So where are all the "I vote Republican because I'm a sensible American concerned about fiscal conservatism, balanced budgets, and the deficit 
" people now?
Still here, about 90% Republican learners, too. The fact is, most people of tons of ideologies love their government entitlements.
cutting non-defense discretionary programs get you no where though and frankly Republicans like to believe there is this massive amount of waste and duplication that if they just magically erase then they will get spending under control.
If you really want to get spending under control you have to do 3 very basic things.
1. Across the gov't procurement reform, from letting Medicare negotiate for lower drug prices to competitive bidding on contracts in the Pentagon. Of course that pinches Republican donors in the Pharma and defense contractor industries.
2. Entitlement Reform - Republicans need to come to reality that that true driver of Medicare costs is the denial of care earlier in life, and the aging population. If you want to get Medicare under control, the first thing you need to do is ensure access to preventative care throughout the life span. Republicans too often love to cut now, in exchange for double the amount in higher spending later through Medicare. And yes I support block granting Medicaid and Obamacare, but at much higher funding levels then Graham-Cassidy. We have had back door Universal Healthcare via the emergency room for decades and it is time Republicans acknowledge it, bring it to the front door and quit trying to use poverty as a substitute for gov't death panels to bring down costs. Instead they should try to get as many insured as possible with market/state based insurers, paid for with block grants to the states or a sliding scale subsidy, and then work on reforming delivery and other reforms that will bring costs under control without killing people.
3. Stop using the tax code to hide spending behind of shield of "Oh I am not spending money, I am just returning your money too you". This attitude of take two tax credits and call me in the morning has riddled the code with ridiculous complexity, lowered revenues, and added a hidden tax to the tune of $500 billion dollars in tax code compliance costs, which acts as a regressive tax on small business, making it harder for them to compete with larger firms. Republicans should simplify the tax code, remove all the special loopholes and bring down the rates. Then they should apply fees and/or taxes to hedgefunds and financial transactions by big firms to fund/incentivize loans to small business by local and community banks and bring down the deficit/debt.
Republicans talk about all this but often times pull a bait and switch, like on financial regulations, where Republicans should work to restore market competition, not foster a regulatory environment that consolidates more banks into larger too big to fail firms that will leave tax payers on the hook with another bailout down the road.
Glass-Steagall is a fiscally conservative proposal when you account for the cost of the bailout. Taxing financial transactions/hedge funds is a fiscally conservative proposal when you account for the lost revenues of the Great Recession and expenses it generated.
