Social Liberal, Economic Conservative?

A recent Gallup poll shows a trend toward liberal views on social issues while economics remains fairly conservative.

But Greta Christina argues that

You can't separate fiscal issues from social issues. They're deeply intertwined. They affect each other. Economic issues often are social issues. And conservative fiscal policies do enormous social harm. That's true even for the mildest, most generous version of "fiscal conservatism" -- low taxes, small government, reduced regulation, a free market. These policies perpetuate human rights abuses. They make life harder for people who already have hard lives. Even if the people supporting these policies don't intend this, the policies are racist, sexist, classist (obviously), ableist, homophobic, transphobic, and otherwise socially retrograde. In many ways, they do more harm than so-called "social policies" that are supposedly separate from economic ones. Here are seven reasons that "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" is nonsense.

1.  Poverty, and the cycle of poverty. 

2.  Domestic violence, workplace harasment, and other abuse.

3.  Disenfranchisement.

4.  Racist policing.

5.  Drug policy and prison policy.

6.  Deregulation.

7.  "Free" trade. 

The reality of fiscal conservatism in the United States is not cautious, evidence-based attention to which government programs do and don't work. If that were ever true in some misty nostalgic past, it hasn't been true for a long, long time. The reality of fiscal conservatism in the United States means slashing government programs, even when they've been shown to work. The reality means decimating government regulations, even when they've been shown to improve people's lives. The reality means cutting the safety net to ribbons, and letting big businesses do pretty much whatever they want.

Update (May 26):  Catherine Rampell says liberals are making a comeback.