Downsizing and dismantling select U.S. government agencies have long-been part of the DNA of Republicans in Washington. They are right up there with tax cuts.

Conservative activist and Americans for Tax Reform founder Grover Norquist's legendary comment about the government, "I just want to shrink it so we can drown it in a bathtub," is the mantra of today's GOP.

That dislike of federal Washington partly explains the GOP's crusade against federal PR/PR spending to educate the public about available programs and improve staff efficiency. Republicans instinctively oppose any communications outlays as waste and bloat.

Of course, they are wrong. The party that voted to kill ObamaCare more than 50 times went ballistic over PA spending tied to it.

That kneejerk opposition didn’t make sense then and doesn't now. Since ObamaCare is the rule of the land, it's in the best interest of the federal government to spend money to promote it. Communications is a tool to maximize the most efficient use of the healthcare infrastructure, such as ObamaCare.

The Labor Dept. is the site of the latest kerfuffle over PR spending. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa blasted the internal PR outlays by the Labor's Office of PA, as "frivolous" and "wasteful." Outlays were for awards ceremonies, posters, publications and the hiring of the mascot of the Washington Nationals baseball team for a Department event.

Issa wants the official records from the Dept. so he can prove "mismanagement" and make life difficult for Carl Fillichio, Labor's PA chief.

Total spending under attack by Issa: $600K. It's a safe bet his House staff time already used and further outlays for an audit of the Labor Dept.'s PR will far exceed the $600K number.

Issa's political grandstanding is far more wasteful than Labor PR programs that bolster employee morale and improve productivity to better serve taxpayers.

The California Republican, of course, could care less about improving the Labor Dept.'s productivity and its value to Americans.

He just wants to put the Labor Dept. into Norquist's bathtub.