For a party holding the presidency and Congress, reconciliation has become an annual "Get out of jail free" card for all the tax cuts & spending hikes they could never pass under regular order. Since 2001, the reconciliation process has added $16 trillion in new debt.

GOP deficit hawks - despite months of mapping out offsetting spending cuts - were routed in Reconciliation 1.0 (the OBBBA). Achieving 217 of 220 House GOP votes for most of their bold offsets proved impossible. They couldn't even quietly bury them in a must-pass tax cut bill.

Another reason Reconciliation 1.0's cost exploded was President Trump. He took Social Security and Medicare savings off the table. Then he demanded huge new spending and even more tax cuts. And GOP lawmakers were not going to get in his way.

So, what makes GOP deficit hawks think they can suddenly pass all those huge unpopular spending cuts that were blocked last year? Esp. when: - It's not part of a must-pass tax cut bill - The House majority is smaller - A midterm election approaches. It's simply not happening.

Q: So what's the harm of letting fiscal hawks at least try another reconciliation bill? Because Reconciliation 2.0 would quickly be taken over by White House & Congressional leaders, stripped of the savings, and packed with another round of "must-pass" tax cuts & spending hikes.

Consider Trump's priorities that would surely be added to another reconciliation bill: - $500 billion in new defense spending - Up to $600 billion in tariff rebates - More farm tariff bailouts. Plus another debt limit hike to rob Democrats of any leverage next Congress.

Reconciliation 2.0 is sure to morph into yet another $1- to $2 trillion panderfest of tax cuts and spending hikes before the election. Instead of cutting deficits, GOP hawks will be pressured to vote for yet another budget buster or incur the president's wrath.