Personally, I think that it is because, in the end, the growth of government empowers the GOP just as much as it does the Democrats.
Absolutely.
That is why the usual Leftist assertion of self-interest/greed applied only to free enterprise and business makes my blood boil. There's no one that has more ambition and self interest than government takers, officials, and bureaucrats whose self interest, greed, & fraud is driven by governmental growth so their nest egg can grow. Their self-interest is also boosted by corrupting coercive power over others. It clearly a win-lose scenario: they win, we lose by force.
The free market economy is a win-win scenario: the buyer and the seller both get what they want and it's all based on voluntary cooperation. Miserable Socialism doesn't hold a candle to the free market. So many on the Right don't get it.