Grover Norquist on the Next Republicanism

On May 15th, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform discussed his new book, Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government's Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives, and entertained questions from an audience at the New America Foundation. An MP3 audio recording can be downloaded below, while video is available at right.

Norquist began by analyzing the political landscape of American politics, dividing it into two inimically opposed coalitions. The “Takings Coalition”, comprised of groups with a shared interest in feeding upon the earnings and wealth of others, and the “Leave Us Alone Coalition”, composed of those with a common interest in keeping the government out of their lives. While the components of each coalition contain diverse viewpoints on many issues, all are motivated to cooperate and vote by shared interest in one area: the degree to which a government should interact with the social and financial autonomy of its citizens.

The contrast between these two coalitions represents the ideological divide that will shape American domestic policy for the next several generations, according to Norquist. Their balance of power will decide the direction that American policy moves toward for the next generation. Norquist went on to identify the trends that would alter this balance in the future, including differing fertility rates, the decline of hunting, and the expansion of stock ownership. He also discussed important legislative priorities for the “Leave Us Alone Coalition”, such as portable health savings plans and individually mandated savings accounts.

-Ian McAllister, American Strategy intern See map: Google Maps

Participants

Featured Speaker

• Grover Norquist
  President, Americans for Tax Reform
  Author, Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government's Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives

Moderator

• Steven Clemons
  Director, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation
  Publisher, www.TheWashingtonNote.com