They caucus with the GOP.
This guy, 'the man with the tan'. Read it all. Very little more succinct and well written.
Except that Social Security is not "where the money is", I don't think.
Medicare and Social Security are considered transfer payments - money / taxes that people 'pay to themselves.' From that perspective, do they really qualify as "big government"?
Not so, defense spending. Has anyone (Brookings?) measured our return-on-investment in defense? It's hard, but it could be done.