Tha author of What's Wrong With Kansas? (The populizer of the concept that people in the Red States who vote againt their economic interests in favor of social conservative values are "bitterly" clinging to their guns and Bibles and fear of outsiders.  I think Obama's big mistake is not that he addressed those ideas in public, but that he assumed that people read books and would recognize and understand the argument)

Anyway, his next book is:  The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule. 

Bora at A Blog Around the Clock sums up the point nicely:

As conservatives tend to do, they say one thing and think the opposite (you know, black is white, up is down, clean is dirty, war is peace, ignorance if power...). They say they are all for Free Market. And many people believe them. And when they get in power and screw up, everyone says they "abandoned their conservative principles". No, they did not - they did exactly what conservatives do. Free Market is a danger for their ideology. In a free market economy, they feel insecure because it is not a hierarchical system they like. It is a system in which they can potentially lose. It is a system in which they cannot succeed because the only way they know how to get to the top is by ruthlessly stepping on others. What they like is a hierarchy, a state without government in which conservatives rule through their own corporations, a system in which they have monopoly. And that is exactly what they do when they grab the levers of power.

For instance, look at the "free market" issues that constantly come up in conservative circles:

"Consumer freedom" for medical patients.  People should be able to "choose" the medical treatments that they want...whether or not those "choices' violate standards of care.  So if they want the "choice" to go to a doctor who perscribes oregano oil and garlic for their cancer (it's an anti-oxidant!) or other disease...then the government should not be there to stand in their way.  Just as an aside, I have to say that I love this site.  Read down to the part where they tell you not to fall for the fake oregano in the grocery store.  You need their special, magic oregano.  Read all the way to the bottom to see the list of things they claim it cures:

 "Oil of Oregano Effectively Treats:

· acne · allergies · arthritis · asthma · athlete's foot · constipation · croup · dandruff · diarrhea · digestive disturbances · insect bites · bronchitis · canker sores · colds · flu · earaches · fatigue · gum disease · parasites · headaches · menstrual irregularities · psoriasis · toenail problems · seborrhea · ringworm · rosacea · sinusitis · muscle pain · varicose veins · warts

You might say that if someone wants to use oregano to treat their toenail problems, that's their right.  A true enough argument, but ultimately, the government says nothing about people taking "suppliments".  A person can eat all the oregano oil and garlic they want to.  The government does nothing about it.  What the government SHOULD NOT allow is the assertion that "suppliments" do things that they do not do.  The government should not allow false claims and dangerously inaccurate information in selling products to people.  If you want to sell medical treatments, you have to have your claims checked to make sure you are not defrauding people.  And conservatives complain that it is unfair that their snake oils might have to actually measure up to the claims made about them.

In the name of "free market", conservatives want to have the "freedom" to make unproven or even disproven claims about their products, and denounce barriers to fraud as government nanny-state interference.

In the name of "protecting consumer freedom" certain organizations thuggishly attack critics, spread misinformation and obstruct efforts to give the public reliable information.

I can't believe that this is, in any way, to protect people's rights to make their own choices; but instead to combat their ability to make good choices and to advantage the clients of certain groups against superior choices...in the name of "free market" and "small government".