Friend,

For years, I’ve heard my Republican colleagues complain about the deficit. They’ve bemoaned federal spending beyond our means and raised concerns about saddling the next generation with debt. Often, I’ve agreed with them: I proposed legislation to reduce the deficit by more than $70 billion, opposed budgets that ballooned the deficit, and worked across the aisle to build support for meaningful debt reduction. We should all be concerned that last year, interest payments on the national debt exceeded the entire defense budget.

So you can imagine how I felt as I watched my Republican colleagues vote for President Trump’s plan to add $3.8 trillion to the national debt. That debt will increase interest rates, making it more expensive for Americans to buy a car, purchase a home, or pay their credit card bills. What happened to the fiscal hawks within the Republican Party?

Here’s what I’ve learned: Republicans like to talk a big game about the national debt, but they forget those talking points whenever they decide it’s time to cut taxes again for the richest Americans. When the national debt grows as a result, they rediscover their sense of fiscal responsibility and insist on draconian cuts to infrastructure, education, and healthcare.

I’ve had enough of the hypocrisy. The deficit is a huge problem, but my Republican colleagues have lost all credibility on this issue. I’ll continue working toward long-term fiscal sustainability, but I won’t be lectured by those across the aisle when they eventually decide to care about the national debt once again.

— Jim