Economist blows the lid off of the biggest conservative lie about government

[DirkGently]

1. "Virtually a religious commitment."

For decades, conservatives and Republicans have pushed this "Government IS the problem / drown it in the bathtub" lie.

Along with this is the implicit assumption that business owners "create wealth," and workers are all overpaid.

It's never been true, economically, practically, or otherwise. Economists don't think it; history doesn't bear it out.

Which ties in with where Republicans are now, which is a sense of utter entitlement to their own reality. Ben Carson understands science, but feels it's okay to hawk aloe vera pills as miracle cures, or that evolution is nonsense because it means all the apes should be humans by now. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul are well aware that literally no economists believe we could base the money supply on how much "gold" anyone has.

We have zero net immigration from Mexico at the moment, and the credible information on the impact of undocumented workers is that they contribute more to the economy than they take out. And yet the main talking point of the most successful candidate thus far is that we should build an enormous, physically impossible wall across our border, and attempt to ship 11 million people out of the country.

And yet not only are these viable positions to take for Republican politicians of national stature, but they are almost required.

Look at who their enemies are: JOURNALISTS, TEACHERS, AND SCIENTISTS. In other words, anyone in a position to relate reliable information from the real world -- all dismissed under the rubric of "bias."

We are not just up against people who disagree with us, but people who have been persuaded to reject reality as a basis from which to form their opinions.