In 2009, President Obama‘s $800 billion “stimulus” bill—dubbed “Porkulus” by critics—set off a nationwide protest movement known as the tea party. Today, journalists casually refer to “President Biden‘s massive spending bill.” Yet, there’s very little public reaction to the bill. Why is that? I can think of three reasons.


First, the multiple trillion-dollar COVID-19 relief bills passed by large bipartisan majorities under two presidents have simply accustomed voters to the idea of massive federal spending.


Second, President Trump’s indifference to controlling federal spending, even before the pandemic when he had Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, signaled to conservative voters that spending wasn’t an important issue.


Finally, President Trump‘s unchallenged control of the Republican Party and the once-conservative movement has concentrated Republican and conservative attention almost entirely on election stealing and culture war. Only a doughty band of libertarian and free-market policy wonks seem to care any more about spending and the size of government.

And the result is that, as Chris Edwards and the Congressional Budget Office point out, federal spending is soaring. And inflation is up. And the size, scope, and power of the federal government continue to expand, with dismal results for freedom and economic growth.