posted on December 27, 2000 06:43:07 AM new
One of the reasons so many Americans have supported the Republican Party and continue to do so is because they believe the claim routinely made by so many GOP politicians that they are "the party of small government." Many people have swallowed their disgust with the total betrayal of the Republicans on social issues because they think the party is at least "cutting government back to size." After all, we all remember the "Contract with America," don't we?
Guess what? The Republican-controlled 106th Congress is spending money on the welfare state's social programs at a rate that would make Lyndon Johnson dizzy with delight. The Senate recently approved increased federal social(ist) spending for the next two years of 11.3 percent after adjusting for inflation. This is the most dramatic growth in welfare state spending since 1978, when both houses of Congress were controlled by the Republicans' twin brothers and sisters, the Democrats.
The Republicans want the IRS budget to increase by 11 percent. But aren't they the party that pretends to be appalled at IRS abuses?
Although the federal government already owns most of the Western states and Alaska, keeping them in a virtual colonial relationship vis a vis the central government, the Republicans want to vastly expand the budget on federal land purchases and land conservation. But aren't the Republicans the party that wants to return control of government to the people at the state and local levels?
Ha, ha, ha. According to Stephen Moore, writing in the June 9 edition of Human Events, even the major programs the Contract with America promised would be eliminated have actually grown by 17 percent since the Republicans took control of Congress after the 1994 election.
