It’s the nature of the human brain to try to make connections, and that’s what many people with a better moral compass than the average Republican congressperson are doing in print these days. You see it in headlines that describe the House GOP’s budget bill as “slashing Medicaid and food assistance to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.”

The implication is they want their tax cuts for the rich, so they’re being responsible and looking for ways to mitigate the deficit-exploding nature of extending those tax cuts.

In a word: Nope. They’re not pursuing one in order to do the other. While there are a couple of true deficit hawks, collectively they are not concerned about the deficit. And sure, a few laggards had to be whipped into shape because they realize that cutting Medicaid is risky for their own careers. But at the end of the day, they’re House Republicans, which means they have a time-honored fetish for:

Cutting taxes for rich people.

and

Increasing the suffering for the vulnerable, especially the non-white vulnerable.

If they could only cut taxes for rich people, they would cut taxes for rich people, and they would be thrilled. Likewise, if they could only slash the social safety net, they would slash the social safety net, and they would also be thrilled.

See how the headlines are giving them too much credit? These goals are complementary, not counterbalancing. The GOP caucus and its surrogates will pose behind a fig leaf of fiscal concern as they are wont to do, but this is not about budget math. It is about the right-wing vision of regressing to the meanness of every man for himself (a phrase that has a 27% chance of replacing “E Pluribus Unum” on currency by 2028).

Right now, House Republicans can pursue both, so they are pursuing both. A wise America will remember to judge its officials not by what they accomplish, but by what they try to get away with.