When GOP-controlled Washington abandoned every semblance of fiscal responsibility by adding trillions of dollars to the federal debt with excessive tax cuts and the Omnibus spending deal, the doom of the Republican party was sealed. Complete with funding for nearly every Democrat priority, Trump, McConnell, and Ryan gave conservatives a symbolic middle finger as they essentially gave Obama a third term.
Still, 2018 is an election year, so the GOP is breaking out their “How to Win Conservative Voters After Breaking Your Promises To Them” playbook in an attempt to distract voters from the coming financial Armageddon following their budget surrender to the Democrats.
The politics of distraction begin at the White House where we are hearing rumors about a plan to ask Congress to approve cuts in some domestic programs that were included in the $1.3 trillion bill using a budget gimmick known as rescission found in the 1974 Impoundment Act.
Besides the fact that there has only been a meager $25 billion reduction in spending since the law’s inception, big-ticket items like military spending, entitlements, and interest on the debt can’t or won’t be touched—not to mention that any proposed cuts are dead on arrival if submitted to Congress according to Mitch McConnell.
And speaking of Congress, they’re also engaging in the politics of distraction. Yesterday, the House voted on a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, a vote that, as expected failed to garner the two-thirds majority necessary for passage. The vote was held as part of a kickback agreement between Paul Ryan and Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) back in October, where Walker agreed to support last year’s tax reform package in exchange for yesterday’s vote on the Constitutional Amendment.
This “fake vote” on a balanced-budget amendment wasn’t only hopeless, but it was so poorly written that it was opposed by the House Liberty Caucus—a group of conservatives who want such an amendment.
So, don’t allow yourselves to be fooled. Trump and his swamp buddies in Congress aren’t concerned about spending . . . unless we’re talking about campaign spending. They’re always concerned about that.
The GOP wants your vote and they’ll say or do anything to get it—from making conservative-sounding promises they have no intention of keeping to using the politics of distraction—to make it happen.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative. His politically incorrect and always “right” columns are featured on RedState.com, NOQReport.com, and TheResurgent.com.
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