Volume 7, Number 2 February 2015

Publisher, William L. Armstrong

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Principled Ideas from the Centennial Institute

Editor, John Andrews

WAKING UP WASHINGTON
TO WHAT WORKS

ONE INTENSE WEEK WITH

120 YOUNG CONSERVATIVES

By Cal Thomas

By Hugh Hewitt

As you read this, close to

Groundhog Day, election day
already seems like a long time
ago. The voting in which
Republicans won nine Senate
seats and a majority, and
expanded their majority in the
House of Representatives,
excited conservatives only
briefly.

Editor: Radio host Hugh Hewitt

served as dean of the Young
Conservatives Leadership Conference at Colorado Christian
University last July 13-20.
Participants included 120 students, ages 16 to 20, from 17
states.
Upon completing a week of
classwork with Hewitt and other
top instructors, they were officially designated as Armstrong
Fellowsthe deans surprise honoring Bill Armstrong,
CCU President and former U.S. senator. Addressing 2000
delegates at the Western Conservative Summit next day,
Hewitt distilled eight observations:

Just the thought of Harry Reid no longer being Democratic

Majority Leader was enough for some, but the euphoria
didnt last long. Despite campaign promises to defund
Obamacare and undermine President Obamas amnesty for
five million illegal aliens, congressional Republicans
quickly passed a $1.1 trillion spending measure
Both parties 1. Awareness: Of these students, only 19% had
which, in addition to the usual pork, contained
seen the movie Hoosiers, fewer had seen Almost
behave
money for Obamacare and aid for the illegals.
Famous, and fewer still knew who Walter Cronkite
was. President Armstrong said the latter may be a
Same Day Replay
badly.
good thing. But it suggests a degree of historical
And the Republican establishment was soon
amnesia
in
the younger generation about what went before,
back to open warfare against its Tea Party wing. On the
especially the period of the 60s to the 80s, that is dangerous.
Democrat side, the hard left, represented by freshman
We have the YCLC to help cure that.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, continued in
open revolt against veteran Democratic elected officials.

When the politicians arent fighting their fellow party

members, they are fighting members of the other party.
So its Groundhog Day nearly every day in Washington,
no matter which party is in charge. The same behavior is
repeated ad nauseum, as in the Bill Murray movie where he
wakes up each morning, says the same things to the same
people and replays the same day.
The reason for thisand for the voters frustrationis that
we no longer are living within the boundaries established
by our Founders.
Just as we have exceeded the moral boundaries set
down in Scripture for our protection and happiness in a
fallen world, so, too, are we experiencing dysfunctional
government because our leaders have exceeded their
constitutional authority.
Continued on Page 2

2. Engagement: They are so excited and engaged about

the politics of 2016. I ran them through mock presidential
caucuses according to the actual rules that will govern the
Iowa caucuses in just over a year.

Ted Cruz won a majority of their votes. Others with strong

support were Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, and
Scott Walker. Chris Christies supporters got beat up.
Continued on Page 3
Cal Thomas, nationally syndicated columnist and veteran broadcaster, spoke
about his new book, What Works, at Colorado Christian University on Dec. 5, 2014.
Hugh Hewitt reaches 2 million listeners in 120 cities with his daily Salem radio
show. He spoke at the Western Conservative Summit on July 19, 2014.
Centennial Institute sponsors research, events, and publications to enhance
public understanding of the most important issues facing our state and nation.
By proclaiming Truth, we aim to foster faith, family, and freedom, teach
citizenship, and renew the spirit of 1776.

THOMAS: WAKING UP WASHINGTON

Continued

Watch the debates on cable TV and listen to the same

tired sound bites youve heard so many times. Republican
and Democratic strategists, some of them too young to
have had an original thought, much less real experience,
repeat the familiar one-liners we hear over and over again
with nothing resolved.
The American public is being gamed by politicians, big
media, and other elites, whose main interest centers on
themselves. When was the last story you saw on TV or read
in a newspaper about anyone pursuing, much less achieving,
a solution to any major problem?
What Constitutes Real Caring?

Groundhog Day was funny on screen, but its not in Washington

After three decades of writing a syndicated column and

as a reporter before that, I have pretty much seen it all,
especially mans futile attempts to perfect himself and
alter certain behavior through government, specifically the
federal government.
There are a number of reasons for this failure, but chief
among them is that we dont focus on our past, on what
worked in previous generations.
Superficial Showroom Overstocked

And on rare occasions when someone does pursue a

solution, they are demagogued by the other party as not
caring about the poor, the elderly, and the unfortunate.
The kind of caring that centers on helping those individuals
become un-poorinstead of receiving endless government
checksis never considered compassionate and the best
avenue toward independence by those in the major media
who decide what we should and should not know.

Wisdom existed
before the
Internet.

We havent just emerged from a cave and must

discover fire or invent the wheel. We have a
history, a human and an American history.
Why does each generation behave as if it is the first?

