Trump, House Republicans, Spending, and Credibility

The House Republicans who helped Democrats pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill Friday night should be called out. And I wholeheartedly disagree with some right-leaning folks — most seem to be in the northeast — whom I usually respect:

But hearing former President Donald Trump castigate “RINOs” for their votes is humorous, since it’s at odds with his own rhetoric and policies.

Observers of contemporary politics realize a major long-term threat facing the United States is entitlement spending. Trump ran his entire 2016 primary campaign as the lone Republican who refused to address entitlements, leading many in the post-Paul Ryan GOP to move left on fiscal sanity and go silent when Trump ran annual deficits of over $1 trillion, even before the COVID-19 spending spree.

Perhaps as importantly, a presidential blunder that cost Republicans both Georgia U.S. Senate seats, and thus a vital check on Democrats’ radicalism, was Trump joining with the left to demand an absurd $2,000 stimulus payment after Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin succeeded in negotiating $600 payments.

This idea right before New Year’s Day made Bernie Sanders weep with joy and gave Democrats an opportunity just before the Jan. 5 elections to hammer Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who had supported the saner $600 proposal.

The former president is fond of yelling “RINO,” but he simply lacks the receipts, as his public statements and actions in office prove. As president, Trump proposed an infrastructure bill just last year that would have cost taxpayers more than what Democrats forced through late last week.

History suggests Trump-style populism would align more with those 13 “RINO” lawmakers who helped Democrats get the profligate legislation across the finish line than the 206 Republicans who opposed the monstrosity.

Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t…

Related: Trump Reveals When He’ll ‘Probably’ Announce His 2024 Intentions