Op-Ed: The ‘Donald Trump Show,’ courtesy of Boehner and McConnell

  |  

The ‘Donald Trump Show,’ courtesy of Boehner and McConnell

September 10, 2015

By former Rep. David McIntosh (R-Ind.)

Published in The Hill: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/presidential-campaign/253093-the-donald-trump-show-courtesy-of-boehner-and

 

The Donald Trump Show should be a wake-up call to establishment Republicans in Washington. Let’s face it – at its core the Trump phenomenon is an expression of deep anger and frustration at Washington’s lack of leadership.

Less than a year ago, conservatives, libertarians, and independents gave Republicans a majority in the Senate and their largest House majority in more than 80 years. They trusted Republicans who campaigned on the promise that a Republican majority would at least put up roadblocks to the Obama agenda.

Voters fully expected this Congress to take real steps to rein in spending with a transparent appropriations process, and to preserve the modest spending caps established under sequestration. They believed Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) a year ago when he said tax reform was “in the realm of doable.”

Yet today, we’ve not only seen none of the above – it’s actually gotten worse. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said recently that tax reform will have to wait until at least 2017. Rather than cut spending, this Republican Congress has cut deals with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to try to create $9 billion in new mandatory spending, and voted for a Medicare bill that adds more than $100 billion to the deficit over the coming years. Boehner still wants to resuscitate the Export-Import Bank, an example of the worst of government cronyism and the first federal agency to be put out of business in years. And, both McConnell’s Senate and Boehner’s House are expected to bust through established spending limits this fall with a massive spending bill that will likely be passed with a lot of Democrat votes, over the objections of many fiscal conservatives in both chambers.

Is it any wonder that the conservatives, libertarians, and independents who elected this Republican Congress are rallying behind the angry voice of Donald Trump? They’re even willing to overlook Trump’s far left positions: single-payer universal health care, a massive tax increase, anti-trade policies, and eminent domain to allow developers to seize private property. None of those are conservative, pro-growth positions.

Trump has made it clear that he’d be happy to use the massive power of government to force U.S. businesses to do what he believes is best for the country. That’s not economic freedom and it’s not a path to opportunity. He’s even recently rejected a flat tax in favor of the progressive tax rates that liberals applaud as part of their class warfare rhetoric.

Trump is not a conservative. He’s a showman who loves to talk about himself and who knows how to attract a crowd. And he’s tapped into the frustration of average Americans who have been saying for years that the country’s on the wrong track. They elected Republican majorities to change that course, or to at least begin bending its trajectory back toward less spending and smaller government. But now it’s clear that Boehner and McConnell have failed to even take up the fight with Democrats to do this. So millions of Americans are rejecting Washington wholesale and turning to the loudest anti-Washington voice they can find.

The irony, of course, is that, as Trump says, he’s been in the business of buying and selling politicians for years, and he boasts of how he’s manipulated the laws to ensure his own financial success. Trump is all about making himself great, but he’s now cloaked that scheme in pro-American, anti-Washington rhetoric. His so-called policies will not fix health care, lower taxes, or shrink government. But many Americans, who are completely and rightfully disillusioned by Washington Republicans, are willing to take a risky gamble on the unknown, rather than settle for the ongoing frustration of the known.

Boehner, McConnell, and the rest of establishment Republicans now own this mess. The 2016 presidential cycle started out, and still has, some of the best, pro-growth, conservative candidates that we’ve seen in many years; candidates with actual plans to end Obamacare, cut spending, and do real tax reform.

Unfortunately, those good candidates and their good proposals are getting drowned out by the Donald Trump Show. And, unless Republican leaders in Congress use the next four months to do the people’s business, to finally put up a strong fight against Obama, and to vote on a clear fiscally conservative agenda, they will be totally abandoned by the people who gave them the gavel, and they will be overwhelmed by more of the Trump tidal wave.

McIntosh served in the House from 1995 to 2001. He is president of the Club for Growth, a conservative organization.