Issues and Proposals: The Application of Principle
“Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.” (Victor Hugo)
The Modern Whig Institute was founded in large part to serve as a leading voice in the broader, and ongoing, Whig movement. Many of the proposals here will therefore look very familiar to longstanding Whigs. For those who are new to our endeavor, some may look unique. But all of them have been crafted or adopted in accordance with the Whig worldview and the traditional, tried-and-true values all Whigs hold dear.
Because Whigs embrace differences of opinion and independent thought, and resist the demands of reflexive dogma, the Institute does not take a position on every public issue, nor voice an opinion on every public dispute of the moment, no matter how fashionable they may be. Nor do we court controversy for controversy’s sake. For one thing, we believe some questions should never rise beyond the level of the personal and cannot be resolved through politics or policy. For another, as energetically as we make our points and promote our views, it has never been our goal to preach to our fellow citizens — only to persuade.
Rather, our purpose here is to propose a broad program of fundamental reforms and bold policies, tempered by sensible restraint, which we believe will strengthen our country politically, economically and socially as we face the growing challenges of the 21st Century. We focus first on the basics. We seek to balance tradition and innovation. And we treat the present for what it is: an intersection between the past and the future.
Our fundamental goal is to chart a path to a government which truly does, as the preamble to the Constitution says, "establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." The are many opinions on how, even more on who, but only one reason why which Whigs find acceptable: For love of country.
One final note: We are committed to a pragmatic, fact-based approach to problem solving which is built on our core principles but isn’t clouded by rigid ideological certainty. The policy proposals presented here are the result of over a decade of work by committed Whigs. But they only capture a moment in time. They are not written in stone. As the work of the Institute progresses, we fully expect to continually revisit some, or perhaps even all, of them as our understanding deepens and evolves.
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The Modern Whig Institute is a 501(c)(3) civic research and education foundation dedicated to promoting the fundamental American principles of representative government, ordered liberty, capitalism, due process and the rule of law.
POLITICAL REFORM
Political reform lies at the heart of the Modern Whig movement. We believe all citizens have an equal right to be represented in the democratic process and an equivalent duty to participate in it.
ECONOMY
We have concluded Americans must face the fact manufacturing, the engine of our economy for much of the 20th Century, can simply no longer generate the job growth our country needs on an ongoing basis.
EDUCATION
In an era of unprecedented globalization, American economic competitiveness is dependent on the quality of our schools, colleges and universities. The strength of our civil society and vibrancy of our democracy depend on a well-educated citizenry.
STRONG FAMILIES
Strong families are the bedrock of all successful societies. In America, we often hear glowing talk about "family values," but the unfortunate reality tells a different story: our country is among the least family-friendly in the world.
TAXING AND SPENDING
Modern Whigs believe the federal tax code needs to be drastically simplified and made more equitable.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Beyond question America’s infrastructure is in dire need of repair, rehabilitation and modernization. It's more than just a matter of falling bridges and failing levees, as important as those things are.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Modern Whigs value reason above all. For us, the question of whether global warming and the associated changes to our climate is happening, and whether human activity is the primary cause of it, is completely non-political.
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
Corporations or households aren't exempt from the basic rules of accounting and finance, and governments shouldn't be, either.
FINANCIAL REFORM
The Crash of 2008 and the ensuing Great Recession was primarily caused by excessive borrowing on the part of gigantic financial institutions for the purpose of engaging in unregulated betting on the value of derivatives backed by dubious mortgages.
HEALTH CARE
We believe arguments over whether health care is a right or not are beside the point. Government often takes prudent action to ensure the overall well-being of the population regardless of whether rights are at stake.
IMMIGRATION
The United States is, and has always been, a country of immigrants. Whigs believe it always should be. But we think all Americans should also understand the dual responsibility of securing our borders while also dealing realistically with those undocumented immigrants already in the country.
NATIONAL SECURITY, FOREIGN POLICY, AND VETERANS AFFAIRS
As members of a patriotic movement largely founded by American veterans, Modern Whigs are committed to a strong national defense. We believe the United States should act to defend our national interests multilaterally whenever possible, and unilaterally if necessary.