The Vanishing Republicans

 

Years ago, when the Obama administration bailed out the auto industry, in particular General Motors and the Chrysler Corporation, it cost the government $80 billion of taxpayers’ money.  Republicans were up in arms about this and vowed they would never allow the Federal government to bail out another corporation again because such action was juxtaposition to the concept of free market.

Well fast forward to 2025 and you will discover that President Trump used taxpayers’ money to take a 10% stake in the computer chip maker Intel Corporation. That’s right the Federal Government intervened financially in a private company, something Republicans vowed in 2008 to never allow again.

Fast forward again to 2026, and guess what, Spirit Airlines that had already emerged from bankruptcy twice in the last two years is about to receive a government bailout under a proposal submitted by our esteemed President.  The Federal government would now own a majority equity in the company.  And naturally the excuse President Trump espouses for this needed bailout is blamed on the Biden administration’s refusal to allow Jet Blue and Spirit to merge in 2024.  However, industry experts agree that the actual final demise for Spirit was the result of the exorbitant jet fuel price increases cause by the war with Iran.

This most recent action is yet one of several that causes me to pause and wonder just what the Republican party stands for anymore. Their three paramount political affirmations have always been to reign in federal spending, minimize government interference in the free market operation of corporate America, and avoid getting entangled in foreign civil wars.  

However, regarding their first political mantra, federal spending is even more out of control despite the efforts of the DOGE fiasco.  As of April 2026, it stands at $3.65 trillion, an increase of $84 billion over the same period last year.  Also, the national debt has steadily increased under the present Republican leadership to over $38.5 trillion, up from $36 trillion in 2024.  The cost of living is also up.  And now the influx of Federal dollars to corporations, and the Iran war, originally cast as necessary to help its inhabitants rise up and cause a regime change in that country.  However, when that failed, our involvement has now switched to preventing Iran from having a nuclear arsenal.  Yet another ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction rally cry?

It appears to me, as I constantly remind my Republican friends who support the present administration, that the Republican party has been highjacked.  Consequently, you should no longer refer to yourselves as Republicans.  You are now Trumpians and the policies that party espouses continually change according to the whims of its leader.