As noted the other day, it's unlikely that even the wingnuttiest candidate really wants to abolish everything these departments do. Logically, the news media should press them as to what, specifically, they want to cancel (and mock them if they can't answer) — but that would require the news media to (a) care, (b) do some research, and (c) risk alienating politicians who might be in power some day.
As for the poor Dept. of Energy, I have no doubt it's on the GOP chopping block, not for any particular policy reason or for substantial specific programs that the Republicans want to see repealed, but because it was established under Jimmy Carter and has a whiff of treehugging hippies about it, both of which make it great rhetorical fodder for the Right. #ddtb
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Abolishing The Department Of Energy
Conservatives, including Rick Perry when he manages to remember his own platform, sometimes talk about their desire to eliminate the Department of Energy. The existence of this department has presumab…