FreedomWorks

The genius of the American experiment is the clear line our Constitution draws between public and private lives.  The government should be limited in its power and reach, especially when it comes to raising our families.  As the old saying goes, a man’s home is his castle.

That’s why it is so surprising to learn that a group of family advocates feels differently.  Some so-called social conservatives, like Tony Perkins, actually think that the federal government needs to get more involved in our family life.

In recent weeks, Perkins, the top man at the Family Research Council, a large political advocacy group in Washington, has been calling for John McCain to prove his social conservative bona fides by pledging to appoint a "family czar."

Think about that for a moment: A federal bureaucrat to oversee families. I'm sure Perkins would find a way to claim he's just there to give America's families a helping hand, that he's promoting our country's precious faith and values. But as Ronald Reagan said, the most frightening words in the English language are, "I'm from the government. I'm here to help." If there's anything our families don't need, it is Washington mucking around in their lives. Could anyone imagine a less conservative idea?

And while Perkins may like who McCain chooses for this new role, I can all but guarantee he would not approve of Hillary Clinton’s choice for the position.

There are all sorts of problems with Perkins' notion, but the biggest one right now is that no one even knows for sure what a family czar would actually do.  Every time Perkins has brought it up, he's brushed quickly over the topic, as if he doesn't want to discuss what it means. That's probably because it is a political stunt and not a serious policy idea.

It's possible that Perkins is simply talking about an extension of the faith-based post currently filled by Jay Hein and, prior to that, Jim Towey.  As far as federal bureaucracies go, these departments were relatively harmless, if entirely unnecessary. Their main accomplishment was wasting billions  in taxpayer funds on useless social programs under the guise of "compassionate conservatism."

On the other hand, Perkins could be calling for something even more drastic. Wasting taxpayer money is a crime, but there are far worse things a government can do, especially when given charge over something as broad as all of America's families.

But whatever the case, almost any time one of Washington's talking heads calls for a czar, it's a move designed to pander and publicize.  Calling for a czar is a way to avoid addressing real (and often politically difficult) policy choices.  And needless to say, it usually involves spending more taxpayer money.

Surely any conservative could see the folly in the “family czar” idea.  And though Perkins likes to call himself a conservative, I'm not always so sure.  He and I agree on many things to be certain, but before John McCain took the top spot in the GOP field, he'd thrown his support behind Mike Huckabee, a candidate whose conservative credentials were anything but solid. By supporting a politician who governed in large part by taxing, regulating, and moralizing, he made his own declarations of conservatism subject to doubt.

By practically ignoring the basis of modern conservatism—the limited government ideology that fueled the campaigns of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan—Perkins seems to have given up on the tough work of conservative coalition building and instead taken what is an essentially liberal tack: using the government to get what he wants. 

Even more troubling, his demand for a high-ranking family czar feels suspiciously like  liberal identity politics.

Power, and especially the power of government, is clearly a temptation for people on both sides of the political spectrum. Rick Santorum, for example, recently wrote an essay complaining about how little attention social conservatives have received from the Republican Party.  And James Dobson practically threw a fit when it became clear that John McCain would get the GOP nomination.  Power plays like these just prove how easy it is to be lured into misguided big-government crusades, no matter what side of the political aisle you're on.

Before our era, people on the whole operated by the adage that men can make good laws, but laws cannot make men good.  All conservatives need to remember that the best way for government to help families is to get out of their way: Stay out of their homes, their churches, and their pocketbooks. The best way to fight for the country's faith and families isn't through the shameless pandering and political opportunism of a new national czar, but instead through an unequivocal defense of the principles of freedom.