Republicans Need to Be the Party of Small Government, Not Just Say They Are

Despite the fact that I tell everyone I’m a libertarian, the fact that I vote Republican the vast majority of the time probably makes me one by action. Normally, this doesn’t bother me because as a fan of small government, Republicans and I generally align. I support them, defend them, and encourage them.

So you can imagine my anger when my support and defense is essentially spat on when a Republicans turn around embrace some form of big government.

Imagine my disappointment when Rep. Dan Crenshaw supported ideas that resemble red flag laws, or when President Donald Trump actually banned bump stocks, making him more of a gun-control president than Barack Obama.

These moments are horrible, not just because it practices big government, but because it’s essentially proof that no matter what party is in power, big government is inevitable. It leaves one with the feeling that at any time, even the party who you support for the sake of shrinking government will grow it.

This may seem like a small thing, but today Trump signaled he’s wanting to ban vaping.

.@realDonaldTrump announces in the Oval just now that the Admin wants to ban all non-tobacco flavored e-cigarette vapes from the market. The move is aimed at dissuading young people from taking up vaping.

— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) September 11, 2019

The product of e-cigarettes is a multi-billion dollar industry with stores relying on the sale of pens and flavors to help keep themselves in business. If Trump wipes it off the map with a stroke of his pen, it will crash this market and in the process a lot of people’s livelihoods.

All in the name of trying to get young people to stop vaping. I don’t even vape, and this angers me. It should anger you. It may seem like something ridiculous to get upset about, but it’s not about the vape pen. It’s about the principle.

Firstly, it’s not the government’s job to decide what we can and can’t do. If teenagers are vaping and it’s a serious problem, then the parents should be the ones responsible for getting them to stop, not big brother. Instead, we have a Republican lead government deciding that vaping should be illegal for everyone in its quest to target a problem that isn’t even that big of a deal.

That didn’t work for regular cigarettes, it didn’t work for drugs, and it’s not going to work for e-cigs either. They’re playing the role of parent to grown adults after years of failing at it.

And herein lies my problem with Republicans embracing big-government policies. Every intrusion of the government on what the people can and can’t buy is the government treating us like children. It’s deciding or us what is right and wrong. It’s as insulting as it is an expensive waste of money.

I like the Republican party because it typically avoids insulting Americans in this regard, and when it does, I’m twice as angry as when Democrats do it. This is the party of small government, and it needs to act like it instead of just saying it is.

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