Big Government

One of the ideas that conservatives turn to very consistently when you ask them what they have to offer is the assertion that they are in favor of small government. Of course the reality is more complicated than that. On some issues they are in favor of smaller government, but on many others they are in favor of larger government. Let's take a look at how this tends to break down.

Conservatives want more government:
military spending
lots of military spending (worth mentioning twice)
war
interventionist foreign policy
government secrets/less transparency
domestic wiretapping
prisons
suspension of habeas corpus/indefinite denention
police departments
banning gay marriage
criminalizing abortion
criminalizing homelessness
state executions
immigration enforcement
prescription drug coverage (handouts to pharmaceuticals)

Conservatives want less government:
social security
medicare
health care reform
unemployment insurance
SCHIP
environmental protection
market regulation
consumer protection
science and research investment
international aid (the kind that doesn't go to dictators)
corporate tax exemptions
taxes on wealthiest 1%
rescuing people from hurricanes

The really irritating part is that I hear this meme repeated by even smart moderates and liberals, people who should know better. Conservatism does not represent small government, at least not the thread of conservatism that has come to completely dominate the Republican party. What is the theme of these two lists, the thread that links them all?

Kos points it out for us: it's compassion. The 'compassionate conservatism' line was a political victory for W precisely because it was a giant lie.

Conservatives seem to think that any problem that can't be ignored should be solved by force. And that ordinary people don't deserve the protection of the government, they have to save themselves. While on the other hand, the wealthy and powerful are important and vital to the country and should be promoted and bailed out when they get into trouble.

One more thing: large budget deficits and national debt accumulated during Republican terms in office are not an accident. Long-term government bankruptcy is a GOP strategy intended to generate excuses to do nothing in terms of helping ordinary Americans. If you point out that money could be easily saved from the military budget with no adverse effect on national security then of course you are called all sorts of names.