To the editor: Jonah Goldberg's column “Will Mike Johnson Get Away With Betraying House MAGA Members With His Budget Proposal?” He could have mentioned that the Republican president is not a problem for the right given the simple arithmetic involved.
There are only three ways to solve this country's fiscal problem: cutting entitlements, increasing revenues, or a combination of both. The broader Republican Party – along with its leader, former President Trump – opposes all three.
Blaming Johnson for the problem only sheds light on the Republican Party's elevation of incoherent theater over governance.
Eric Carey, Arlington, Virginia.
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To the editor: Goldberg recounts how the staunch conservatives' derisive term for moderate Republicans has recently taken on a new meaning. They now use the epithet “RINO” (Republican in name only) to demean Republican colleagues considered insufficiently loyal to Trump.
How about a more appropriate label, one that, within the party, diminishes the stature of Republicans who tend to be realists and pragmatists? My suggestion: “RUNT,” for “lying, Trump-irritating Republicans.”
Sandra Pérez, Santa María
