Morning Bell: A Man of Ideas
Conn Carroll /
This weekend the conservative movement lost one of its best and brightest when former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp passed away Saturday night. We were honored to also count Kemp as a longtime Distinguished Fellow here at The Heritage Foundation. Kemp gave two lectures while at Heritage, both of which should still inspire conservatives today.
Speaking in July 1993, Kemp described how conservatives should offer an alternative to newly minted President Bill Clinton:
Recently, The Heritage Foundation has turned its intellectual firepower on exposing Clintonomics for what it really is – a mix of Reagan rhetoric and Jimmy Carter’s economics. As Tom Edsall of the Washington Post admitted, Clinton talks right while walking left.
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In my view, this debate should not be over whether we’re going to spend $16 billion or $6 billion on a spending-driven stimulus package. Instead, for the good of the economy and the good of the country, America needs a real debate over the principles of what creates a growing economy.Does government create jobs, or do entrepreneurs? Does government spending spur growth, or do lower taxes, less regulation, and spending limits? Can government direct investment better than the private sector? The answers to these questions provide the keys to designing a strategy for long-term growth in America.