Who’s For Limited Government Now?

The lead story in the Post this morning talks about how Congress has begun to focus more (and more publicly) on domestic economic policy. The idea, basically, is that the public has shifted away from its small-government leanings and Republicans are making waves about following.

Even Republicans see a growing unease as the driving force in the domestic policy resurgence.

“There’s no question the economy is good, but it’s not a good for everybody,” said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio.). “When you look at family incomes, there hasn’t been much rise. But there has been increased health-care costs, increased energy costs.”

And so what policies are we seeing as a result? Proposals for massive spending on health care; $16 billion in new energy taxes. If you think something is too expensive, the solution isn’t more government spending, more taxes, more wasteful programs. Adding a government middleman doesn’t make things cheaper.

And then there’s this:

In December 1995, at the height of the Republican Revolution, a less-intrusive government won out, 62 percent to 32 percent. This month, a more activist government won out, 55 percent to 38 percent. Independent voters sided with government activism, 52 percent to 39 percent.

But Republican voters, by a margin of 62 to 32 percent, still say government is doing too much.

“The big tectonic plates of American politics are shifting, and the old Republican policies of limited government aren’t working like they used to,” Schumer said. “Their problem is, the Republican primary vote is still the old George Bush coalition — strong foreign policy, cut taxes, cut government, family values. But Americans aren’t there anymore.”

Well, the poll numbers jibe with what I’ve seen, as well as my general sense of the public mood. Small government policies aren’t as popular as they used to be. But that doesn’t mean the GOP ought to simply give up its principles and pursue them. We’ve already seen how that works; the backlash against fiscal conservatism is, in large part, a result of the many Republican failures over the past few years–failures that have everything to do with not taking a hard line on taxes, spending, and needless government regulation.

The real problem is that, for several years now, the GOP has failed to be the party of fiscal discipline. Cato’s Michael Tanner wrote an entire book on the topic, Leviathan on the Right, about how Republicans, under Bush’s lead, gave up on limited government. So pardon me if I’m skeptical when I read this in the article:

…[T]he GOP may be having an identity crisis. Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and President Bush have met regularly on what Boehner calls his “rebranding” initiative: winning back for the GOP the mantle of fiscal discipline and limited government.

Well, better late than never, I guess, but a last-ditch attempt for legacy and relevance doesn’t strike me as the way forward.