Scott Tibbs
Nikki Haley and her irresponsible populist rhetoric
By Scott Tibbs, December 11, 2023
Nikki Haley is supposed to be the adult in the room in this Republican primary. She's a former governor of South Carolina and a former ambassador to the
United Nations with both the executive and foreign policy experience to be an effective President. In a party leaning in a populist direction, she was marketed as a path back to Reaganism. But she has been prone to populism as well, even when she knows better.
Most ridiculous is her proposal for "term limits for bureaucrats,"
announced on X:
Under #TheFreedomPlan, we won’t just have term limits for politicians—we will limit bureaucrats too. No bureaucrat should hold the same position for more than five years.
Yes, we need to make sure we limit the longevity of cooks, park rangers, correctional officers, bookkeepers, administrative assistants, janitors and civil engineers. We have to combat the "deep state" by making sure those dangerous federal employees do not get too entrenched in their positions.
Should we look at reforming federal employee protections? Sure. I addressed that
last year. If we are serious about reducing federal power and devolving that authority to the sovereign states as the founders intended, we will also need to reduce the size of the federal workforce as part of that plan. But disrupting and destabilizing the federal workforce with constant legally mandated turnover is utter nonsense. Destroying institutional knowledge and valuable experience is a disservice to taxpayers. It will destroy employee morale, lead to more errors and degrade customer service.
Haley also proposed having the federal government require social media companies to identify users by name. I am not a fan of anonymity, and I have pointed out that anonymity leads to all kinds of terrible behaviors. Shame loves the shadows, after all. But having the federal government strip away anonymity is ripe for persecution of political opposition, either directly or through selective "leaks" to whip up the cancel culture mob. Plus, there is a long history of anonymous speech being used to expose corruption, raise important issues and bring about needed changes to policy. Haley knows all of this, especially being part of Generation X.
We need to be honest: There is no chance that Haley will win the Republican nomination. Like it or not (and I certainly do not) Donald Trump has this locked up. Furthermore,
NBC News reports that "Forty-one percent of (Ron) DeSantis supporters in Iowa said Trump is their second choice," and if that plays out across other states Trump's lead over Haley will only get bigger if DeSantis exits the race. Haley is not going to peel populists away from Trump, especially with her traditionalist record. She should have stayed in the Reaganite lane, rather than dabbling with a populist mindset she does not share and knows will not work.
Opinion Archives
E-mail Scott
Scott's Links
About the Author
ConservaTibbs.com