I’ve been confused for a long time how the Republican party is still allowed to claim the mantle as being the party for small government. Although they want lower taxes none of their other policies lead to an actual reduction in government. It seems irresponsible to complain about taxes being too high while wanting to increase the size and spending of government.

Although the rhetoric states that the Republican party wants to make government smaller, it is through thought experiments that will never play out. The discussion is on eliminating things like the Department of Education or all of the welfare programs that account for less than 1% of federal spending.

At the same time as wanting these minor reductions in spending, their platform results in increased spending on intelligence, military, and immigration services that far exceeds any suggested reductions.

The focus of the party seems to be on reducing personal freedoms and increasing barriers to entry for small business. Their main constituents are large, entrenched companies that have been stated to be seen as “people.” This seems to be the most important people for the Republican party. Obviously, this makes sense since they are the ones financing the party.