New poll a warning sign for limited government conservatives in the Trump era

As I wrote in my column, the Trump administration will be a key test of whether Tea Party Republicans are serious about their desire to limit government given that the president-elect is likely to push to increase for more government spending and intervention. But a new poll from Quinnipiac University is particularly bad news on that front.

On the one hand, the poll finds opposition to many of the policies that small government conservatives favor — by 48 percent to 38 percent, respondents oppose removing regulations on businesses (opposition rises to 59 percent when climate change regulations are specifically mentioned); by 57 percent to 38 percent those surveyed opposed making it easier to buy guns; by 60 percent to 32 percent, people opposed across-the-board tax cuts.

But on the other hand, a few Trump proposals are popular. By 64 percent to 28 percent, respondents favor renegotiating trade deals; and by 83 percent to 15 percent, respondents support “increasing federal spending for roads, bridges, mass transit and other infrastructure.”