Why dont we consult the past and common sense (and yes,
ancient truths contained in such books as Ecclesiastes and
Proverbs) to see what others discovered works, before we
were ever born.
Wisdom existed before the Internet and other forms of
mass communication, and before video games, Facebook,
and Twitter. In fact, as you may have noticed, social media
can impede sound thinking and workable solutions to the
problems confronting us.
Today, we have more information than ever, but less
wisdom; more talk, but less listening; more things in the
superficial showroom (celebrities are a good example), and
less in the intellectual storeroom (that would be knowledge).
We know what workshistorically and instinctivelybut
politics too often gets in the way, as does ignorance. Too
few people pay attention, and the politicians easily pick
their pocketsliterally and intellectually.

The rays of hope for an American comeback

may be more visible from overseas. In my new
book I quote at length, with their permission,
from a remarkable 2013 editorial in Britains
leading newsmagazine:

This is the America that Chinas leaders laugh at, and the
rest of the democratic world despairs of. Its debt is rising, its
population is ageing in a budget-threatening way, its schools are
mediocre by international standards, its infrastructure rickety,
its regulations dense, its tax code byzantine, its immigration
system hare-brainedand it has fallen from first position
in the World Economic Forums competitiveness rankings to
seventh in just four years.
Mr. Obama and his election opponent, Mitt Romney,
complained about the American dream slipping away. Today,
the countrys main businesses sit on nearly $2 trillion in cash,
afraid to invest in part because corporate bosses cannot imagine
any of Washingtons feuding partisans fixing anything.
Yet there is also another America, where things work. One
hint comes from what those bosses like to call the real economy.
Recent numbers from the jobs market and the housing sector
have been quite healthy. Consumer balance sheets are being
repaired. The stock market hit a record high. Some of this is
cyclical: the private sector is rebounding from the crunch. But it

CENTENNIAL REVIEW is published monthly by the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University. The authors views are not necessarily
those of CCU. Designer, Bethany Bender. Illustrator, Benjamin Hummel. Subscriptions free upon request. Write to: Centennial Institute, 8787
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Centennial Review February 2015 2

also reflects the fact that, beyond the District of Columbia, the rest
of the country is starting to tackle some of its deeper competitive
problems. Businesses and politicians are not waiting for the federal
government to ride to their rescue. Instead they are getting to
grips with the failings Congress is ignoring.
(The Economist, March 16, 2013)
The great impediment to solutions has been a focus on
process, rather than objectives. Suppose we focused on what
promotes the general welfare, regardless of which party or
ideology gets the credit, instead of constantly jockeying for
political advantage. Its amazing what problems can be solved
if solutions, not partisan gain, become the goal.
Solutions exist, mostly at the state level, but the major media,
of which I have been a part most of my professional life,
prefer combat to resolution. Real solutions would give them
nothing to talk about, and thus lower ratings, which would lead
to smaller profits.
Cant Say No
Our country is being sucked into a giant vortex of ever-growing
and bigger-spending government. Example: Remember
a couple of years ago when Democrats and Republicans
increased taxes to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff ? It turned
out that all the new revenue was spent on relief for people in
the northeast who were hit by Superstorm Sandy.
Relief for those unfortunate people was a noble
objective, but the tax hike was sold on the basis of
reducing the debt. Right. Giving more money to
Washington and hoping it will be spent responsibly
is like giving a bottle of liquor to a drunk in the
belief he will sober up.

But we are going to need a comeback on several levels that

would rival emergence from the Great Depressionand
it is to be hoped without a world war this timeto restore
America to financial and other kinds of stability.
Is America over? I dont think it is. It had better not be,
for there are other forces patiently waiting to take its place,
and whatever may be Americas faults, I can guarantee,
you wont like what replaces the United States.
Whats frustrating is that most people know what works
but dont have the political will to pursue solutions ahead
of partisan bickering. Theres encouragement beyond the
Beltway, though. USA Today recently reported an upsurge
in what state governments and individuals are doing to
solve problems without the help of Washington.
Our Best Chance
I believe historian Carl Beckers observation about your
neighboring state of Kansas a century ago remains
relevant today, and applicable to much of the nations
heartland:
The Kansas spirit is the American spirit double-distilled. It is a
new-grafted product of American individualism [and] American
idealism.

Lets revive
individualism
and idealism.

Everyone knows what must be done. Social Security and

Medicare are the driving forces behind our $18 trillion debt.
Liberals dont want the programs reformed because they have
used them as political bludgeons against Republicans.
The left plays the class warfare game of envy, greed, entitlement,
and fairness. The right should be emphasizing inspiration,
motivation, perspiration, growth, and jobsbecause envy,
greed, and entitlement never created a job or a small business
or improved a single life.
Our government has become like Ado Annie in the musical
Oklahoma. Annie was a girl who couldnt say no. The federal
government wont say no to any spending proposal, as long
as it provides votes for the ultimate objective of members of
Congress: their reelection. Maybe we should change our initials
from USA to ATM.
Beyond the Beltway
Is there hope? Absolutely. America has always been an optimistic
nationstirred by such ideas as morning in America and
a city on a hill, to recall two of Ronald Reagans favorite
phrases. What would happen to our world if America ceased
to exist? It wouldnt look the same.

