Are Republican State Lawmakers Preparing to Abandon Fiscal Restraint in Favor of Major New Spending Programs?

RALEIGH – Since the Republicans won majorities in the N.C. General Assembly, they have embarked on a series of tax and regulatory reduction programs while at least keeping spending in line with inflation. The result has been sequential years of economic growth, and revenue surpluses.

But while tax cuts may continue on schedule (corporate, personal), Senior Fellow at the John Locke Foundation Joe Coletti thinks the legislators are feeling pressure to abandon any semblance of fiscal restraint and embark on Democrat-lite spending sprees.

Coletti spoke at a John Locke Foundation luncheon to describe what he sees as potential pitfalls of Republicans’ potential folding under pressure.

.@JoeColetti tells @JohnLockeNC says challenge for North Carolina lawmakers this year is to meet committed funds obligations while keeping spending under control. But pressure is mounting to break fiscal restraint in favor of major new spending programs. #ncga #ncpol

— Dan Way (@danway_carolina) March 4, 2019

.@JoeColetti tells @JohnLockeNC if North Carolina adopts new big spend programs without fiscal restraint it risks a repeat of Kansas’ poor record, and critics will pounce on the idea of tax reduction as a failed strategy. #ncga #ncpol

— Dan Way (@danway_carolina) March 4, 2019

Great. Democrats are nipping at our heels in the state legislature already, and the Republican response could be more Big Government spending programs?

This is the problem with ‘pragmatic’ Republican leadership subscribing to the idea that they must occupy the middle ground to maintain control. The results, however, are consistently that Republicans politicians lose the support of the base while getting absolutely no credit from Democrats for coming their way. It’s a recipe for electoral disaster, not to mention an abuse of taxpayer funds.

Offering bold conservative policies and reforms is the wave the Republicans rode to super-majorities nearly a decade ago; and they will wipe out the moment they think it wise to beat Democrats at the spending game.

Instead, Republican lawmakers should double down on a limited-government platform. That would require actually limiting the size of state government – cutting burdensome regulations, cutting wasteful and unnecessary government programs, cutting spending, and taking less money out of the pockets of hardworking North Carolinians.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because that is exactly what the Republican platform is supposed to be. Abandoning it in a ‘go along, to get along’ push to carry favor with squishy moderates and Left-leaning media doesn’t only stand to betray Republican voters, it will likely turn the keys over to Democrats in 2020 where they’ll merely hit the gas and run us all off a fiscal cliff in short order.