Welcome, I'm Anastasia Glova bringing you the Cato Daily Podcast.

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In a recent Cato Daily commentary, Executive Vice President David Bose has brought attention

to the dissolution of the small government ideal within the Republican Party.

Today, we will ask him how this happened and what can be done to remedy the situation.

Republicans won control of Congress 12 years ago.

How have they lived up to the contract of America that they promised?

The Republicans took control of Congress in 1994 by declaring that Democrats had given us a government

that was too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public's money. But in 12 years the Republicans

have done everything they complained Democrats had done. They have spent over the past five

years 48% more money the fastest rising spending in many

years if not ever they have gotten the government involved in everything

from education to marriage to

banning marriage to subsidizing marriage to investigating

professional football and college football that's pretty intrusive and in terms of

big they've given us a government that is bigger and unfortunately more corrupt than the one they came in with.

So no, they haven't lived up to it very well.

Why have Republicans steered so far away from the small government ideals that brought them to

power?

One of the problems is that if you don't have a clear vision, you don't have anything to follow. And I think the Republicans lost the

vision they came in with. They came in with a Reaganite vision of less

...