Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Big Government Conservatism

One of the most basic tenets of Conservative ideology is the preference for small government and a limited role of the state. If that is the case, then why has Bush presided over a massive expansion of the state during his presidency? The same was true of Nixon, who upheld a reputation as a conservative yet expanded the size and role of the scope.

Here are three trends in Bush's presidency:
(I stole these from here)

1. Embrace of very broad theories of executive power. It was Nixon who famously said, "when the president does it that means it's not illegal." Bush has not gone quite that far, but he has come very close.
2. Rhetorical criticism of affirmative action coupled with tacit support of racial preferences at the level of actual policy.
3. Support for a massive expansion of the federal role in health care provision (Bush's medicare prescription drug bill; Nixon's proposal to institute national health insurance).

The Cato institute found that George W. Bush outspent liberal presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative thinktank, agreed with Cato's assessment.

If you're going to claim that you support genuine Republican values such as limiting the role and size of the state, as well as George W. Bush, you've got some splainin' to do.

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