I suppose I Should Weigh-in on Jim Webb too

First, I am generally always happy to have a man of Ulster Scots lineage and a Southerner (much of Missouri is the South) elected to anything, particularly to something like the Senate. I say generally, because men of such pedigrees are still fallible.

I cannot help but be impressed with Webb's life prior to 2006.  He is a bona fide war hero (if we accept that any real heroes actually survive war). Many of his ideas while Secretary of The Navy were right on, particularly as they related to returning the Marine Corps to the "Old Corps".  His previously stated views of women in the military are also correct.

Many folks now hold Webb out as a paleoconservative and, while I like much of what he has said, I am not certain that he qualifies as a true paleoconservative.  Pat Buchanan's blog has the complete text of an article by Jim Webb entitled "American Workers Have a Chance to be Heard".  I have selected a few lines for analysis.

The most important–and unfortunately the least debated–issue in politics today is our society’s steady drift toward a class-based system, the likes of which we have not seen since the 19th century.

Ok, this scares me, but it is only the first sentence. When folks begin to bash class I think Marx. He clarifies that statement -

The top 1% now takes in an astounding 16% of national income, up from 8% in 1980. The tax codes protect them, just as they protect corporate America, through a vast system of loopholes.

In an of itself I have to say that this circumstance is not a bad thing, at least not the sort of thing that demands change.  If all other things were equal I would have no problem with some achieving more than others. Of course all things are not equal, the very existence of artificial entities with person rights changes everything.

Incestuous corporate boards regularly approve compensation packages for chief executives and others that are out of logic’s range.

There is the kicker.  If Webb's game is to denounce the corporate system then he may be walking the paleoconservative path (assuming he holds true in a lot of other areas).  Owners of business do not get to vote for themselves a higher salary; they must earn it.  Small corporations with investors that know each other and the managers do not simply dole out income increases.  Only mega corporations with a small cabal actually controlling the outcome of stockholder votes are able to accomplish this.  They accomplish this even when the corporation really does not make a profit no matter that they have to rob retirement funds or cook the books. Corporations have done more than government to destroy the traditional.

“Wal-Marting” of cheap consumer products brought in from places like China, and the easy money from low-interest home mortgage refinancing, have softened the blows in recent years. But the balance point is tipping in both cases, away from the consumer and away from our national interest.

I think on this point Webb hits paydirt.  Earlier in the article he warned that these trends might force a "protectionist" backlash.  I wonder why such a backlash would be a particularly bad thing.  These are the things that make me wonder if Webb is a paleoconservative or a populist with reactionary tenancies.  If he is but a populist reactionary his ideas will fizzle because they lack a philosophical underpinning. 

I have little confidence in the political process; even if Webb turns out to be the paleoconservative many truly hope that he is, it is doubtful he can make much of a dent. It is and will be interesting to see how this all plays out and what sort of man Webb accords himself to be.