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The Fourth Way: The Conservative Playbook for the New, Unified GOP Government
Hugh Hewitt, “the nearly professorial power-baron of conservative media” (Bloomberg News), shares his handbook for how a united GOP government can solve problems and guarantee political success in “an agenda that departs—sometimes radically—from the typical Republican orthodoxy of the last sixteen years” (The Weekly Standard).
In this practical manifesto, Hugh Hewitt argues that Trump’s presidency provides a unique opportunity for a new conservatism that absorbs most of the traditional Reagan agenda—free markets and strong defense—while adding an emphasis on improvements in infrastructure and modernized delivery. From defense to immigration, from entitlements to health care, Hewitt outlines how a “Fourth Way” can bring us out of the gridlock and the destructive showdowns that have marked the past quarter century of American politics.
With concrete examples, Hewitt shows how to take advantage of the Republican majorities in the House and the Senate to enact this bold new conservative agenda so that voters can see and, crucially, feel the change by November 2018. “The world would be a better place if President Trump, Vice President Pence, House Speaker Ryan, and Senate Majority Leader McConnell read Hugh Hewitt’s new book” (National Review).
In this practical manifesto, Hugh Hewitt argues that Trump’s presidency provides a unique opportunity for a new conservatism that absorbs most of the traditional Reagan agenda—free markets and strong defense—while adding an emphasis on improvements in infrastructure and modernized delivery. From defense to immigration, from entitlements to health care, Hewitt outlines how a “Fourth Way” can bring us out of the gridlock and the destructive showdowns that have marked the past quarter century of American politics.
With concrete examples, Hewitt shows how to take advantage of the Republican majorities in the House and the Senate to enact this bold new conservative agenda so that voters can see and, crucially, feel the change by November 2018. “The world would be a better place if President Trump, Vice President Pence, House Speaker Ryan, and Senate Majority Leader McConnell read Hugh Hewitt’s new book” (National Review).
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Published January 24, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 24, 2017
Here is a book worth reading now as it treats the current US president’s opportunities for changing American politics and institutions. It is particularly interesting in that it sketches not so much policy as immediate actions, and examines their effects in a broad sense of the political and economic impact. As a Canadian, I am not well versed in US financial policy however I do read some books and base a lot of my opinions on those, while pretty much ignoring the talking heads on news networks. Mr. Hewitt is one of those talking heads on the news and also has a long running radio show. However he has written a number of books - which I have not read.
I do not really like what I perceive to be Hugh Hewitt’s moral compass however I must grant him my admiration for caring about disadvantaged folks and more importantly that he seems to have actually taken action and produced concrete improvements to their lives. His proposals to reduce federal bureaucracy seem almost libertarian but then his embrace of ‘religious freedom’ concepts seem contrary to individual freedom, or at least appear to support discrimination. He seems to be a complex fellow with a good mind - he is also a law professor - and a good heart but I would say that he is not philosophically consistent, at least from my appraisal of this book.
As you might surmise I lean toward progressive social policies being from Canada and all. Nevertheless Mr. Hewitt has presented a lot of good arguments for his proposed reforms to the US government. While I believe that solutions for problems in the US don’t have much value outside of that unique milieu, perhaps that is the fascination of this book for me. That the complex history and diversity of forces acting in the current US political situation makes even the most rational of solutions often intractable. A forceful approach is needed. To that end Mr. Hewitt argues that President Trump should act quickly and without regard to the upset and that he should do so in a comprehensive fashion rather than an incremental one.
The idea of rapid sweeping reforms to current policy will obviously upset a lot of Americans. Mr. Hewitt argues that the reforms must be pragmatic in regard to the financial and political impact. Consequently the proposals are messy in the sense that they do not adhere to a doctrine or single guiding principal rather they pick what is feasible and look to make some progress immediately, and presumably refine and improve things later. To me this seems what legislation is already about except that is takes decades for congress to accomplish. There are of course real ideas behind the proposed blitzkrieg; namely that tax and government assistance reform must be done now and that spending programs on infrastructure and the military are needed also right now. What is not clear is how these programs will square with federal income.
