About once every decade or so, the GOP decides that the way back to power runs through austerity. They talk about getting back in touch with small government principles, the usual shibboleths are pronounced, the names of Reagan and Goldwater are invoked. And it usually ends horribly.
I mean, Barry G. lost a humiliating defeat. Reagan won, but only after two bitter losses, after which he had to drop demands to kill social security and Medicare. Newt Gingrich's Medicare cuts and shutdown did him in, and since then small government sentiment has died down. Until now.
Then again, a belief that government should be small doesn't really apply to securing loans for businesses, does it? As usual, the Republicans have proven themselves to be the party of the rich and of parochial interests. The idea that mainstream politicians object to American workers being paid well is preposterous. Selling a bailout to the public is fraught, but allowing major businesses to fail for what? Union busting? is rather craven, and reflects that famous political instinct that has lost the GOP dozens of congressional seats in the past few years. If the big three go under, the Democrats will pin it on Republicans, and with good reason. But who needs the Midwest anyway?
The reading of public opinion here is telling. Sure, people like the idea of "small government" and they don't like the idea of bailing out rich people. But they don't like the effects of not bailing them out, either, and ten billion or so is not a huge price to pay for keeping half a million people in work for a while. One major problem with the right is that, in the absence of true visionaries, technocrats like Boehner are just mindlessly reapplying the old rightist dogma to a changing society. They stick to their mantras of how America is center-right blah blah blah, but with weak political instincts. They are not going to be trusted with anything for some time, I expect.
