Fiscal responsibility theater from the Freedom Caucus

Why did Representative Matt Gaetz and the Freedom Caucus wait three hundred and sixty-four days to make their stand on out-of-control spending?

In 2018, I met Senator Rand Paul in the U.S. Republican Senate Committee office building in DC. He asked me if I supported him in blocking a vote on the spending bill, which resulted in shutting down the government.  I responded, “Senator, I agree that out-of-control spending needs to be addressed.  However, I disagreed with your action.”  By the time the vote came up, the fight was over.  I would not have blocked the spending bill and would work every day from that point on to rein in out-of-control spending.

That same year, the Heritage Foundation published an article, “7 Ways Congress Can Rein In Out-of-Control Spending.” Here they are: “1) Reform and extend the Budget Control Act. 2) Enforce a real debt limit. 3) President submit and Congress pass a budget. 4) Return to regular order in budgeting and appropriations. 5) Reform the budget process. 6) Repeal and replace Obamacare. 7) Pass welfare reform.”  Five years later, it may appear that a few of the seven steps are outdated, but that does not diminish the effect of the others.

There is no time like the present to do away with laws that are no longer relevant, add to the deficit without benefits, or are not worth their cost.  Start with easy laws and programs with little support and high cost to build broad support.  This process includes ending the extension of laws passed with a “Sunset Clause.”

End the practice of passing laws, regulations, and programs, no matter the cost, that promise to end climate change.  The Congressional Budget Office analyzes the cost of each bill before Congress so that members of Congress can determine if the bill is worth the cost.  The Corps of Engineers conducts a Cost Benefit Ratio for every project constructed to determine if the benefits justify the cost. 

Those members of Congress who will work tirelessly on ending out-of-control spending will earn the gratitude of American taxpayers. That will be true in California or in Florida; no one wants their tax dollars wasted.

Does anyone remember Senator Rand Paul’s actions shut down the federal government in 2018?  Does anyone know why Senator Paul shut down the government?  Did his action result in any change in Congress?  Does anyone remember Senator Rand Paul today?  But the voters remembered in the elections of 2018, and Republicans lost.

Representative Matt Gaetz should prioritize the creation of a broad coalition of conservatives across the country that focuses on ending out-of-control spending.  That will go a long way in achieving his goal of fiscal responsibility. 

Representative Gaetz and the Freedom Caucus proclaimed that they stood on principle to end out-of-control spending.  But what was their first priority?  To oust Speaker McCarthy and hold power, not fiscal responsibility. 

I look forward to the words, “Gaetz who?”

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.