There is a debate over at Cato Unbound on the question: The GOP and Limited Government: Do They Have a Future Together?
When it comes to this issue, I’m a bit of a fatalist. I don’t think that there’s any hope for the Republican Party to become a true limited government party until the system collapses under the weight of government spending, especially Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. In other words, nothing will be done until there is a fiscal disaster that wakes people up to the fact that big government is unsustainable just as Sept. 11 woke people up to the threat of terrorism. Following Sept. 11, neoconservatives gained credibility because their philosophy of transforming the Middle East suddenly became relevant as the U.S. decided how to respond to the terrorist threat. In much the same way, once the impending fiscal disaster becomes reality, libertarian proposals for privatizing Social Security, deregulating health care, etc., will suddenly become relevant.
One unfortunate quirk in human nature is that we tend to be focused on the short term. Polls show that in an abstract sense, most Americans are concerned about the $9 trillion federal debt and the looming entitlement crisis, but people are just not willing to sacrifice their favorite government program to resolve the problem. It’s sort of like a person who eats too much and slowly gets heavier and heavier until he is morbidly obese. Even though he knows that he should cut back on food to improve his health, future health risks are completely abstract whereas bacon double cheeseburgers, french fries and apple pies a la mode provide instant gratification. However, were that person to suffer a heart attack, he would be much more likely to adjust his eating habits. He’s still focused on the short term, but now his health is a short-term problem rather than an abstract long term one. That’s why Americans won’t be willing to cut back on big government until financial disaster strikes and the unsustainable spending levels affect them in the short term.
This doesn’t mean that those of us who believe in limited government should abandon our fight. It’s just that we have to be aware that we’re literally up against human nature.