Norm Ornstein: The South is in charge of Congress

Norm Ornstein: The South is in charge of Congress

The co-author of "It's Even Worse Than It Looks" explains why governance isn't getting any better

BY ALEX HALPERIN

Politics watcher Norm Ornstein has long been known as a moderate voice at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. And like many moderates, he is thoroughly freaked out by the government shutdown and the prospect of a debt-ceiling breach. He spoke recently to Salon about life at AEI, the difference between conservatives and radicals and why the most conservative Southerners can run the show in Congress. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

You wrote recently that congressional Republicans are not conservatives, they are radicals. How do you tell the difference? Is there some dividing line?

I think you’ve got several characteristics here that matter. One is conservatives tend to conserve, they are respectful of institutions and traditions. Radicals just aren’t conserved about those things. You can have very strong views about something but still respect the way the House of Representatives, the three branches of government, the constitutional structure was set up to work. And that involved at its essence, debate and deliberation and finding common ground and compromise.

Most conservatives recognize that. Radicals don’t care about the institutions. They are looking for an ideological crusade. Traditions don’t matter. It’s one thing to have hardball politics, but when you take it to a level of extortion in ways that could cause dramatic long-term turmoil in the country, that’s just not conservative.

Conservatives want smaller government. They want to focus on market-based solutions wherever one can. They want to have as little regulation as possible. But in general they recognize that government must play an important role for a society to operate. And that includes national security and law enforcement. That includes collection of taxation and revenue. That includes protecting public safety in a variety of different ways. That includes, certainly in the modern concept, basic research that the market is not going to allow if there are not payoffs that come within a reasonable period of time, or that will necessarily accrue to you.

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http://www.salon.com/2013/10/10/norm_ornstein_the_south_is_in_charge_in_congress/