Let's see the drug war, DHS, military, NSA, no child left behind--just to name a few. The gov increased under Reagan despite what conservatives will tell you. The GOP has been part of massive increases in gov. Why would someone in political power ever be for downsizing gov, save a few outliers? It's just pandering to the base.
A short-term sabotage is not out of the question.
Actually, I have a graph showing how gov actually increases more under GOP control than democrats. Hold on.
I must not have made my position clear. I don't think that they're particularly committed or effective deficit hawks – the true fiscal conservatives were purged years ago – but rather that this is now a key part of their public image. They heavily promote the idea that government is inefficient because it keeps people voting for them and, most importantly, keeps corporate-backed groups like Fox News from going on the attack in the next election.
That might necessitate a token effort somewhere to cut things but the real goal is the posture, not the results, so maximizing inefficiency isn't something they're concerned with. In most cases, they'll try to cut things which affect people who don't vote for them anyway – mass transit, funding for the poor, etc.
A short-term sabotage is not out of the question.
Actually, I have a graph showing how gov actually increases more under GOP control than democrats. Hold on.