Friday, October 10, 2008
Conservatives rally to defense of free market
The free market is getting a bad rap, say conservative economic activists who plan to gather Friday near the Capitol to protest increasing government interference in the private sector.
The government's $700 billion rescue plan might not be enough to save the nation's financial sector from oblivion, but it looks like it is more than enough to get conservatives off the couch and onto the streets.
More than 1,000 members and friends of Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a grass-roots organization that advocates free markets, are expected to attend the rally to defend the free market and protest strict government regulation.
Organizers are hoping to send the message that they do not want the government to use the current financial climate as an excuse to increase regulation, said Annie Patnaude, director of communications at AFP.
The AFP is also opposed to what they see as blame for the economic fallout being placed on the free market. The group thinks it is the government's policies that have lead to the problems, said AFP President Tim Phillips.
"Rather than the free market being the problem, we think it's the government," Mr. Phillips said. After talking to state chapters, he said, "The common thread was their frustration with the obsessive blame game of the free market in general."
Low taxes and decreased government spending are some of the core values of the AFP, which was formed in 2004 and is based in Washington, Ms. Patnaude said.
"We saw the need for...really revving up free-market grass roots," she said. Last year, members protested earmark spending in a rally at the Capitol.
"Conservatives don't do that sort of thing often enough," she said of the protest, where Mr. Phillips will speak and members will be asked to sign a pledge reaffirming their belief in the free market.
Mr. Phillips stressed that the activists in the AFP are middle-class voters who are concerned about future government actions and want their voices heard, by Congress and the future president.
"They think there's gains to be made by beating up on the free market," he said of campaign rhetoric.
There will also be a number of speakers present, including former Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell.
Mr. McDonnell said that he will speak to the entire summit as well as to the Virginia delegation and that he will discuss how Virginia's policies of low taxes and limited government have made it an economically strong state.
He also stressed the importance of looking forward.
"Even with the terrible economic time we're facing ... what we don't want to do is create a climate for more taxes and more litigation," he said.
Mr. McDonnell spoke at last year's summit, and he said that AFP has quickly become one of the largest grass-roots conservative economic groups in the country.
"I think they came out of nowhere," he said.
Meanwhile, meetings at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank this weekend are expected to draw smaller numbers of protesters than in previous years, organizers said Thursday.
The Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler of the United Church of Christ, a veteran IMF protester, said he doesn't see the point in protesting this year.
"I don't think there's a need to protest ... where we are in the world is a different place than a few years ago", he said.
Mr. Hagler is one of hundreds of activists who have decided to stay home this weekend. The meetings have attracted thousands in years past.
Last year, about 500 people took part in an "October Rebellion" protest, which caused property damage in Dupont Circle and injured a woman who was hit by a brick thrown by one of the protesters.
This year, the only event advertised is an environmental protest taking place in Murrow Park on the corner of 18th and H streets. It is expected to attract only 20 people. The police will be closing streets along Pennsylvania Avenue near the World Bank, but spokesmen for Metropolitan Police said they do not know how many are expected to attend. The police also said no one has applied for a protest permit this weekend.
The IMF and World Bank protests in September 2002 made headlines after police arrested more than 400 people without warning during a demonstration involving some 2,000 people. The police were found to have acted illegally in rounding up the protesters, forcing the District to give at least $200,000 to some participants.
A shift in focus from the World Bank to Wall Street is a key factor in the diminished participation this year, organizers said.
"The World Bank and IMF aren't as important as they have been in the past," said Sameer Dossani of the 50 Years is Enough Network, a leading opposition group to the IMF and World Bank since the mid-1990s. Mr. Dossani said the group will not be coordinating any events this year.
cMichael Drost and Ian Bauder contributed to this report.