The GOP’s Spending Fight Is More About Fighting Than Spending

For several years now, I’ve been told that the “old consensus” of fiscal conservatism and limited government was dead. So, you might think I’m delighted by the sudden rebirth of Tea Party-style budget-cutting zeal on display in the GOP’s brinksmanship over the debt ceiling.
Not so much.
I’ll get to the debt ceiling fight, but first let’s take a moment to consider Mitch Daniels, the former Indiana governor rumored to be contemplating a Senate run in 2024.
Daniels has been perhaps the most successful and adroit budget cutter of our lifetimes, both as governor and as president of Purdue University.