Of course Republicans can't repeal ObamaCare. It's because they're conservative.

'Conservative' doesn't mean what you think it does

Sen. Mitch McConnell, President Donald Trump, and Rep. Paul Ryan.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

"Conservative," "liberal," and "progressive" don't mean what you think they mean. But it's not your fault.

In common American parlance, we use "conservative" to refer to those who want a smaller government — meaning lower taxes, less spending (especially domestic welfare spending), and a less active regulatory state. Of course, the term has implications for social and foreign policy, too, but the connection there isn't quite as strong. Consider that we use modifiers like "social conservatism" or "paleo-conservatism" or "neo-conservatism" to specify some of those positions, but no modifier is necessary to communicate the affection for small government.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.