From time to time, I ask, “Why bother with Republicans if this is all they have to offer?” Garland S. Tucker III raises the question yet again with a dismaying case in point at RealClearPolicy:
As Republican fundraisers crank up their requests for limited-government conservatives to fund 2018 campaigns, congressional incumbents have a lot to answer for. For one thing, where were they when Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos made her request to reduce the size of government?
As we now know, last year DeVos boldly submitted a $9 billion year-to-year reduction in appropriations for her department. How did the Republican Congress respond? It granted the department a $2.6 billion increase in appropriations, instead of the $9 billion requested cut. With control of both houses of Congress and the presidency — and with a secretary pleading for reduced appropriations — is this the best the GOP can do? If so, loyal Republicans should be asking themselves: “What difference does my vote (or my campaign contribution) make?”
Remember when Republicans ran on dismantling the constitutionally suspect Education Department? That was long ago . . .