a general question about Republicans...

[jschaefer]

I was listening to a talk show and they said republicans just want to spend a little less than democrats but keep big government.

I don't get it. Why do they want to basically be democrat light?
It doesn't make sense to me. Why would small government people vote for them if that's all they have to offer?

Anyways, why don't they want smaller government?

Thanks for any insights.

[Exponent]

This may be nowhere near the whole truth, but it has been my observation that most people, regardless of party affiliation, want small government in contexts where the government is restricting their ability to do what they want, but want big government in contexts where some non-government entity is restricting their ability to do what they want.

Which means that the small-government/big-government stuff is mostly rhetoric, not a political philosophy truly held and practiced. Which aligns with what a lot of people here have been saying (as well as Paul himself): Republicans and Democrats aren't really all that much different, but the rhetoric makes them sound dramatically different. It's almost all talk though. And where it isn't just superficial talk, it's typically just minor disagreements about how government should be big, not how big government should be.

[Soca Taliban]

The only difference between most of the republicans and democrats is in which portion of your life they don't mind gov't controlling.

[gls]

Both parties and the media are controlled by extremely wealthy and connected people who benefit greatly from the big government status-quo.

The Ron Paul 2012 campaign is evidence of the false left-right narrative coming apart at the seams.

[Zippyjuan]

Both sides like to spend money they don't have because voters like it when you offer them things- and votes are how they get their jobs. Vote for me and I will give you things. They just differ on what they would like to spend the money on. People may not like it but at least in their favor Democrats are more likely to try to pay for things- through higher taxes. Cutting taxes while still increasing spending makes the debt even worse.