Robbing Them Blind

The party of fiscal conservatism. 

For as long as I have been interested in politics, that has been one of the centerpieces of the Republican Party. It is a party based on the idea that the best kind of government is one that is small and efficient. Being small and efficient means that government expenditures are kept at a minimum. Programs are only kept that are necessary. Conservative influencer Grover Norquist once revealed that it was his goal to have a government so small that you could "drown it in a bathtub." The modern-day GOP warns of the excessive national debt and often campaigns against "tax and spend" Democratic candidates. Today's Republican Party prides itself on being fiscally responsible and in terms of economic turmoil openly advocates for austerity rather than any policies that would increase taxes on any segment of society. At the end of the day, their messaging revolves around being the party of being financially responsible. 

Yet, that is far from the truth.  

Thursday's revelations that NRA Executive Vice-President Wayne LaPierre and 3 of his fellow malefactors had been engaging in personal spending sprees on the company dime was just the latest example of prominent Republicans exploiting the very people for which they claim to be advocating. While NRA members gave yearly dues to protect them from supposed government overreach, LaPierre and his crew were globe-trotting, spending lavish amounts on personal travel for themselves and their loved ones and living it up at world-class hotels and restaurants. During this time, NRA members were being bombarded with literature about how conniving liberals led by Joe Biden were planning a massive gun grab should he be elected. At a time when they were anxiously looking out their windows for scary black and brown people, NRA members were actually being robbed by 4 aging white men, who were engaged in a decades-long pattern of fraud. In the end, it was NRA executives who were much more of a threat to the safety of the organization than those scary black and brown people. 

But exploiting gullible Republican voters isn't limited to the NRA. There now exists an entire industry based on far-right conspiracy theories. Alex Jones, best known for his work with InfoWars, has a net worth of $10 million which he acquired through two decades of fear-mongering and deliberate misinformation. Yet even with Jones admitting that what he does is "performance art" during his 2017 divorce hearings, there remains a built-in gullible audience harping on Jones' every word and continuing to buy such absurd products as "coronavirus cures", which were products with no proven ability to fight off the virus that Jones was selling in April of 2020. Jones more than likely was inspired by fellow conservative scam artist Glenn Beck, who consistently used his influence to pitch Goldline International, a Santa Monica-based company that advocated in investing in gold. Goldline was charged with fraud in November of 2011 and was forced to refund $4.5 million to defrauded customers three months later. Beck has continued to sell shady products and has been in the news this past week as his canceled Mediterranean cruise was refusing to fully refund customers who purchased tickets. Those customers made the fatal mistake of putting their faith in Glenn Beck, a man who zero integrity and honesty.

Inherent in modern-day conservatism is the idea that elected officials will do what is best for their constituents because they are fiscally responsible. Yet, over the past year alone, we have seen multiple scandals involving elected Republicans misusing their office. In January of 2020, California Congressman Duncan Hunter resigned from Congress after it was revealed he misused campaign funds by paying for personal expenses, including $625 for flights for his pet rabbit. That same month, former Republican New York Congressman Chris Collins was sentenced to 26 months in jail for insider trading. In May, it was announced that North Carolina Senator Richard Burr was being investigated for insider trading. In July, Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder was charged in a $60 million racketeering scheme. Also in July, it was revealed that freshman GOP Kansas Congressman Steve Watkins was being investigated for both voter fraud as well as illegal campaign contributions that were coordinated by his father. 

But above all this, nowhere have we seen more corruption than the Trump Administration. Over the past 40 months, we have seen unprecedented financial scams perpetrated against the American people. In September of 2017, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned after spending $400,000 on private flights. Rick Gates, Michael Cohen, and Paul Manafort all pleaded guilty or were found guilty of bank fraud, among other charges. In April of 2018, the Government Accountability Office ruled that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt broke the law by installing a $43,000 soundproof phone booth in his office. In January of 2019, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke resigned after it was revealed he had questionable real estate deals in Montana. In May of 2019, the Government Accountability Office ruled that Ben Carson's Department of Housing and Urban Development broke the law when it spent $40,000 on new office supplies for Carson. All these scandals and there are still 5 months to go and multiple reports that have yet to become public knowledge. 

Yet despite all this, the biggest Republican con artist has been none other than the current occupant of the Oval Office. Donald Trump had a lifetime of financial scams even before being installed as president and he has continued criming ever since. It started before he was even sworn in with there being evidence about potential wrongdoing of the Trump Inauguration Committee. After being inaugurated, Trump has repeatedly used the office of the presidency as his own personal bank. He has played golf over 270 times, costing the taxpayers roughly $139,000,000. In September of 2019, it was revealed that the Air Force was staying at Trump's Turnberry Resort while refueling in Scotland, helping the property increase its profits by $4 million over the previous year. In February of 2020, it was revealed that Trump was charging Secret Service members $650 a night to stay at Trump properties. In May of 2020, it was revealed that U.S. taxpayers paid $1 million to Trump properties since he took office. With Trump refusing to release his tax returns and Deutsche Bank cooperating with a New York state investigation, we will continue to learn more about Trump's financial crimes in the months to come. 

The truth is that Republicans are not fiscally conservative when it comes to exploiting the people. Instead, they have shown time and time again that they are more than willing to spend lavishly with money that belongs to their constituents and the American taxpayers. Because the modern-day GOP loves big money. They love big donors and they love big corporations. But most of all, they love their own big bank accounts. Publicly, they profess that they still believe in the principles of fiscal conservatism. But privately, they are more than willing to cut corners, to flout the law, and to do whatever it takes to enrich themselves and their families. Donald Trump may be the most visible example, but financial corruption is running rampant through today's modern Republican Party. They are more than happy to continue to exploit the same and pad their own bank accounts all while the most vulnerable among us struggle to make it from paycheck to paycheck. Republican millionaires in Congress aren't upset that "leechers" may be getting $600 a week; they're upset that it's $600 a week that they cannot exploit. Because the people receiving this money will be spending it for critical needs and not on the latest Republican scam. 

And that, for them, is the most important part.