Remind ourselves the first principle of conservatism is not tax cuts or free trade or even smaller government. It is prudence, and prudence should be our guide.

Prudence dictates we take seriously the concerns of those who elect us and tailor our policy proposals to counter the government-mandate-heavy ideas bound to emerge from the other side.

Americans want something done about the 43 million of us who lack health care. The question is not: Should government care? It must. The question is: Do we get a top-down, Washington-knows-best, one-size-fits-all “solution” or a Massachusetts-style program that preserves choice for patients and discretion for doctors?

That's Tom Davis talking about how to get the Republican Party back on track. I hope the Republicans do get back on track - states and the federal government are spending more and more - while the private sector economy lost 500,000 jobs in December, state and local governments added 6,000. This spending is beyond our current means, which signals a generational transfer of wealth - the current generation is spending the youth generation's money, the equivalent of accumulating credit card debt and then passing the bill to your kids. Currently 9% or so of the federal budget goes toward interest on the national debt. The Republicans need to quickly find their place again, but the prospects don't look good.

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