Makings of a good year
In many ways, 2022 might seem pretty bad for Americans on the political right. The year saw record budget deficits, spending bills loaded with corporate welfare, a legally dubious student loan scheme, and disappointing election results for the Republican Party.
Despite all this, the year had triumphs that people who believe in limited government ought to celebrate. The Republican Party learned lessons in the elections (if it listens), life opened up, markets showed their promise in solving major problems, and federal institutions delivered limited-government victories.
Fringe candidates lost while competent, limited-government advocates won. Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has a long list of conservative accomplishments from electoral reform to a bureaucracy-light effort to help the state’s poorest residents during the covid-19 pandemic. He beat Democrat Stacey Abrams despite her smarts, celebrity and fundraising acumen. In the same state, Republican Herschel Walker—who indulged in election conspiracy theories and drew little interest—lost a winnable Senate race.
The culture-warrior Republicans who won races did so because they hadn’t forgotten to govern. Florida’s Ron DeSantis pursued thoughtful policies on issues ranging from financial literacy education to environmental protection. Voters remembered him for this.
Meanwhile, mainstream conservative Joe Lombardo unseated an incumbent Democratic governor in blue-leaning Nevada. Even Colorado’s Jared Polis, the one Democratic governor who walked to an easy victory in a purple state, governs with more than a dash of libertarianism.
The recognition that covid-19 is endemic, rather than a pandemic, presented a step forward for personal freedom. Since March 2020, the country has spent too much and forced counterproductive “public health” measures like mask mandates in uncrowded outdoor areas on many Americans.
The year also presented evidence that markets will address problems without government intervention. Massive new market-driven investments in clean energy—most of which would happen without the billions in subsidies Congress approved—are evidence that the market will play a major role in dealing with the serious problem of climate change.
The year saw the Supreme Court rule to stop unelected bureaucrats from writing major new laws in West Virginia v. EPA and forbid discrimination against religious organizations. While some new legislation passed that will continue to expand the government’s role, the last major new law to pass during 117th Congress—the Respect for Marriage Act—can rightly be counted as a triumph for personal liberty.