What strikes me as odd is that we see a growing trend in the country of voters becoming more and more Conservative, but we see government acting rather liberally with our money and even on the social issues. So, with the voter wanting to see the change of politics to their values, and electing people to do just that, why isn’t it happening?

I am not an expert on politics, nor will I ever claim to be. However, in the few years I’ve spent paying attention to politics, I have come to the conclusion that politics, as they are now in the United States, is inherently incapable of supporting Conservatism.

The fact of the matter is that Conservative values come down to responsibility. Evangelicals and seculars both agree that personal responsibility is key. Much like the final destination of your immortal soul is on you, so too is your final destination in the mortal world. It is not God’s responsibility to make sure you go to Heaven, and it is not government’s responsibility to make sure you can feed yourself and your family. In both cases, they offer assistance, but you have to put in an effort for it to work.

Conservatism, in this sense, requires sacrifice, which is why I will be more than okay with Romney being a one-term president if he is removed for doing what needs to be done and pissing off people in the process. Unfortunately, the spirit of politics is the spirit of remaining elected. You have to keep people happy.

This is the bane of Conservatism in government.

If you are doing the responsible thing, you have to cut money from some areas in order to keep others afloat. That is where we are as a nation right now. With the need to stay elected, however, there is little incentive for the politicians to do that, and instead they pay for constituent pet projects, fund social initiatives and shy away from the real changes that eventually have to be made.

The Conservatives have begun electing guys who talk big when it comes to doing the right thing. For a lot of these new guys, it’s too soon to tell whether or not they’ll get the job done. I hope they do, but I might just be feeling a little negative on the subject. For the politicians that are already in there, but are not doing what they tout, I hope their time to depart office comes soon.

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This is a cross-post from my own blog. You can catch a link to it by visiting my Twitter account, @joec_esquire.