What's the Opposite of Small?

A recent post on the blog, Texas Politics Student Project, author W. R. Clements addresses the Republican Party ideology that government should exist in a small form. To quote the GOP directly, they state that:

The Republican Party, like our nation's founders,believes that government must belimited so that it never becomes powerful enough to infringe on therights of individuals.

Well, as Clements also points out, they continually attempt to do just the opposite. I absolutely couldn’t agree with Clements more! We have seen the GOP in Texas contradicting that official statement above with such things as the Sonogram Bill. That interference from the government does indeed “infringe on the rights of individuals.” As it stands now, we will probably never see any progress in legalizing same-sex marriages in the state. The continued cuts in funding to education and health care…. that’s not helping out either.  

I’ve said this before (probably in my blog too) and I wholeheartedly believe that a collusive relationship between government and business serves no great purpose. It definitely does not reduce the power of the government by keeping this relationship alive. Money is the driver behind the GOP’s motivations. They are not willing to risk asking for corporations to cough up a little more money. Corporations are given tax breaks while low-income families suffer through the oppressive regressive tax system in Texas. I suppose the politicians do not want to hurt the feeling of potential campaign contributors.  Instead, they are actually expanding, not limiting, their power by taking extra away from the poor. 

I disagree with Clements that it is very difficult to hear a discernable message in the recent Republican Party presidential debates. Yes, the candidates are taking a lot of craziness, so it can be quite tricky to filter through the words they are speaking. The message is quite clear to me. They are paranoid. Terrorism, immigration, spending money, abortion, homosexuality, civil rights in general and so on. They are scared! You can see that in the bills they create and the programs they cut. 

But, W. R. Clements, you are right. In the hands of the Republican Party, government has done nothing but get bigger. 

Take a moment and check out the GOP's platform right here.