This isn't surprising, at least if you've been paying attention

An opinion piece by columnist Catherine Rampell posted in today's New York Times reiterates what I have been saying for the past decade. The Republican Party has lost its way.

Fiscal responsibility is something all of us should demand in Washington D.C. That philosophy is one of the basic tenets of the Republican Party.

In fact, overspending was one of the recurring criticisms Republicans lobbed at Obama during his eight-year tenure.

Just over a year into the Trump presidency, we see that overspending wasn't the problem. Trump's tax cuts were nothing more than a mask for future tax increases, just as Reagan's tax cuts led to increases and Bush's tax cuts led to increases and Bush II's tax cuts led to tax increases.

Even the CBO has predicted those tax cuts will add $1.9 trillion to the debt. Somehow, Republicans aren't losing their minds of this spending. I wonder why?

That's a discussion for another day. Back to Rampell's piece.

Rampell begins by wondering aloud when Trump was referring to with his "Make America Great Again" slogan. She believes it was the 1980s.

When it comes to aesthetics or general world outlook, the Greed Is Good decade was clearly Trump’s formative period.

Yes, the 1980s when another TV star, at least this one had some acting skills and didn't mock the disabled or prisoners of war nor did he brag about sexually assaulting women, presided over the country.

That version of the GOP believed in fiscal responsibility. It just went about it the wrong way.

Reagan, rightfully so, cut taxes. It was a huge tax cut. Too big. He ended up raising taxes with three major tax bills and several others to fight off the recession caused by the tax cuts and to put people back to work.

Supply-siders still run the show, championing tax cuts as a growth elixir while conveniently ignoring their track record. All Trump and his cronies seem to remember is that there was this one time when Ronald Reagan cut taxes, and then . . . the economy grew.

Yep, the economy grew but only after it tanked, people lost their jobs and the country was in a recession. The economy grew after Reagan raised taxes.

And all Republicans remembers is there was this one time Reagan cut taxes and the economy grew.

The Republicans sure are a forgettable bunch.

They seem to have missed the role that monetary policy and the business cycle played in that mid-’80s growth spurt. Not to mention all the other changes in tax rates over the past century, in both directions, that reveal no discernible relationship between tax levels and long-term growth.

Rampell goes on to say the Republicans already have mapped out their excuse and have targeted their patsy and it will sound familiar: the welfare queen!

The GOP has already begun this scapegoating, in fact. Last week Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies to strengthen or create new work requirements for safety-net programs such as Medicaid and housing subsidies. House Republicans likewise introduced a farm bill that would make it harder for adults who aren’t working to get food stamps. 

Yes, it's those greedy bastards on welfare that are bankrupting this country. How could it be anyone else?

Bank of America, according to the Wall Street Journal, certainly is championing the tax cuts:

Bank of America Corp. BAC 0.44% said Monday that a boost from the U.S. tax law and continued rising interest rates helped push first-quarter profit 30% higher, extending the string of better-than-expected results from the nation’s biggest banks.

 Yep, the Bank of America saved $5,000,000 from last year's tax bill. But, yeah, it's the welfare queen bankrupting the country.

BOA isn't alone.

Many banks exceeded their own expectations thanks to the tax bill.

Republicans want to reform welfare again, despite having done that under Bill Clinton with excellent results.

Poverty Researchers Robert A. Moffitt and Stephanie Garlow studied the effects of that welfare reform law:

Did it reduce poverty? There are two sides to the answer to this

question. It would appear that, while welfare reform assisted

families with incomes close to the poverty threshold, it did less

to help families in deep or extreme poverty. Under the current

welfare regime, many single mothers are struggling to support

their families without income or cash benefits. Even women

who are willing to work often cannot find good-paying, steady

employment.

 So, single mothers are going to become poorer? Is that really what we want to do in order to save a few bucks?

Apparently, it is because we'd rather that single mother and her children go hungry than cut into the profits of bank shareholders.

Republicans also are stuck in the 80s in regards to other issues such as mandatory sentencing and even the death sentence for drug dealers to solve the opiod crises, regenerating the arms race and building a Berlin-style wall.

"Somehow the Party of Ideas stopped coming up with them circa, oh, 1987. The question is: Why?," Rampell wrote.

And here's the kicker:

Well, arguably, this is what happens when you’re no longer advised by experts, of any political persuasion. 

Republicans stopped listening to experts.

No more social scientists studying the effects of welfare reform. Apparently, their findings don't jive with Republican beliefs.

No more scientists involved in EPA decisions. Their findings don't jive with profits, I mean, Republican beliefs.

No more education experts involved in our school decisions. It's so much better to privatize our education so more people can profit off our children.

And there is the problem--again, it shouldn't come as a surprise if you've been paying attention--but the Republican Party has lost its way. It no longer represents the people, unless you mean shareholders in the largest of corporations.

When will you understand that and do what it takes to fix the problem?