Now that we all agree, what do we do about it?
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A quarter century after the Reagan revolution and a dozen years after Republicans vaulted into control of Congress, a new CNN poll finds most Americans still agree with the bedrock conservative premise that, as the Gipper put it, "government is not the answer to our problems -- government is the problem."
The poll released Friday also showed that an overwhelming majority of Americans perceive, correctly, that the size and cost of government have gone up in the past four years, when Republicans have had a grip on the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House.
Discretionary spending grew from $649 billion in fiscal year 2001 to $968 billion in fiscal year 2005, an increase of $319 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Things like this simultaneously make me hopeful for America's future and despise the Republican Party. What this CNN poll shows is that the Republicans could run on a solidly fiscally conservative agenda and probably win hands down without the pork--but they do it anyway! That right there shows where the true heart of the entrenched leadership of that party stands.
Which... brings me to that age old talking point: the Democrats would be worse. How so? I want to see "respectable" Republicans like Hugh Hewitt go on the air, quoted saying that we will end up with bonafide Socialism with state ownership of the means of production if the Democrats win which is the only thing that would be substantially worse than what we have today.
But we all know the commentariate won't do that because it would simultaneously accomplish a few things for the Democrats. It would expose the few differences between them and the Republicans, make the Republicans' supporters look stupid and out of touch, and make more people question how much the Republicans have actually done.
Mmmm, as nice as it is to hear that. I can't help but think that releasing this poll was just a typical attempt to cleave the libertarian/paleo-conservative wing of the Republicans from the Guns-and-Butter wing.
But regardless of group wins this round of King of The Hill at the Potomac Playpin, you can rest assured the course of events which transpire will be within a firmly predicted and acceptable permutation of possible outcomes.
SPP, Real ID, and America in lock-step formation with it all.
I've said it before that if the LP would just adopt some more common sense platforms like ending its asinine support for open borders policy and run serious candidates, it could win some pretty big gains at least at the state level along with some seats in Congress. Unfortunately, it seems that they are content to be a debate society with the occassional politician winning office.
Things will have to get worse before people will actually vote for them because until then, they'll just be seen as a joke...