Is one of the reasons the GOP wants to shrink government is because they

[applegrove]

think that in the future there will be no middle class to pay the taxes required to support such a government? Just wondering what their assumptions are.

[freshwest]

1. Perhaps. Also, when it fails they can swoop in and privatize. Future taxes will go to them directly.

[yardwork]

5. You said it better and more succinctly than I did.

[freshwest]

7. I've been fighting these forces for years. Fascism is profitable and seduces many people.

Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power. ~ Benito Mussolini

This is happening in every state. When arguing for the Commons, for unions, public workers, parks, schools and all the other protections that government has given us to resist religious and corporate tyranny, one finds one's opponents well-funded, zealous and possessing a list of evildoers.

If you argue for the government doing anything, you are the problem. As soon as they wrest control of human services to private enterprises, all records turn into proprietary information. All operations must provide profit, even if people die.

There is no way to get accountability, as they just change their brand and hide their assets. They are very enthusiastic and have all the confidence of a used car saleman.

[yardwork]

12. THIS. It all comes down to this. I've seen it all my life, gathering steam.

That's why socialism has been turned into a bad word in the public consciousness. It's incredibly sad.

[siligut]

14. The no accountability is their lifeblood

They are brazen.

[freshwest]

15. And I've found them ready to employ any tactic, no matter how unethical to get their contracts.

[siligut]

17. Exactly, because once they have it they can run with it

Nothing to stop them.

[Sherman A1]

2. But, they don't want to shrink the government

They only want the parts of it that THEY want and they want those parts expanded and they want someone else to pay for them.

[annabanana]

3. Thieves NEVER want cops to be well funded & effective.

Last edited Wed Jan 30, 2013, 10:24 PM - Edit history (1)

Pretty simple, actually.

[yardwork]

4. It's because the corporations want to get their hands on our tax dollars.

For decades we've been told that private enterprise is more efficient than the government. This is an effort to get us to go along with privatizing everything. They never mention the profits that will be skimmed off the top. Very, very high profits. Remember the effort to turn social security over to Wall Street? The bankers are salivating at those billions - there are profits to be made!

The private insurance industry is already raking in the dough being allowed to profit over health care. Now the fat cats have their eyes on the postal service, even the National Weather Service is under assault. And don't get me started on education. Basically, the industrialists see a lot of wasted profit when monies and services are allowed to stay in public hands, pooled for the good of the public.

[2pooped2pop]

6. They don't want to shrink government.

It makes a good sound byte for their basement dwelling faux watching, followers, but they do not want to shrink government and don't.

They want smaller government when it means helping the poor. They want bigger government when it means helping the rick steal more.

They want smaller government when it means regulations on the rich.
THey want bigger government when it means regulations on everyone else.

They gots theirs, now they don't want you to have any way to get yours.

[underpants]

8. Government stunts racist and polluters - that is it

no really that complicated

[RedCappedBandit]

9. What they mean by 'small government'

is deregulation and privatization of resources and services. It's nothing more than a corporate ploy, and sheep buy into it thinking they're going to save money on taxes.

When it comes to protecting their corporate interests, however, they're all for huge government. They want the US military be powerful enough to use the people's tax dollars to enforce their neoliberal agenda around the globe with zero accountability for themselves.

Here at home, they want to weaken things like social services so that they can privatize them, in effect funneling tax dollars into their shareholders' pockets.

[Still Sensible]

10. Not at all. They discovered in 1980 that if you

argue that the government is the problem, and

that the government is the cause of peoples' problems, and

gee, people don't like taxes so we will always say taxes are too high, and

we will always promise to lower taxes.... then

We win the Simpleton's votes!

Mix with frequent mentions of welfare queens, lazy "takers," and demonize scary people like minorities...

And SHAZAM we have a broad base and win a lot of elections!

The GOP wants to shrink government because the Reagan-come-Norquist approach has worked for more than 30 years.

[zbdent]

11. They want to shrink the part of government

which actually can do something to stop corporations from raping the regular people ...

[EC]

13. Well, for some reason

they want more violence and more stupidity...? That could be as good an explanation as possible. I always said the south was going to continue trying to get their free labor back in one name or another. Slavery, indentured....we're all going to be property .

[applegrove]

20. Maybe they do want more violence so that people are afraid and think only

of the safety of their families and do not have empathy for those outside their families...creating a new generation of people who will vote GOP, not for the common good of the people.

[Coyotl]

16. They want to break up the USA and make off with the public lands and minerals in particular.

The Plutocrats who want to do this manipulate the GOP.

[octoberlib]

18. They don't really want to shrink government

They just want to shrink or get rid of the social safety net so they can enlarge the Defense Dept and increase military spending, give more tax cuts to the wealthy and subsidies to large corporations. They want to shrink it in one area so they can enlarge it in another. It's all big government.

[davekriss]

19. Jefferson said it best

"Where the law of the majority ceases to be acknowledged, there government ends, the law of the strongest takes its place, and life and property are his who can take them." --Thomas Jefferson to Annapolis Citizens, 1809. ME 16:337

Republicans protect and advance the interests of the already powerful. Where democracy retreats, they step in. They want one dollar, one vote. Those with more dollars then have all the say in all things. It is inhumane, unjust, anti-democratic, authoritarian, even totalitarian if the top 0.1% get their way.