October 10, 2010
The top article in the Sunday Washington Post is an entirely invented piece that tells readers in the first sentence: “If there is an overarching theme of election 2010, it is the question of how big the government should be and how far it should reach into people’s lives.” There is absolutely nothing in this article that supports this assertion.
The article notes in the fourth paragraph that even most people who complain about the size of government consider Social Security and Medicare, by far the largest social programs, very important. It is not clear what being opposed to “big government” means in a context where nearly everyone supports its main pillars.
There are no candidates anywhere in the country who are running in support of “big government,” there are candidates who are running in support of programs which have varying degrees of support. There are many candidates (virtually all Republicans) who are running against “big government.” While this position has nothing to do with the world (we all oppose waste, fraud, and abuse, the question is always the status of specific programs), it is certainly helpful to the Republicans to have the election framed in this way.
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