By 2000 conservatives knew that even Americans rhetorically opposed to "big government" are, when voting, defenders of the welfare state. Social Security and Medicare are the two most popular and biggest components of government (together, a third of federal outlays and rising as the population ages). Candidate Bush promised to strengthen the New Deal's emblematic achievement (Social Security) and to add a prescription drug entitlement to the Great Society's (Medicare). Since 2001 he has increased federal spending 48 percent on K-12 education.
Limited government is dead.
12 posted on 01/31/2004 10:13:02 PM PST by Huck
(Hold on to your wallet--the President's awake!)
It suffered a pretty big body blow in 1996, and further in 1998, when after the 1994 elections, they actually tried to do conservative things in earnest - and got little popular support.