GOP: The Second Party of Big Government

In the pre-Trump era, I used to ask whether Republicans were fiscally responsible Reaganites or big-spending Bushies.

In recent years, the question has become whether the GOP is a small-government Reagan party or a big-government Trump party.

Sadly, my 2016 prediction was correct. Trump is a big-government Republican.

Perhaps most disappointing, Trump was a bigger spender than Obama – even when looking only at domestic spending. And that’s true even if you don’t count the orgy of new spending Trump approved during the pandemic.

Unfortunately, the Republican Party seems to think this is perfectly acceptable. Let’s look at some excerpts from a report in the New York Times by Alan Rappeport.

When Mr. Trump sought a second term in 2020, the party’s platform pummeled Democrats for refusing to help Republicans rein in spending and proposed a constitutional requirement that the federal budget be balanced. Those ambitions were cast aside in the platform that the Republican Party unveiled…ahead of its convention. Nowhere in the 16-page document do the words “debt” or “deficit” as they relate to the nation’s grim fiscal situation appear. …the omissions signaled the completion of a Republican transformation from a party that once espoused fiscal restraint to one that is beholden to the ideology of Mr. Trump… For years, Republicans have raised alarm about the national debt when a Democrat controls the White House. In 2009, Tea Party Republicans employed fears about a looming debt crisis to derail President Barack Obama’s agenda, mobilizing in opposition to government bailouts…and fomenting protracted fights over raising the nation’s debt limit. …Yet that passion for austerity dissipated when Mr. Trump took office.

I have two comments on this article.

First, America’s problem is spending, not red ink. Deficits and debt are bad, of course, but they are symptoms of the real problem of a government that is too big and spending too much.

Second, Mr. Rappeport’s core premise is correct. Trump is a big spender and Republicans in Congress seem perfectly content with his reckless profligacy.

The bottom line is that Republicans have surrendered to big government, notwithstanding occasional lip service to the contrary.

P.S. Knee-jerk Republicans doubtlessly will respond to this column by pointing to the statist agenda of Kamala Harris. She is terrible, but at least Republicans in Congress would oppose her spending for partisan reasons. So it’s an open question whether the spending burden would increase more under Trump or under Harris (and the evidence suggests it would be worse under Trump).

P.P.S. Knee-jerk Trumpies doubtlessly will argue that establishment Republicans also are bad on spending. That’s certainly true, but hardly relevant since the debate is whether Republicans should be Reaganites.