Did We Get the Tea Party Wrong?: Podcast
An autopsy for the brief limited-government era of conservatism that ended on Friday
On Friday, President Donald Trump signed into law a two-year budget deal presented to him by the Republican-led Congress. The bill increases federal spending by around $300 billion, removes the last restraints imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011, and pushes annual deficits back toward the awful $1 trillion level. On Saturday in this space, Matt Kibbe, formerly a key organizer in the Tea Party movement, wrote a piece headlined (in part) "The Tea Party Is Officially Dead."
Today's Reason Podcast, which features Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, Peter Suderman, and yours truly talking news of the week, begins with an autopsy of sorts. Did we delude ourselves about the strength of the fiscal conservatism in the Tea Party? When and where did the message of limiting government overreach get diluted by tertiary concerns and culture-war bombthrowing?
Also discussed: the Nork Queen media outrages at the Winter Olympics, why certain libertarians are confused by nationalism and sports, and whether we should even be talking about the initial White House mismanagement of wife-beating accusations against the now-resigned Rob Porter.
Audio production by Ian Keyser.
Relevant links from the show:
"How GOP Fiscal Sanity Died, in 7 Easy Steps," by Matt Welch
"In Memoriam: The GOP Pretending to Care About Fiscal Restraint," by Austin Bragg and Meredith Bragg
"Please Enjoy These Videos of Paul Ryan Being Concerned About Debt and Overspending," by Eric Boehm
"Rand Paul Single-Handedly Tries to Stop Massive Spending Plan (Update: Congress Passes Budget Deal)," by Eric Boehm
"The Senate Budget Deal Proves Republicans Love Government Spending," by Veronique de Rugy
"Senate Reaches Bipartisan Deal to Keep the Government Open By Spending More Money On Everything," by Peter Suderman
"Give Us Liberty? Q&A with Dick Armey & Matt Kibbe of FreedomWorks," by Nick Gillespie, Jim Epstein, and Meredith Bragg
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