Its in the states where real reform is taking

place. Indiana is sending rebate checks to
taxpayers because the government doesnt
need the extra money. Colorados governor, a
Democrat, wants to do the same. Imagine!

After awful outmigration just a decade ago,

Kansas itself is now a state which has rallied, and from
which our country can learn somethingwhat it means
to have less government. Voters there signaled their
approval last November, against media predictions.
Think about the words Becker chose to describe Kansas
as a mirror reflecting the rest of the nation: American
individualism and American idealism. Thats still what works.
Thats our best chance to escape Groundhog Day and
start waking up Washington.
HEWITT: ONE INTENSE WEEK
Continued
3. Persuasion: The students made sincere, substantive
arguments about why they were for this constellation of
candidates. Pretty good for age 16 to 20, but not fully
formed. The job for them and for all of us is to get those
arguments fully formed, not leave them as half-arguments.
Because conservatives in 2016 will have to persuade a
majority of Americans in enough states to deliver 270
electoral votes, persuasion requires more than merely
passionate emphasis. We spent time on that at YCLC.
4. Communication: Among young people their points
of contact are virtual, not actual, so the communication
Centennial Review February 2015 3

Cal Thomas on What Works

Hugh Hewitt on The Young
Here are two more in the steady
stream of conservative thoughtleaders who beat a path to
Centennial Institute. We know
what works to sustain a free and
virtuous country, say commentators
Cal Thomas and Hugh Hewitt, but
historical amnesia and half-baked
thinking get in the way. Look to
the states, urges Thomas. Teach the
young, challenges Hewitt.

opportunity is immense. Its not like the old days when we

had to knock on a door and ask someone to go to a caucus
with you or whatever. You can correspond 24/7 and do so
with immediacy, with vast reach. Its what my colleagues
from Townhall.com, Mary Katharine Ham and Guy Benson,
also speaking here at the Summit, are continually doing on
Twitter, on talk radio, and on all sorts of platforms that
didnt even exist when I got involved in my first campaign
in 1974.
5. Potential: Everyone has a mobile device;
everyone communicates constantly, but
theyre not on our political grid; not yet, not
fully. Imagine if we can bring them on. They
are a completely new forceand so to these
first 120 students, the Armstrong Fellows of
2014, I say thank you. (Applause.)

Colorado Christian University

8787 W. Alameda Ave.
Lakewood, CO 80226
Return Service Requested

have to realize that marriage is a weight-bearing wall of the

West and we are for it. Were not against anyone. Were not
anti-gay. We are for what has worked for 2,500 years. Thats
how we have to argue.
8. Promised Land: These students average age is 18; I am
58 so I am that Biblical number, 40 years older than them.
I was thinking about the 18-year-old Israelite in Egypt. He
hears that Moses is going to lead the people out. Its exciting
and dramatic at first.

They will
lead if we
teach them.

Next year we hope its 240, the year after that 480; we hope
it grows and grows. If they each have in them 50 years
of activism, thats 6,000 years of political activism. Thats
millions and millions of conservative tweets. And it matters
because we are always one generation away from losing the
America we inherited.
6. Be For Things: As conservatives, we cannot just be
against things. We have to teach these students how to
be for things. Arthur Brooks at the American Enterprise
Institute, such an important public intellectual today, stresses
that we must be for people, especially the unemployed, the
unskilled, the chronically unlucky.
Ronald Reagan was for things; so was Senator Armstrong;
so are our best contenders for 2016. Dont allow the media
to define us as the party of no. Be the party of yesyes to
a different menu of choices from what the liberals serve up.
7. How to Argue: We have to be for the world. Be for
Israel as well as against Putin. Be for a Navy with 15 carrier
groups, for a fully capable Marine Corps and Air Force and
Army. Its not enough to just be against government waste.
We have to explain why we think it is best for a child to
have one mother and one father for their whole life. We
Centennial Review February 2015 4

Centennial Institute

Youve got the chariots behind you, the Red

Sea parting, the pillar of fire leading you
in the night. But then for the next 40 years
youre lost, and suddenly youre my age, 58
and tired.

When you finally see the Promised Land, the land of milk
and honey, the land of freedom, you realize you cant take
that land by yourself. You need this young generation to
enter in and take it. They will do that if we teach them
how. Thats what the Young Conservatives Leadership
Conference is all about.

Students Age 16-20

Register Now for
Young Conservatives
Leadership Conference II
Were the City on a Hill
June 21-26 at CCU
www.hewittccu.com
All the Great Ones, Almost,
Will be There. Will You?
Western Conservative Summit 2015
Your Story: Freedom Alive
June 26-28 in Denver
www.westernconservativesummit.com