Principled or Practical?

There is a lot to be said about upholding your principles.

However, we live in the real world.

When do your principles have to give way to practical reality?

This was a question that every Republican in the House of Representatives had to answer this week when the "Big, Beautiful Bill" budget reconciliation came up for a vote on the House floor.

The bill (H.R. 1) passed the House yesterday morning by one vote---215 yea, 214 nay.

Two Republicans voted no. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Warren Davidson (R-OH).

Source: https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025145

They stated they could not vote for a budget bill that did so little to solve the budget problem.

All Democrats voted no.

The Democrats presumably had to face the same question but for them the answer was easy.

In principle, they are against anything that Donald Trump is supporting.

And if they are practical, even if there is some issue that they are in agreement with Trump on, they will never vote for it because it would be the end of their career as a Democrat.

There is no bigger deficit hawk than I am.

I have written over and over again in these pages over the years that the United States is on an unsustainable fiscal path that will end in disaster if it is not corrected.

In fact, the second blog post that I ever authored in BeeLine on January 2, 2011 was on this subject.

I predicted that a train wreck was in our future.

I cited Congressional Budget Office projections that forecast the United States would be paying $800 billion in interest on the federal debt in 2020 and consume 3.4% of GDP. 

In 2011, net interest of the debt was only $200 billion and took up 1.4% of GDP.

We are actually now spending over $1 trillion in net interest on the federal debt or about 3.0% of GDP.

The only saving grace to the federal debt situation is the low interest rates we had over much of the last decade that were much lower than forecast when I wrote that blog post in 2011.

However, we have now entered another world in which interest rates may not be as accommodating in financing over $37 trillion of federal debt.

Net interest on the federal debt over the years is shown in this chart.

Interest on the federal debt as a % of GDP.

The average interest rate on the federal debt was 1.5% in 2021-2022

It was 3.4% at the end of 2024.

Credit: https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1867985707437842933

The trend is not our friend on any of these measures.

Congressmen Massie and Davidson are correct about the principles here.

As I wrote almost 15 years ago, the Federal Debt Train is unstoppable and it needs to be stopped.

The train is just picking up more speed each year.

However, principles only go so far in Washington, D.C. 

There is no political will or urgency to do anything about it right now. 

This year has proven that the Democrats are even opposed to cutting waste, fraud and abuse.

There even was not enough Republican support in Congress to codify even a fraction of the DOGE findings of waste, fraud and abuse at USAID and other agencies.

Source: https://www.startribune.com/gop-balks-at-approving-even-a-fraction-of-musks-doge-cuts/601343865

Is it any wonder that Elon Musk has stepped away from his visible role with DOGE.

He has much better things to do with his time and money.

All he got from the experience is abuse from Democrats and the media.

At some point you have to be practical. 

Elon was smart enough to realize that when this is the environment you are living in.

Thomas Massie and Warren Davidson are both in conservative congressional districts.

President Trump carried Massie's 4th Congressional District in Kentucky by 67%-31% margin.

Trump won Davidson's 8th Congressional District by 61%-38%.

Do the voters they represent care more about principles regarding the federal deficit and debt right now or the practical steps necessary to advance President's Trump's agenda?

Let's be clear, the budget bill was far from perfect.

However, the reality is that the Democrats voted against it because they want higher taxes and much higher spending.

A Democrat budget would result in an even higher deficit.

More importantly, failure to advance this important piece of legislation would risk damaging the entire Trump agenda.

A defeat of this bill would also disillusion Republican voters looking forward to 2026.

If the GOP cannot get their act together and support Trump why should they even bother to vote in 2026?

No one is pure nor is any legislation perfect in Washington, D.C.

Thomas Massie and Warren Davidson are trying to defend their vote on principles.

However, principles also only go so far in Washington, D.C.

Massie and Davidson have failed their constituents by choosing to tilt at windmills rather than providing support for the more important long term agenda of Trump and the Republican party.

Both of these guys will not lose to a Democrat in their congressional district.

However, they might not be safe in a Republican primary if a well-funded, practical-minded conservative, Trump-endorsed candidate decides to take them on.

A primary challenge of these members of Congress should be unnecessary and a wasteful use of resources.

However, so was their inability to put principles aside, understand the practical reality and move on to fight another day.

They might soon find out that their principles are not worth much when you are on the outside looking in and you are not even in the next battle in the long war to make American great again.