September 12, 2006 9:53AM

David Brooks’ Newest Conservatism

By Michael D. Tanner

At various times, David Brooks has called his political philosophy “neoconservatism,” “compassionate conservatism,” “national greatness conservatism,” “big government conservatism” and, now, “progressive conservatism.” By any name, however, it has one common denominator: big, expensive, and intrusive government. In Sunday’s New York Times, Brooks puts forward a plan for “human capital investment,” calling for:

  • Giving every child born in America $1,000 at birth to put in a savings account;
  • Spending more money on preschool;
  • Further extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit;
  • More government reorganization of our educational system; and
  • An increase in the child tax credit.

Actually, there is a term for this type of program—it's called liberalism.