Fiscal Responsibility for Thee, Not for Me

Debt Without Decency

Deficits and debt matter, unless there is wealth to transfer to the obscenely rich.

Where have all the deficit hawks gone? Are they migratory—only flying in when a Democrat is in the White House? How do they rationalize adding trillions of dollars to the debt?

A Big Bill With No Conscience

The same Republicans who once warned of “fiscal collapse” if we extended child tax credits or expanded health care are now silent—or worse, complicit—as the deficit balloons under policies that overwhelmingly benefit billionaires and corporations.

What happened to the principled conservatives who claimed they couldn’t in good conscience saddle our grandchildren with debt? Are they expecting the obscenely rich billionaires they're planning to gift with money to pay it off?

Or do they think we’ve stopped paying attention?

Once again, we see the truth: Deficits and debt are only a crisis when poor families are getting help. But when it comes to transferring wealth to the top 0.1%, suddenly the money is there.

And we must ask again, not for the first time, not for the last: Have they no decency?

Brian Fitzpatrick Voted Against Our Families

John Lewis wouldn’t stand for the likes of Brian Fitzpatrick.

As Cyril Mychalejko writes in the Bucks County Beacon:

Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick could have stopped President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” that will slash Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits spending by almost $1 trillion. 

Fitzpatrick’s single vote could have stopped the bill that passed 215-214 Thursday morning in the House.  

Instead, the self-described moderate fell in line with the MAGA leadership of the Republican Party and his single vote sent the budget bill that will take food and health care away from millions of Americans to the Republican-controlled Senate. Two Republicans who were independent enough to vote against the budget were Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio.

We should be angry about this. Get up to good trouble as John Lewis would say.

Every Day We Drift Further into Alice’s Wonderland

In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the rules of logic, time, justice, and civility are turned upside down. It’s a world where madness is the norm, and reason is met with ridicule. Increasingly, our reality feels much the same. Like Alice, we are rational beings navigating a world where familiar systems are unraveling.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—once a watchdog for the public—is quietly transforming into a shield for corporate interests.

The Department of Justice, once a pillar of impartiality, now seems to be selectively enforcing the law: dropping investigations into Trump’s allies while targeting his critics, even elected officials.

Corruption, once hidden for fear of scandal, is now flaunted. Contribute to Trump’s coffers, and you gain access. Influence is no longer earned—it’s bought.

FEMA, a federal agency designed to coordinate emergency responses, is increasingly pushing its responsibilities onto under-resourced state governments.

And as for science—once our best tool for public health—it’s under siege. Life-saving vaccines are demonized, while conspiracy theories flourish.

This isn't just a political shift. It’s a slow, disorienting tumble down the rabbit hole, where truth is negotiable and the absurd becomes policy.