It's only bad when they do it

Ever since the patron saint of fiscal conservatism Ronald Reagan and his minion George H. W. Bush tripled the national debt, from $1 trillion to $3 trillion, the GOP has made intellectual flexibility a hallmark of its rhetoric on the subject. A zen-like serenity about the deficit and the debt settles over the party whenever a Republican occupies the White House, to be instantly replaced with hysteria the instant a Democrat is inaugurated.