The Republican Problem

And what would that be? Getting people to trust them about spending:

Do Not Trust Cornyn or McConnell on Spending Cuts

[...] Republicans, perhaps because of their party’s evangelical wing, understand what it means to be born again — and they’re out to convince Americans that they are born-again debt crusaders, ready to rumble in the holy struggle for smaller deficits and less-unbalanced budgets. This takes a little bit of chutzpah. Here’s McConnell: “The American people don’t think our problem is that government taxes too little. Our problem is that government taxes too much. And that it spends too much and borrows too much. And until Democrats demonstrate even the slightest ability to restrain the recklessness with which they spend Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars, the job creators and the workers of this country aren’t about to take them seriously on how to lower the debt. The American people shouldn’t be asked to pay the price for Democrats’ recklessness through higher taxes.” Until Democrats demonstrate the slightest ability to restrain their recklessness? Fair enough, but let me refresh Senator McConnell’s memory:



Check out the spending under your guys, Senator McConnell. Notice how it doesn’t go down? This is why nobody trusts Republicans on spending: because Republicans have not earned anybody’s trust. [...]

And it doesn't help that we had eight years of a Republican Administration that spent money like a Democrat. Money we didn't have. Republicanism in recent years has meant sucking up to the social conservatives, and ignoring fiscal conservatism.

If Republicans can't put fiscal conservatism FIRST, even before social issues, then why should anyone bother with them?