The prevailing narrative in the mainstream media suggests that the dispute among House Republicans is a purely tactical one between establishment “adults” and Tea Party “children,” who do not understand the limits of their power and the consequences of their actions. While there is certainly an element of truth to this, there are differences in the objectives of the two groups that go far beyond mere tactics and should not be minimized.
The different goals of the Reactionaries and the PBPs were laid out in one of my initial posts. In a nutshell, PBPs are perfectly happy to live in 2015 as long as the government cuts their taxes and reduces their regulatory burdens, whereas Reactionaries want to turn the clock back to 1950, or 1929, or 1913, or some point in the 19th Century in order to restore the political, economic, and social dominance of white Christian men over the rest of the country. When the GOP is in power, the alliance between the two groups has resulted in the desired tax cuts and deregulation for the PBPs, but has accomplished none of the Reactionary agenda, much of which is beyond politics. The Reactionaries have become increasingly aware of this, and are restless.
The apparent nihilism of the Reactionaries is, therefore, based on the fact that GOP victories in national elections only give them the illusion of power. They cannot win national elections without the assistance of the PBPs, but the alliance with the PBPs ultimately gains them nothing.