A weirdly common conspiracy theory on the Left holds that Republicans secretly believe massive government spending is great for the economy and that Republicans only resist Democratic overspending because they want to sabotage the economy.

Like most conspiracy theories, there is a fact pattern that makes this one convincing to those who want to believe: Republicans are a lot less fiscally conservative when they are in power than when they are out of power. Former Presidents Donald Trump and George W. Bush were not frugal with our money, and neither is the average Republican governor.