Conservatives use the bogeyman of big government and yet

they are the ones who constantly favor policies that gut the Bill of Rights.
They oppose Democratic proposals to use government to improve the lot everyday Americans on the bogus theory that the more government can give you, the more it can take away. Leave aside the fallaciousness of that argument for a minute and think about the laundry list of incursions into our personal liberties that they applaud.
Get rid of habeas corpus; forget about the Geneva accords; repeal the concept of a right to privacy that was the basis for Roe v. Wade; listen in on private conversations; monitor what books are being checked out from libraries; keep tabs on citizens brazen enough to attend anti war rallies; and the list goes on.
The next time a Republican tells me that big government is a threat to our freedoms, I will laugh in their face.