Osler's Razor

In the continuing march towards dispensing with every principle they ever stood for (ie, vigilant national defense, attention to deficits, personal liberty, actually conserving things, etc. etc. etc.) Republican leaders now seem to be totally dispensing with federalism.

The latest affront is President Trump's apparent plan to swoop in to remove homeless people from the streets of California cities, and to prevent that state from enforcing environmental standards. I frankly have no idea what semblance of federal authority could even arguably be said to support the incipient plan to move homeless people to an aircraft hangar-- but that doesn't appear to be a part of the calculus.

I'm not a Republican, but there were many Republicans I respected; they had principles. Not always the same ones I have, but I could work with that.  (After all, Democrats have some principles I don't agree with, either).  What I see now, though, is just brute partisanship.

Seriously-- what might the current guiding principles be for this Republican party?

I suppose the closest we can come to a guiding light is the mantra of "America First," which at least ties together two courses of action: anti-immigrant policies, and restrictive trade policies. But is that it?