and communities caught up in an ensuing bankruptcy.

Yet while the right talks frequently about the consequences of broken families for children’s futures, and declining marriage and fertility for the economy’s growth, it has rarely recognized that supporting families must therefore be a central element of economic policy.

When workers organize, they are able to support each other and assert their voice and dignity within the workplace. They also develop the power to counterbalance capital, creating the balance of power and mutual dependence that capitalism requires.

Not what you would expect from a conservative organization? But this conservative organization makes it a point that mainstream conservativism has drifted toward libertarianism, much to the detriment of the country. Libertarians believe that the market economy should be free of restraints imposed by government regulation. It’s a free country and the economy offers opportunity for everyone. If someone cannot thrive, so be it. Anyone can become president; just look at the 44^th and 45^th for proof.

The new organization goes by the name American Compass. Its executive director is Oren Cass, a former aide to Mitt Romney during his run for the Republican nomination for president. Four Republican senators – J.D. Vance from Ohio, Marco Rubio from Florida, Todd Young from Indiana, and Tom Cotton from Arkansas – presented the organization’s position document on Capitol Hill in June. The document, titled “Rebuilding American Capitalism: A Handbook for Conservative Policymakers” is the source of the four quotes above.

Lest someone argue these do not sound like conservatives, note that the organization supports abortion restrictions, opposes gun laws and makes excuses for Donald Trump’s behavior. But that does not mean there is no space for bipartisan cooperation on foundational discussions to improve capitalist economy.  Wide differences will emerge as to how to strengthen domestic manufacturing or restore voice and credibility to labor unions, but there is enough agreement on goals to find starting points. Here are some of the document’s positions:

• • • Promote non-college career pathways.
    • Guarantee workers’ legal right to organize.
    • Support families as they raise children.
    • Channel investment to national priorities.
    • Eliminate the trade deficit.
    • Discourage financial engineering.

Some points may be challenged out of the box. For example, encouraging more domestic manufacturing may instigate higher prices for consumers. A proposal to prohibit unions from engaging in partisan politics would put labor at a disadvantage unless corporate lobbying is restrained as well. For some, the very suggestion of a national industrial policy is intolerable.

American Compass aims to refocus politics from economic growth to lifting living standards for workers, families, and communities. The first signs of the economy emerging from the Great Recession were called Green Shoots. Agreement to focus on living standards may encourage emergence of bipartisan green shoots.