Finally areas where I think Mr. Hewitt is evasive or in my view wrong are immigration policy and trust in corporate good behaviour. How he manages the cognitive dissonance of tough action on immigrants and their obvious benefits to the American economy is admirable. He seems evasive on this aspect of the new presidency in the book. It is likely that his charitable projects in Orange county California probably help a lot of those same immigrants. I can understand why he must dance on this part even though I know he feels it is wrong. Next dismantling or curtailing the EPA and a couple of other federal departments is probably a popular position, at least with business interests. Here it seems wrong to me that he does not propose something with which to replace these bureaucracies. Does that mean he believes in a completely free market? It seems that way to the casual reader of this book. I don’t think Mr. Hewitt could produce much evidence of good corporate behaviour that has not been mandated by regulation. Perhaps he only wants to reduce the number of bureaucrats and reduce the number of regulations. I hope that is what he is saying.
The book starts with the US Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the United States Constitution and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address which are amazing documents to foreigners like us Canadians, as they probably are to Americans. Truly there is so much to admire about the big country to the south of us. The book ends about three quarters of the way through its two hundred thirty five pages with four appendices including two written by friends of Mr. Hewitt on the topic of US military spending, just for the navy and marines, and the topic of US Tax reform. The military appendix was more of a shopping list without much justification of the need for a larger navy. Can the Americans actually counter a concerted attack on an aircraft carrier from missiles and torpedoes? If not, it would seem that carriers are only useful in projecting power until the fighting actually starts. It would have been reasonable to have some arguments made about the effectiveness of the increased spending and why it is a good return of investment on naval hardware.
Of the next appendix, Tax law is a many splendored thing in most countries. This was the most interesting read in the back of the book. Mr. Adler seems to have command of his subject. His writing did more to illustrate the tradeoffs and politics of reform in the US than almost anything in the book. I have read a fair number of books about the current economic world in the last couple of years, and I can read and prepare income statements and balance sheets so I am not completely lost in financial matters. I am however functionally illiterate concerning US Tax law. Still I want to make an uninformed comment. Mr. Adler seems to be a trickle-down guy wherein promoting corporate and individual tax cuts leads to economic prosperity. He seems to embrace the idea that capital investment is good for everyone rather than just those collecting dividends. Some current economists do not agree with this assertion. In the case of Industrial production, large capital investments usually result in more automation and less jobs. In the case of Service industry investments it has had mixed results depending on the service sector. In the case of lowered taxes on Tech industries the jury is out because of the short history of the Tech business. In Agriculture, capital investment has resulted, most notably, in monopoly conditions for grain and poultry sectors. It seems to me that Reaganomics has some way to go before it is accepted as good policy, at least for the working man.
Finally, I want to say that this is a good book, worth reading if you are not well read concerning US government, or particularly, conservative policy administration right now. Some of the big US problems seem like non-issues to a Canadian but Mr. Hewitt does a good job illuminating the political aspects and economic constraints of the new president’s governance of a very complex country.
I do not really like what I perceive to be Hugh Hewitt’s moral compass however I must grant him my admiration for caring about disadvantaged folks and more importantly that he seems to have actually taken action and produced concrete improvements to their lives. His proposals to reduce federal bureaucracy seem almost libertarian but then his embrace of ‘religious freedom’ concepts seem contrary to individual freedom, or at least appear to support discrimination. He seems to be a complex fellow with a good mind - he is also a law professor - and a good heart but I would say that he is not philosophically consistent, at least from my appraisal of this book.
As you might surmise I lean toward progressive social policies being from Canada and all. Nevertheless Mr. Hewitt has presented a lot of good arguments for his proposed reforms to the US government. While I believe that solutions for problems in the US don’t have much value outside of that unique milieu, perhaps that is the fascination of this book for me. That the complex history and diversity of forces acting in the current US political situation makes even the most rational of solutions often intractable. A forceful approach is needed. To that end Mr. Hewitt argues that President Trump should act quickly and without regard to the upset and that he should do so in a comprehensive fashion rather than an incremental one.
