Then why do they continue donating and supporting republicans who for the last few decades have been promising to tear down all the regulatory frameworks? What did they think "I want a government small enough to drown in the bathtub" means?

"parsed the word to define it narrowly" is a sign of arguing in bad faith. Maybe it would be best to cut thru the ""acedemia bs"" and reply with "this isn't a political philosophy discussion. you know what i am saying.".