I'm getting a little tired of hearing the GOP's talking point about Democrats being about big government. They're the "tax and spend" liberals!
I'm not saying this claim is necessarily inaccurate. Democrats do tend to like to spend, but guess what? So do Republicans. The Republicans of the past 30+ years are no longer those truly conservative, small-government Republicans. Spending increased by leaps and bounds under Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. Spending increased under Bill Clinton as well, but not nearly as much as the three before-mentioned Republican presidents.
The two parties just differ on how to prioritize the spending. Democrats tend to spend more time worrying about how to distribute money to social causes, like to health care, education, etc. Republicans tend to be more focused on defense-spending and cutting taxes for the wealthy. Both parties spend an extraordinary amount of money, but if anything in recent decades, the GOP have been bigger spenders than the Democrats.
I've also heard the argument that big government isn't just about spending money, but about protecting our freedoms and/or stripping us of freedoms. Okay. Democrats tend to be more about corporate regulation and Republicans tend to be more about individual regulation. Again, both believe in regulation of some kind, but differ on where to go about that.
A lot of times, it's all about what one feels is important and they see this as the exception rather than the trend. For Republicans, they may not see excessive defense-spending as big spending, but essential. They may not see health care reform in the same light, so they claim that to be big spending as opposed to essential. The direct opposite may be true for Democrats.
The two parties are more alike than we'd like to admit when it comes to the very base of issues. However, when we go into details, that's when they go vastly different directions. For the time being, though, the fact of the matter is that both parties are big spenders. They're both about big government and if anything, the GOP has outdone the Democratic Party on those fronts in recent decades.
I'm not saying this claim is necessarily inaccurate. Democrats do tend to like to spend, but guess what? So do Republicans. The Republicans of the past 30+ years are no longer those truly conservative, small-government Republicans. Spending increased by leaps and bounds under Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. Spending increased under Bill Clinton as well, but not nearly as much as the three before-mentioned Republican presidents.
The two parties just differ on how to prioritize the spending. Democrats tend to spend more time worrying about how to distribute money to social causes, like to health care, education, etc. Republicans tend to be more focused on defense-spending and cutting taxes for the wealthy. Both parties spend an extraordinary amount of money, but if anything in recent decades, the GOP have been bigger spenders than the Democrats.
I've also heard the argument that big government isn't just about spending money, but about protecting our freedoms and/or stripping us of freedoms. Okay. Democrats tend to be more about corporate regulation and Republicans tend to be more about individual regulation. Again, both believe in regulation of some kind, but differ on where to go about that.
A lot of times, it's all about what one feels is important and they see this as the exception rather than the trend. For Republicans, they may not see excessive defense-spending as big spending, but essential. They may not see health care reform in the same light, so they claim that to be big spending as opposed to essential. The direct opposite may be true for Democrats.
The two parties are more alike than we'd like to admit when it comes to the very base of issues. However, when we go into details, that's when they go vastly different directions. For the time being, though, the fact of the matter is that both parties are big spenders. They're both about big government and if anything, the GOP has outdone the Democratic Party on those fronts in recent decades.
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