For 52 years, I was a Republican. I still believe in fiscal responsibility and the importance of effective government, but I’ve become increasingly at odds with the party I supported for most of my adult life. Eventually, the economic priorities—or lack thereof—of Republican leaders led me to become an Independent.
Some of my disillusionment likely comes from my experience as an economist and businessman. I can’t help but see the opportunity costs in every short-sighted economic decision that Republicans have made.
Whether you’re managing a household budget, running a business or governing a state, every dollar you spend in one place is a dollar that cannot be spent elsewhere. Consider President Trump’s war with Iran. Besides the fact that he promised the American people to keep us out of foreign wars, one estimate placed the military cost of the war at more than $890 million per day. For the federal government, money devoted to Iran cannot simultaneously be used elsewhere and we’re giving up the benefit those funds could have provided to improve Social Security’s finances, repair infrastructure or reduce the deficit.
The war has also disrupted energy markets, driving up crude oil prices and raising the costs of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. While oil companies are experiencing a massive increase in revenue, the American people are stuck with the stubborn bills. These higher prices don’t stop at the gas pump, of course. They work their way through the entire economy. Brown University’s Iran War Energy Cost Tracker estimates that Americans have paid $138 billion in additional gasoline and diesel costs since the start of the war, amounting to more than $1,059 per household. Think of what every American household could do with that money as an alternative to higher prices.
The timing is also particularly troubling. Not only have prices for working families continued to climb under Republican control of Congress and the White House, but social safety nets have also been slashed.
Last year, Republicans in Congress passed what President Trump called the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which delivered substantial tax benefits to corporations and higher-income Americans while reducing federal spending on programs that support lower-income households. Some of the largest oil companies in America reaped significant tax benefits. ExxonMobil reported $5.9 billion in immediate tax savings, ranking it second only to Apple as the nation’s largest corporate beneficiary of the GOP tax bill. Chevron and ConocoPhillips received $2.02 billion and $852 million in tax savings, respectively.
Now, I don’t fault the oil and gas companies for the double boom of skyrocketing prices on top of lucrative new tax benefits. They didn’t create this war.
But I do question the priorities of Republican leaders, like Congresswoman Stephanie Bice, who chose to provide substantial tax benefits to large corporations while reducing assistance to struggling Oklahoma families.
Here in Oklahoma, the changes to SNAP and Medicaid that were supported by Bice have kicked 54,767 Oklahoma children off food assistance. Rural hospitals, many of which serve families working in the oil and gas industry, already operate on narrow financial margins. And thanks to Bice, will face additional uncertainty as healthcare funding changes take effect.
Every federal budget is a statement of priorities. When we head to the polls this November, we should be asking if the priorities reflected by Republicans in Washington are the ones that best serve us here in Oklahoma.
Republicans control Congress and the White House, and they have had ample opportunity to help lower costs (like they said they would) and build an economy that supports American workers.
They’ve failed. All while adding $2 trillion to our national debt!
I didn’t spend 52 years as a Republican only to abandon the principles that led me to support the party in the first place. I still believe in fiscal responsibility and that our tax dollars should be spent as effectively and transparently as possible. That’s why I’ll be voting for Jena Nelson on Nov. 3.
This article appears in Fall Flavors.