What Exactly Does "Smaller Government" Mean?

[progressive hunter]

No, you are totally lacking in cognition.

totall,,

 

[Natural Citizen]

Less government means less force.

Government is force...

 

[Meister]

WHY would we want the working man to work longer, SO the rich & comfortable do not have to pay more taxes?

I'm willing to put money on the "rich and comfortable" are paying a lot more taxes than you, S&P

 

[Independent thinker]

DOGE boi said he was going to cut $2 trillion from government spending.

Yet, in December, co-presidents-elect Musk and Trump demanded the Republicans eliminate the debt ceiling. As I pointed out at the time, there is only one reason they would want the debt ceiling eliminated, and that is to allow for unlimited spending without any restraints.

Why have these two completely opposite goals not induced cognitive dissonance in MAGA world?

My guess is that would require cognition rather than blind, unquestioning devotion to the cult leader.

Smaller government? How does that explain the $3 trillion the recently passed House budget will add to the federal debt?

Why is this not ringing alarm bells in the MAGA camp? Is this all some stupid game in their minds?

It isn't a game, folks. Trump is already on track to shatter his previous debt record.

Here's a fact for you. Every president since JFK has left a better deficit situation to their successor than what they inherited. Every Republican president has left a worse deficit situation than they inherited.

House Budget Allows At Least $2.8 Trillion of Deficit Increases​

The budget’s reconciliation instructions pave the way for a bill that could add at least $2.8 trillion to deficits through FY 2034, or $3.4 to $4 trillion of debt including interest costs.


.

The fraud and wasteful spending that has been found is money that was already spent, which won't be spent again next year. Meanwhile, the debt continues at this very moment.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Why is this not ringing alarm bells in the MAGA camp? Is this all some stupid game in their minds?

Because it's the Trump Cult made up of blind partisan hacks.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Smaller FEDERAL government means that less money will be wasted on "overhead" and more money will flow to the states, the ED department is a perfect example, cost went up and scores went down when ED was created. Taxpayers need vouchers to send their kids to the schools they prefer.

FEMA is another example, your help depended upon which politician's sign is in your front yard.

The IRS is another example, Lois Lerner punished conservative organizations. STATES can cover all of the environmental, healthcare, and other areas that the Federal government over-regulates.

The FBI went way outside their lane, investigating Catholics, investigating parents, censoring real stories like Hunter's laptop, arresting Sisters of the Poor, falsifying evidence to get a FISA warrant, operation Crossfire-Hurricane, etc...

Nothing Trump and Republicans are doing will make government smaller or save money

And small government is far much more than just reckless, irresponsible tax cuts and deregulation.

 

[playtime]

it means less active intrusion into knowing people's biz'nez, when it comes to what kind of guns & how many one owns, but certainly not including a woman's bodily biz'nez, or what is behind certain people's bedroom doors.

 

[g5000]

1. We don't know who pays for tariffs.

Um, yes we do know.

The importer pays the tariffs.

And then, in the end, you do.

 

[Hector12]

basically anything that pisses off democrats,,

That appeals to you, doesn't it.

 

[sealybobo]

DOGE boi said he was going to cut $2 trillion from government spending.

Yet, in December, co-presidents-elect Musk and Trump demanded the Republicans eliminate the debt ceiling. As I pointed out at the time, there is only one reason they would want the debt ceiling eliminated, and that is to allow for unlimited spending without any restraints.

Why have these two completely opposite goals not induced cognitive dissonance in MAGA world?

My guess is that would require cognition rather than blind, unquestioning devotion to the cult leader.

Smaller government? How does that explain the $3 trillion the recently passed House budget will add to the federal debt?

Why is this not ringing alarm bells in the MAGA camp? Is this all some stupid game in their minds?

It isn't a game, folks. Trump is already on track to shatter his previous debt record.

Here's a fact for you. Every president since JFK has left a better deficit situation to their successor than what they inherited. Every Republican president has left a worse deficit situation than they inherited.

House Budget Allows At Least $2.8 Trillion of Deficit Increases​

The budget’s reconciliation instructions pave the way for a bill that could add at least $2.8 trillion to deficits through FY 2034, or $3.4 to $4 trillion of debt including interest costs.


.

This will explain what Republicans mean by smaller government

"You Can't Govern if You Don't Believe in Government"

In a May 25, 2001 interview, Grover Norquist told National Public Radio's Mara Liasson, "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub." Norquist got his wish.

www.thomhartmann.com

In other words, too small to go after tax cheats or get involved with cleaning up the environment. No EPA for example. Or Department of Energy or Education.

But yesterday I read a Republican is trying to make internet porn illegal. Now that's big government taking your freedoms away and invading your privacy.

 

[g5000]

But yesterday I read a Republican is trying to make internet porn illegal. Now that's big government taking your freedoms away and invading your privacy.

That's pretty funny considering the RNC invited an internet porn star to endorse Trump on national television.

And the MAGA cult didn't even blink.

That's how far gone they are. That's how much Trump has destroyed their moral code.

 

[sealybobo]

That's pretty funny considering the RNC invited an internet porn star to endorse Trump on national television.

And the MAGA cult didn't even blink.

That's how far gone they are. That's how much Trump has destroyed their moral code.

Sen. Mike Lee’s obscenity bill is a free speech nightmare straight out of Project 2025’s playbook​

The Utah Republican introduced the Senate version of the “Interstate Obscenity Definition Act” (IODA) — a recycled attempt to ban online pornography nationwide.

A new bill in Congress threatens to dictate what Americans can read, watch and say online. On May 8, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah and Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., introduced the “Interstate Obscenity Definition Act” (IODA) — a recycled attempt to ban online pornography nationwide.

While concerns about pornography, including moral and religious ones, are part of any healthy public debate, this bill does something far more dangerous: It empowers the federal government to police speech based on subjective values. When lawmakers try to enforce the beliefs of some Americans at the expense of others’ rights, they cross a constitutional line — and put the First Amendment at risk.

 

[Mac1958]

That's how far gone they are. That's how much Trump has destroyed their moral code.

I guess that demonstrates how weak the code has been all along.

Regarding "smaller government", we're learning in real time that the physical size of government, and even the size of government spending, are not the same as government influence and control.

This adminstration is all about threats, intimidation, punishment, bullying and control. THAT doesn't cost ANYTHING.