The GOP is set to retake control of Congress. What can we expect from the factions on fiscal policy?
There won’t be enough CD members of Congress to matter. As for the rest of the factions, here is where they stand:
- PBPs: Tax cuts. Tax cuts. TAX CUTS! We would make a deal with Hitler if he gave us tax cuts.
- CLs: Tax cuts are great, of course, but the priority has to be on massive spending cuts. Spending turns Americans into wards of the state; it makes them lazy and deprives them of their cherished freedoms to be sick and destitute.
- Reactionaries: We need a strong state to support white Christians and cudgel everyone else. Increase spending on us, but cut it for the bad guys.
These are three very different agendas. How will McCarthy merge them? By proposing to make the Trump individual tax cuts permanent, cutting spending on “welfare,” and leaving white middle-class entitlements alone. That program will maintain party unity, which, of course, is the key to remaining in power.