Ponnuru Guilty Of Broderism?

Ramesh Ponnuru proves, again, that he is one of the most clear, coherent thinkers on the right in today's column about taxes in the Times. But he proves, incidentally, the way that wacko Republicans consistently beat out the Dems in political struggles; their willingness to simply say things that they have no intention of following on, while actually putting effort into putting their true agenda into place.

I think this is the fundamental problem with Broderism, a.k.a. the High Church of Centrism, which holds that the solution of every problem is for people to compromise, find the center, and enact the policy. Which is great, if both sides are actually interested in solving problems. But if one side is only interested in using the issue to score political points, there's no compromise to be found.

And here, Ramesh makes the mistake of assuming that, because Giuliani and Romney say they are interested in the welfare of the middle class, that arguments about which tax policy would best advantage the middle class might be productive.

Unfortunately, that's just not the actual position of the elite Republican class these days. They have drunk deeply of the yummy grape kool-aid of supply side economics, so the answer to every question is 'cut taxes on the rich!'

To me, the money quote that shows how Ponnuru is swimming uphill here:

Many of the working-class social conservatives on whom the party relies are parents trying to make ends meet, or young people who want to start families but have financial worries. They have no particular attachment, or hostility, to free-market principles. A Republican Party that found a conservative way to meet their economic needs would both hold and expand its base.

He is making the rash assumption that the Republican Party is 'conservative'. And the fact is, on tax policy, that concept went out the window almost 30 years ago...