That Frothy Mixture of Statism and the Dems

Matt Welch | August 4, 2005

Lest you think that libertarian-bashing by the GOP makes the Dems a better bet, consider this Matthew Yglesias warning that the Republican Class of '94 was more dangerous than the anti-Christs currently in charge:

Part of that smarter, more substantive early-to-mid nineties vintage GOP was a much more robust commitment to paring back the federal government. That was more intellectually and morally honest than the racket Bush and DeLay are running, but also more objectively pernicious. They were going to shutter the Departments of Education and Energy (and, I think, another one, but it might have been Commerce which really does deserve to go) cut Medicare, reform AFDC in a much more punitive manner than was eventually achieved, etc., etc., etc. [...]

[T]he bloated, corrupt Rightwingery Version 2.0 we have today is less harmful, though more disgusting, than the original item.

So, "disgusting" government corruption and bloat, and a unified government run by your political opponents, is the price you must pay for keeping the Department of Energy. Good to know.