The idea of rapid sweeping reforms to current policy will obviously upset a lot of Americans. Mr. Hewitt argues that the reforms must be pragmatic in regard to the financial and political impact. Consequently the proposals are messy in the sense that they do not adhere to a doctrine or single guiding principal rather they pick what is feasible and look to make some progress immediately, and presumably refine and improve things later. To me this seems what legislation is already about except that is takes decades for congress to accomplish. There are of course real ideas behind the proposed blitzkrieg; namely that tax and government assistance reform must be done now and that spending programs on infrastructure and the military are needed also right now. What is not clear is how these programs will square with federal income.
Finally areas where I think Mr. Hewitt is evasive or in my view wrong are immigration policy and trust in corporate good behaviour. How he manages the cognitive dissonance of tough action on immigrants and their obvious benefits to the American economy is admirable. He seems evasive on this aspect of the new presidency in the book. It is likely that his charitable projects in Orange county California probably help a lot of those same immigrants. I can understand why he must dance on this part even though I know he feels it is wrong. Next dismantling or curtailing the EPA and a couple of other federal departments is probably a popular position, at least with business interests. Here it seems wrong to me that he does not propose something with which to replace these bureaucracies. Does that mean he believes in a completely free market? It seems that way to the casual reader of this book. I don’t think Mr. Hewitt could produce much evidence of good corporate behaviour that has not been mandated by regulation. Perhaps he only wants to reduce the number of bureaucrats and reduce the number of regulations. I hope that is what he is saying.
The book starts with the US Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the United States Constitution and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address which are amazing documents to foreigners like us Canadians, as they probably are to Americans. Truly there is so much to admire about the big country to the south of us. The book ends about three quarters of the way through its two hundred thirty five pages with four appendices including two written by friends of Mr. Hewitt on the topic of US military spending, just for the navy and marines, and the topic of US Tax reform. The military appendix was more of a shopping list without much justification of the need for a larger navy. Can the Americans actually counter a concerted attack on an aircraft carrier from missiles and torpedoes? If not, it would seem that carriers are only useful in projecting power until the fighting actually starts. It would have been reasonable to have some arguments made about the effectiveness of the increased spending and why it is a good return of investment on naval hardware.
Of the next appendix, Tax law is a many splendored thing in most countries. This was the most interesting read in the back of the book. Mr. Adler seems to have command of his subject. His writing did more to illustrate the tradeoffs and politics of reform in the US than almost anything in the book. I have read a fair number of books about the current economic world in the last couple of years, and I can read and prepare income statements and balance sheets so I am not completely lost in financial matters. I am however functionally illiterate concerning US Tax law. Still I want to make an uninformed comment. Mr. Adler seems to be a trickle-down guy wherein promoting corporate and individual tax cuts leads to economic prosperity. He seems to embrace the idea that capital investment is good for everyone rather than just those collecting dividends. Some current economists do not agree with this assertion. In the case of Industrial production, large capital investments usually result in more automation and less jobs. In the case of Service industry investments it has had mixed results depending on the service sector. In the case of lowered taxes on Tech industries the jury is out because of the short history of the Tech business. In Agriculture, capital investment has resulted, most notably, in monopoly conditions for grain and poultry sectors. It seems to me that Reaganomics has some way to go before it is accepted as good policy, at least for the working man.
Finally, I want to say that this is a good book, worth reading if you are not well read concerning US government, or particularly, conservative policy administration right now. Some of the big US problems seem like non-issues to a Canadian but Mr. Hewitt does a good job illuminating the political aspects and economic constraints of the new president’s governance of a very complex country.
March 23, 2017
I'm only on chapter 5, yet I give this book a tentative 4 star rating. In my rating system this means the book is worth a reread.
I have heard of Hugh Hewitt and read a few articles by him, but I had no idea what he was about until beginning this book. Hugh has written a book which is part play book, part history of ideas and part manifest.
While he is a conservative he takes his ideas and insights from across the spectrum, finding champion solutions in the most unusual of places. His technique reminds me of the book called The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle. In this book the author looks for value by searching out talent "Hotbeds". In the case of Hugh's book those "Hotbeds" involve, for example, community level programs to insure preschoolers get a proper education using a mix of public and private funds.
Hewitt outlines other workable solutions in the area of military improvement, immigration reform, infrastructure rebuilding and healthcare restructuring.
The Fourth Way is not blind to the failures of either conservative or liberal boondoggles.
I'll continue this review once I get further into this enlightening book.
