https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... overnment/
[Work requirements (and documentation of meeting work requirements) as a condition to receiving government aid 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
In most of these cases, there isn’t much question of how much money the government is going to spend, at least not directly. After all, banning books costs almost nothing; it’s certainly cheaper than educating children. But a party that actually believes in “limited government” doesn’t tell you what you can read, what you can say, what clothes you can wear or what medical care you can get.
There’s a good case to be made that the GOP never really favored limited government; it has always been an idea Republicans apply only to goals and purposes they don’t like in the first place, just as they only begin complaining about the deficit and debt when Democrats are in power.
During his Wall Street remarks, McCarthy used the word “spending” more than 25 times, often modified with words such as “reckless,” “excessive” and “out-of-control.” That’s how he would like to portray government when it’s trying to provide things such as health coverage or food: a gigantic, lumbering beast, squashing your freedom under its massive weight.
But spending money isn’t the only thing that makes government “big.” Today’s Republicans have a vision of a government that provides fewer social services but is vastly more invasive in everyone’s lives. You can call it many things; just don’t be fooled into thinking it’s small.
