Big Government Republicans, part 2: Walker is King Hypocrite.

While on the subject of screaming at the top of voice how Republicans are for really big authoritarian government, I ran across this wonderful editorial that pretty much makes my case. The Tomah Journal:

Ronald Reagan is famous for saying government is the problem, not the solution.

It appears Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker dissents.

Walker last week unveiled a multi-million dollar package of activist government as part of an economic development package.

The provisions contradict the traditional conservative notion that the free market should handle these things. Venture capital? That’s why we have banks. Tax credits? The tax code should be neutral and not pick winners and losers. Marketing and promotion? That’s the responsibility of  convention centers and resorts, not the government.

Perhaps every one of these proposed expenditures is justified, but they expose a big-government conservatism that has no problem subsidizing business but takes a hands-off approach to wage stagnation and skyrocketing income inequality. If it’s fine to risk taxpayer dollars to pick winners in the name of venture capital, then why can’t government take steps to mitigate a winner-take-all economy in which almost every single dollar of productivity gains goes to the top one percent?

The governor clearly believes in activist government. Does it merely benefit entrepreneurs and business executives, or does it provide an economic path forward for every wage earner who puts in a hard day’s work? 

Beautiful.