<story><title>CISPA Passes in the House - Full Roll Call</title><url>http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll117.xml#</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Lewisham</author><text>Nothing says &quot;small government&quot; like expanding government oversight, right? I really don&apos;t understand what the Republican party actually stands for. There&apos;s no consistency in their platform. I might not agree with the Libertarian Party either, but at least I understand why they say what they say.&lt;p&gt;Can someone help me out here?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ajscherer</author><text>When politicians say &quot;small government&quot; they really mean &quot;low taxes&quot;, and when they say &quot;liberty&quot; that is measured as 100% minus the top marginal tax rate. Restrictions on people&apos;s behavior or privacy aren&apos;t really part of the discussion.  When they say &quot;spending&quot; you can safely suffix that with &quot;on someone other than me&quot;.&lt;p&gt;Seriously though, the Republican party isn&apos;t a libertarian organization and never has been. They&apos;ve been marketing themselves that way lately, since they are a bit closer to the libertarian ideal than the Democrats (I guess not in this case though!).</text></comment>
<story><title>CISPA Passes in the House - Full Roll Call</title><url>http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll117.xml#</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Lewisham</author><text>Nothing says &quot;small government&quot; like expanding government oversight, right? I really don&apos;t understand what the Republican party actually stands for. There&apos;s no consistency in their platform. I might not agree with the Libertarian Party either, but at least I understand why they say what they say.&lt;p&gt;Can someone help me out here?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>enoch_r</author><text>Borrowing from Arnold Kling&apos;s &quot;three axes&quot;, generally speaking:&lt;p&gt;- Libertarians evaluate things on a freedom/tyranny axis.&lt;p&gt;- Republicans evaluate things on a civilization/savagery axis.&lt;p&gt;- Democrats evaluate things on a fair/unfair axis.&lt;p&gt;I think that explains Republican voting behavior here fairly well. They&apos;re not for small government because they&apos;re libertarian; they&apos;re for small government because the US is historically connected with libertarian philosophies.</text></comment>