A common misconception among well-meaning, patriotic Americans is that “conservatism” is the condition we should strive to maintain or restore. This, in large part, is because for many decades the Right served as the ramshackle home for defeatist — and oftentimes unconstitutional — policy and culture ideologies espoused by thought leaders such as William F. Buckley and Russell Kirk. In this episode, The New American team begins by examining a recently released Heritage Foundation report, measuring the specific positions advocated in it against the standard of the U.S. Constitution. They compare and contrast “conservative” and constitutional views on topics including the IRS, Federal Reserve, Department of Education,  abortion, and foreign entanglements.  

RELATED

Read “Faux Conservatism: Fox Gets It Wrong.”

Read “The Pied Pipers of Neoconservatism.”

Watch “Overview of America.”