Republicans face rift within their party

IDEOLOGICAL divisions and political tensions are nothing new when it comes to the Republican Party since its founding in 1854 and after it first came to power in 1860, taking control of both houses of Congress with its candidate Abraham Lincoln elected as president.

Since then, in responding to economic and social changes, the Grand Old Party (GOP) has gone through several political metamorphoses. During the presidency of Republican Ronald Reagan, it became known as the party that supports strong national defence and internationalist foreign policies; promotes pro-free-market economic policies, including international free trade; and advances traditional social-cultural values. This agenda came to be known as Reaganism.

Since the 1970s, Republicans would continue to disagree over, and debate this or that policy. But there was one issue on which every member of the party would always fall in line, treating it almost as religious dogma: taxes. They should never be increased and always be slashed, and if possible, repealed. Because as Reaganism posits, reducing taxes on business and individuals helps grow the economy, with the end result being that government tax revenues actually grow in the long run. Hence a politician supporting tax hikes had a zero chance of being nominated as a Republican candidate for office. The conventional wisdom was that only Democrats would be opposed to tax cuts and try to sabotage Republican presidents and lawmakers who were expected to advance that goal after getting elected.