The GOP, despite controlling every piece of the federal government showered Democrats with concessions in an effort to pass a budget continuation resolution. Cato Institute scholar Dan Mitchell explains that while the GOP may control the government, “there’s not a governing majority for smaller government.” With too many Republicans still looking for handouts and big government spending for their constituencies, it’s unlikely America will anything but business as usual from Congress. Dan writes:
Even more depressing, I point out that only Trump has the power to turn things around. Yet I see very little evidence that he, a) believes in smaller government, or b) is willing to expend any political capital to achieve smaller government.
To make matters worse, Republicans have convinced themselves that they lose the spin battle whenever there is a shutdown or some other high-stakes fiscal fight with Democrats.
For what it’s worth, I’m trying to remind Republicans that it is in their long-run political interests to do the right thing (as Reagan demonstrated). That’s why, in the first interview, I said they need to gut Obamacare and lower taxes if they want to do well in the 2018 and 2020 elections.
But don’t hold your breath waiting for the “stupid party” to behave intelligently.
Read more here.
Dan Mitchell Bemoaning the Lack of Support for Smaller Government on Capitol Hill
Originally posted May 3, 2017.
