Republicans don't always opposed the federal welfare state

"In 2003 when George W. Bush & the Republican congressional leadership—including current tightwad-in-chief Paul Ryan—whipped votes in favor of what was, at the time, the largest expansion of the welfare state since Lyndon Johnson was in office. That was the creation of a prescription drug benefit for Medicare.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/republicans-dont-always-oppose-the-federal-welfare-state/2012/06/20/gJQAg1OLqV_blog.html