It’s no wonder we don’t like Washington. What do we always hear? Lazy bureaucrats. Spineless politicians. Conniving lobbyists. What’s there to love? But here’s hoping that, just maybe, good politicians start to get a bit more credit.

President Trump’s tax plan is an example of why career politicians can be valuable. The plan is “a free-lunch mentality” of big tax cuts and little offsetting revenue, nonpartisan budget watchdog Maya MacGuineas tells The New York Times. “Who doesn’t love a tax cut, especially if no one has to pay for it?” she adds.

What does this tell us? Governing is hard, and we don’t help matters when we ask for the impossible. Washington generally tries to give us what we want. We need to ask for responsible things, or else reward politicians willing to tell us “no.”