The term RINO (Republican In Name Only) once referred to those Republicans who did not follow the Republican philosophy.

But that term is meaningless today because Republicans have lost their philosophy. The best examples at the national level are trade and deficits.

There was a time not too long ago when Republicans believed in free trade and balanced budgets. But that was before Trump. Now trade is used as a weapon (which usually winds up hurting Americans) and government debt is continually increasing.

The same thing is happening at the local level. One of the few remaining conservative columnists in Arizona, Bob Robb, recently (March 30) published an opinion piece that outlined the many ways Arizona Republicans have fallen off the track philosophically.

The most recent example is a classic case of crony capitalism by the major electric utilities (APS, SRP, TEP). They felt threatened by a potential competitor who was relying on a law passed more than 20 years ago, which allowed such competition but had never been tested.  As soon as a real competitor proposed to test it, the big guns rolled out their checkbooks to hire a record number of lobbyists to repeal the legislation that allowed the competition.

Not only did most Republican legislators cave in to the pressure but so did other leading Republicans, some of whom were (erstwhile) vociferous supporters of free markets.

Therefore, please don’t call anyone a RINO. It has lost its meaning.