Reality is a team sport, to some people. They don’t mean things when they say words. They’re just signalling loyalty to their ingroup hierarchy, and playing a dominance game where they get to decide what’s true. It’s not a judgement call. In their worldview there is no objective means to evaluate claims. There’s just whatever their guy says, and whatever our guy says, and their guy is right because he’s their guy.

So please stop falling for it when they declare themselves fiscal experts. They don’t give the slightest shit. They’re just shuffling cards. It’s another song and dance they do, to grasp for narrative legitimacy. Nothing else exists in their moral universe.