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The stance of Sen. Jim DeMint (SC-R) in 2010 is emblematic of the ambiguity in the goals of the Republican legislators. DeMint can be taken as being primarily oriented to restoring the balance of federalism by having the federal government do less and the State governments more, at least in terms of domestic policy.  This could bring the General Government back to its enumerated powers.  Time magazine maintains that DeMint’s real target is “a radical downsizing of the federal government.”  This includes “turning education policy over to the states and gradually dismantling safety-net programs like Social Security and Medicare.” Yet the senator may not be assuming that the State governments would then create various degrees of “safety-net.”  That is, his agenda could be to get government out of the business of providing basic needs to those who might otherwise not survive.  That is, he might be rejecting life as a right that is to be protected by government. For instance, DeMint cites “creeping socialism in the U.S.” and he has set out to “shrink government.” He “was incensed by what he considered a growing public reliance on government largesse for things like housing, food and income, which to him was creating dependency and stifling free enterprise.” The senator’s ideal here is distinct from his goal of downsizing the federal government because the latter goal implies a shift rather than necessarily a reduction. It is precisely on this point that the Republican party has been too ambiguous.  Too often, the two goals have been conflated, as if restoring federalism means a reduction in government. It is possible that restoring social programs at the State level could result in more government.  As Massachusetts demonstrates, the States may well be better able to enact universal health-care. However, in federalism one size does not fit all; States such as Texas and Oklahoma would doubtless have approaches to health-care that rely less on government.

Source: Michael Crowley and Jay Newton-Small, “Leading the Rebel Brigade,” Time, November 29, 2010, pp. 34-37.