Rep. Robert Inglis<\/a><\/span> (R-S.C.) to “keep your government hands off my Medicare.” <\/p>\n “I had to politely explain that, ‘Actually, sir, your health care is being provided by the government,’ ” Inglis recalled. “But he wasn’t having any of it.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
My liberal friends often think of this tension as hypocrisy. Conservatives want to have their government-funded cake, while also drinking the small-government Kool-Aid.<\/p>\n
I think it’s more complicated than that.<\/p>\n
When I researched rural conservative culture for my book, Welcome to the Homeland, a few years ago, I found that many on the right suffer a kind of split-personality on this issue.<\/p>\n
I met farmers who receive huge government subsidies every year, who railed against foodstamp programs for poor urban families.<\/p>\n
I talked with politicians from districts where government is the number one employer — politicians who grub constantly for more state and Federal spending — convinced that they embody the “small government” ideal.<\/p>\n
I met with government workers who have never started a business, who’ve never worked a day in their lives in the private sector, who still believe that they’re part of America’s entrepreneurial culture.<\/p>\n
I interviewed teachers who were pushing for higher wages and benefits, while also railing against soaring property taxes.<\/p>\n
Part of this disconnect is a reflection of our pandering politics. Our leaders have told too many Americans for too long that they can have their big government programs without big taxes. <\/p>\n
President Barack Obama is promising to revolutionize health care for middle class Americans without boosting taxes for middle class voters.<\/p>\n
Conservatives are right to suspect that Mr. Obama is at the very least bending the truth. <\/p>\n
But their own armchair conservatism is largely to blame. <\/p>\n
If Republicans had used the last decade to pioneer a different model, forcing the private sector to improve healthcare without a big government intervention, while creating a smaller, leaner and more efficient Federal bureaucracy, we wouldn’t be in this pickle.<\/p>\n
Instead, conservatives perpetuated the myth that you can feed from the government trough and make use of the government safety net, while still claiming to be a free-market warrior. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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