The party of big, intrusive government? That would be the GOP
The party of big, intrusive government? That would be the GOP.
By Paul Waldman
Columnist
April 19, 2023 at 6:30 a.m. EDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/19/mccarthy-republicans-big-government/
"SNIP........
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy went to Wall Street on Monday to reiterate the Republican Party’s threat to wreck the U.S. economy by engineering a default on the country’s debts unless its vague demands for spending cuts are met. McCarthy (Calif.) wants this presented as a debate between advocates of “big government” and “small government,” which is how it is commonly understood.
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In fact, this debate is really between two different brands of “big” government. It’s true that Democrats generally want government to spend more money, while Republicans want it to spend less — at least on social services. (They’re happy, though, to spend enormous amounts on certain things, including the military.) But Republicans also want government to be much more intrusive and involved in Americans’ lives, watching them for questionable behavior and limiting the choices they make.
Let’s take one example that McCarthy and Republicans are getting ready to propose: the imposition of “work requirements” for the tens of millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid for health insurance or food stamps to feed their families. If you’re looking for big government, work requirements are it.
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This is just one way that the push to have government spend less money can wind up making government more punitive and intrusive in people’s lives. Now, let’s consider some of the other things Republicans have been doing lately:
* Making it illegal for women to get abortions in Republican-run states, including trying to ban minors from traveling to another state to get an abortion
* Trying to stop women in every state from accessing medication abortions
* Outlawing medical care for transgender youth that their parents want for them
* Outlawing medical care for transgender adults
* Banning drag performances
* Banning websites Republican legislators don’t like
* Banning books from schools and public libraries
* Forbidding discussions of systemic racism in schools and universities
* Banning diversity efforts in higher education
* Attempting to make it illegal for fund managers to consider environmental, social and governance goals in some investment decisions
* Making it unlawful for liberal cities in conservative states to pass their own laws according to their residents’ wishes
* Going after individual companies that don’t toe the conservative line
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Applegrove:
Making it hard to meet work requirements when on say Medicaid with bureaucracy is gumming up the system in the same way corruption does- making it harder to get ahead. Protecting the people at the top by not helping the poor so there is less competition for monied opportunities and democracy (and the resulting fighting of corruption) as the poor are busy struggling.
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