Will Republicans Learn from Cameron Conservatives?

As David Cameron marks 100 days in office, the GOP can learn an important lesson from his success.

David Cameron's coalition cabinet just celebrated its first 100 days in office.  My latest column for The Week argues that there is an important lesson for the GOP in his success.

The new Conservative-Liberal coalition government in the United Kingdom marks its 100th day in office this week: How’s it doing?

It could be said that the Cameron-Clegg government is acting like a very traditional Tory government. In June, the government produced an austerity budget: spending cuts, public-sector pay freezes, a hike in Britain’s value-added tax.

Yet at the same time, the new austerity budget goes to great lengths to protect Britain’s poorest. The public-sector pay freeze exempts workers earning less than 21,000 pounds; those workers actually receive a pay increase. The poorest 10 percent of households will face an average of 400 pounds per year in reduced benefits and tax increases; the richest 10 percent will lose an average of 1,800 pounds. Capital gains taxes will be raised, and a special levy will be imposed on British banks.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne described the budget as “progressive.” That may seem a strange thing to say of an austerity budget. What Osborne means, however, is that his budget targets weak claims on the treasury rather than weak claimants (to borrow an old phrase of David Stockman’s).

When Cameron Conservatives describe their politics as “new,” Osborne’s equitable burden-sharing is part of what they have in mind. Part, but not the whole. What is also new in Cameron conservatism is the method and the tone -- as much or more than the content.

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