For a small government party the GOP sure is happy to use red tape when they can slow down people’s access to healthcare. Case in point, the HHS has provided grants to organizations that will hire people called navigators. The navigators will help people navigate the healthcare exchanges and enroll in Obamacare. Here’s how the Republicans are trying to slow those orgs down:
The Hill — In their letter to grant recipients, House Republicans sought detailed information about how the organizations would use their grant money and the grant process. Republicans asked the grant recipients to provide “all documentation and communications related to your Navigator grant,” including all communications between the applicants and any federal agency.
Republicans also specifically asked for any communications with Enroll America, the nonprofit group with close ties to the White House that is helping to promote enrollment in the law’s new insurance plans, including “discussions or documents related to geographic area.”
It’s an lengthy letter that was sent asking for superfluous info that will cost the orgs many man hours. Conservatives in other states are hoping to make navigators take a hastily relabeled insurance test before they can help citizens.
Often times when I discuss politics with conservative friends from the point of view of a progressive blogger, I try to explain to them that, for the most part, there are no principles in partisan politics. Only interests. Often times they’ll balk at that and I use examples like this to illustrate it. Most of us have a principle when it comes to murder, we don’t care if the murderer or the victim is a conservative or a progressive, we still consider it 100% wrong and would fight anyone who tried to excuse it because of a partisan consideration. Small government is not a principle for conservatives, they can’t find it in themselves to condemn the use of red tape or government regs to accomplish political defined goals when it violates their small government claim, but is in their interests.
As it has been explained to me, when politicians use the term “small government,” they’re just referring to government contractors. Give government jobs to private businesses. The jobs still need to get done after all. And of course, this often raises the price instead of lowers it.
The whole idea of small government is a ruse. And it’s not even that effective a ruse. Polls have shown that most conservatives and liberals are confused when you refer to big or small government. They just want efficient, practical government.