Conservatism Undermined: The GOP’s Collapse on Fiscal Responsibility
The Calls for Fiscal Irresponsibility Are Coming From Inside The House
A Lone Stand Against the Leviathan
Today political theater routinely masquerades as governance and it is rare that a gallant attempt at principle briefly pierces the fog of Washington’s dysfunction. Congressman Chip Roy, joined by 37 other Republicans, sought to restore some semblance of sanity to the legislative process by proposing that the government’s sprawling funding bill be broken into its constituent parts and voted on individually. It was, at its heart, a conservative attempt to force accountability in a Congress that treats the public purse as bottomless and the people’s will as secondary.
The effort fell short as often occurrs—not due to opposition from Democrats, who unsurprisingly preferred the chaos and opacity of omnibus legislation, but from within the Republican Party itself. It was MAGA-aligned Republicans who, true to form, opened the gates of the city and joined with the Democrats to crush this moment of clarity, exposing themselves for what they truly are: not conservatives, but opportunists. This rejection of principle should give us pause, since it illuminates the stark divide between those who uphold the enduring values of conservatism and those who would sacrifice them on the altar of political expediency. We know of their work. we know they run neither hot nor cold.
This isn’t just a skirmish over parliamentary procedure; it was a stand of conservatives against radicals and the establishment, an effort to tether government to the principles of accountability and limited power. These moments are fleeting, but they remind us of the kind of leadership we desperately need—leaders willing to engage in what Buckley once described as “standing athwart history, yelling stop.”
I celebrate these few conservative gunslingers who remain in Congress and even the moderates who joined along, holding fast against the tide of populism and radicalism. Chip Roy and his allies exemplify the resolve we need in a time when so many capitulate to the forces of chaos. Their stand wasn’t a futile gesture; it was a call for more principled conservatives to rise and rise they have. The times ahead will show that we need them now more than ever.
Monsters, Myths, and Misdirections: The Debt Ceiling and Fiscal Responsibility
It’s a curious feature of of our modern political discourse that, when confronted with a complex issue like the debt ceiling, some individuals wield their ignorance like a torch, lighting bonfires of confusion and panic. These fiscal fabulists eagerly declare that the debt ceiling is a meaningless relic, a weapon from a more civilized age that no longer has it’s place. They’ll claim it doesn’t stop spending, and that any concern over it is alarmist rhetoric that should be ignored. They’ll make pedantic arguments that are equivalent to your annoying friend that has to remind you that he’s not dressed up as Frankenstein on Halloween, he’s dressed up as “Frankenstein’s Monster actually.” The dismissal misses the point entirely. The debt ceiling, like the tale of Frankenstein’s monster, forces us to confront the consequences of our own creation. While the debt ceiling may not directly cut spending, it forces Congress to pause and consider the enormity of our fiscal excess—if only briefly before they kick the can down the road again which they always do. Imagine the result if they didn’t have to stop and think at all. Even with it in place they still spend more than drunken sailors during Fleet Week.
Conservatives, parents, citizens, and Americans with a vested interest in restoring sanity to our nation’s finances should constantly stand for any fiscal restriction or else deal with the repercussions down the road.