I have heard of Hugh Hewitt and read a few articles by him, but I had no idea what he was about until beginning this book. Hugh has written a book which is part play book, part history of ideas and part manifest.
While he is a conservative he takes his ideas and insights from across the spectrum, finding champion solutions in the most unusual of places. His technique reminds me of the book called The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle. In this book the author looks for value by searching out talent "Hotbeds". In the case of Hugh's book those "Hotbeds" involve, for example, community level programs to insure preschoolers get a proper education using a mix of public and private funds.
Hewitt outlines other workable solutions in the area of military improvement, immigration reform, infrastructure rebuilding and healthcare restructuring.
The Fourth Way is not blind to the failures of either conservative or liberal boondoggles.
I'll continue this review once I get further into this enlightening book.
July 17, 2017
Mind Changing
I am a life long Democrat who remains open to understanding different political views. I had seen Mr. Hewitt on television during the debates and found his questions of the candidates fair. I sensed his effort to help voters better understand the position of the candidates rather than focusing on the drama and spectacle.
I learned so much from this book! The ideas he proposes on infrastructure make so much sense. Instead of vague ideas about building more roads or repairing water systems he gives specifics about critically need infrastructure such as dental clinics and swimming pools to help reduce obesity in kids. Then he has a brilliant idea on how to pay for it with a program to get corporations to bring back their profits now sitting in foreign accounts.
He has big bold ideas that he was trying to get President Trump and the Republican Congress to act on in the first 100 days of the new Administration. I would have supported a plan like this and voted Republican if that had happened. But we are 6 months into this administration and nothing has happened except an attempted ban on Muslims, ridiculous Twitter rants about a woman's face lift, and an effort to accuse the media of fake news. No coherent policy direction on anything. After 6 months. What a list opportunity!
But Mr. Hewitt has done a great service to people like me whose mind was opened and excited by a conservative. I hope he will continue writing about these ideas and hopefully we will start to see both Republican and Democratic leaders embracing these fresh and innovative ideas.
I am a life long Democrat who remains open to understanding different political views. I had seen Mr. Hewitt on television during the debates and found his questions of the candidates fair. I sensed his effort to help voters better understand the position of the candidates rather than focusing on the drama and spectacle.
I learned so much from this book! The ideas he proposes on infrastructure make so much sense. Instead of vague ideas about building more roads or repairing water systems he gives specifics about critically need infrastructure such as dental clinics and swimming pools to help reduce obesity in kids. Then he has a brilliant idea on how to pay for it with a program to get corporations to bring back their profits now sitting in foreign accounts.
He has big bold ideas that he was trying to get President Trump and the Republican Congress to act on in the first 100 days of the new Administration. I would have supported a plan like this and voted Republican if that had happened. But we are 6 months into this administration and nothing has happened except an attempted ban on Muslims, ridiculous Twitter rants about a woman's face lift, and an effort to accuse the media of fake news. No coherent policy direction on anything. After 6 months. What a list opportunity!
But Mr. Hewitt has done a great service to people like me whose mind was opened and excited by a conservative. I hope he will continue writing about these ideas and hopefully we will start to see both Republican and Democratic leaders embracing these fresh and innovative ideas.
July 26, 2020
There were significant differences from what I expected to hear based on his Hillsdale Dialogues. The whole section about local board-led action for the public good is particulary intriguing.
As far as the book's suggestion of a strategy for the GOP in 2017, well, obviously, they failed spectacularly, and there is a price being paid for that.
The nation badly needs an actual standard-bearer for the values promoted in this book rather than Donald Freaking Trump.
As far as the book's suggestion of a strategy for the GOP in 2017, well, obviously, they failed spectacularly, and there is a price being paid for that.
The nation badly needs an actual standard-bearer for the values promoted in this book rather than Donald Freaking Trump.
May 24, 2017
Educational. Opened my brain.
February 26, 2017
This book is partisan invective mixed with (already) outdated predictions about the Trump administration
April 7, 2017
The author gives his opinions and examples how he would like President Trump to proceed. I give the book three stars for content and an extra one for effort. Some thought provoking ideas to make America great again along with infrastructure plans. Personally, I would have preferred the elimination of the chapter on impeachment. A hogwash idea drummed up by democrats and GOPe.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews