What happens when Republicans take a stand

Republicans good ideas about restraining government spending, and they also have difficulty enforcing them under pressure.

The Congressional response to the coronavirus has presented Republicans with an easier than usual opportunity to stand by principles of restraint. After passing a $2 trillion spending bill, Republicans have been more than ready to let that spending have its full effects first before proceeding further.

Both House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Schumer both expected Republicans to cave on spending and consent to trillions more in spending. They pretended to suffer cuts to their demands by shortening how long they would demand spending.

Republicans seeing through that fake negotiation and remembering how spending has already soared to supersaturated levels, they actually felt very little pressure to go along with continuing absurdly high levels of spending.

Democrats and the media both thought this would change, but it has not. What has changed is the calendar has gotten closer to the election and moderate members of the House Democrats could no longer conceal their electoral concerns about their lack of meaningful action.

Guess who blinked first.

Yes, Speaker Pelosi called for major concessions on spending levels, albeit not while calling them that. This is still in process, but we have already seen the significant moment I'm addressing here.

When Republicans take a stand, they can win. They may get criticized in the press, and they can survive that with their principles intact.

The only thing they lose is the declaration of victory. The media doesn't give them any credit for the win, but they get the win for the American people anyway.

That makes taking a stand worth enduring the pressure.