Many of us on the right are operating under the assumption that the
Tea Party Movement
will help ushering in a new Republican majority in 2 or 4 years. However, Thomas Del Baccaro has a sobering
review of this meme.
At its core, the Tea Party movement is a pro-liberty – limited government movement. Its activists continue to believe in Reagan’s cogent message about government. Beneath that over-arching theme, Tea Partiers by-in-large are motivated by four major issues. (1) excessive taxation, (2) out-of-control spending, (3) out of control Legislators who pass bills without reading them, and (4) the apparent lack of adherence/respect for our Constitution. None of those issues should be troublesome for the Republican establishment – yet there is anything but an easy alliance between the Tea Party movement and the Republican establishment.
The reality of today is that the Tea Party movement is more than skeptical of whether the Republican establishment is willing to take a stand on those issues or whether they are more interested in playing
Let’s Make a Deal with American principles. In other words, they do not believe that they are providing effective leadership on those important issues. Instead, they do things such as offering a Presidential candidate who wanted to buy up all the bad mortgages that government encouraged in the first place. A government response to a government problem –
Reagan
would not be pleased – and neither are Tea Partiers. If Republicans were providing effective leadership on those important issues, I would hazard a guess that there would not be a Tea Party movement today.
Many of us on the right are operating under the assumption that the Tea Party Movement
6 comments:
I must concur that this assessment is indeed spot on. Some of the tea party folks have been diligent in gaining leadership at all levels of local and state governments. There have been some major successes. However, despite the sucessess, such a movement will not likely filter upwards in such a short a span as 2-4 years. Certainly the Goldwater era is a testament to this fact.
We are merely an instant gratification society that expects immediate results. In politics, nothing but nothing happens instantaneously.
Good point. It would be nice if it were a wake up call to the party that is supposed to stand for these truths however.
It is not a wakeup call to the establishment nor is it likely to become one.
The Republican establishment is still continuing to embrace the moderates and invite them and their moderate ideas into the big tent (hell wasn't it just yesterday they took in a Democratic defector). Mind you they do this all the while they continue to dismiss the likes of Ron Paul, Rand Paul, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, and many other principled folks that opposed the onslaught of liberal policy during the Bush administration just as vehemently as they do the Obama administration.
The Republican establishment will not change their ways for the simple fact that the sheeple that follow them always adhere to the
11th commandment which is of course:
"Thou shall always vote thy party."
And so the voting sheeple continue to go for the lesser of two evils premise and thus they receive nothing but a flurry of moderates. If you want to move this country in a specific direction, you need to be committed to the ideals and the policies that move you in that direction rather than an individual who represents a party but litle else.
The Republican Establishment today is the apotheosis failed ideas, failed governing and failed leadership. An awesome achievement at failure, if you think about it, many years in the making fueled by colossal hubris and a naïve belief in their own propaganda.
The so-called Tea Party movement, however, strikes me as weak tea at best in large part because the movement gets its ideas and marching orders from…wait for it...the Republican Establishment. I know, I know, teabagging folks like Soapboxgod say that many Republicans today are “really moderate liberals” and never were “true conservatives” and so forth. But I’m willing to lay money down that Soapbox and a whole raft of tea baggers like him voted twice for GW Bush and many of the other Republican jokers who hold office today.
But now teabaggers want politicians who are “pro-liberty” and promote small government and less taxes. Hello? Buehler? Those are the core principles of the Republican Establishment. Hardly one bit of communication comes out of the Republican Establishment that does not reference promoting liberty, lowering taxes, and less government or the evils of doing the opposite.
Do you remember our previous president, George W. Bush? I would venture to say that he would consider himself a card carrying teabagger. In many respects, GW Bush was more of a Reaganite than even Reagan himself (who, for instance, did raise taxes in a number of instances). In any case, eight years of teabagging leadership was quite enough for me, thank you.
The Republican Party needs new ideas, new leadership, and a true commitment to good governance.
Actually Brando you couldn't be more incorrect. The tea party movement began at the roots level in such organizations as Freedom Force Internation and Ron Paul's campaign for liberty.
As for the failings of the modern Republican party, you're spot on. They have taken failure to new heights haven't they?
They failed on doubling the size of the Department of Education, they failed on Campaign Finance Reform, they failed by providing subsidies to agricultural companies and corn growers which led to spike in food prices and gasoline. They failed private property rights by supporting "wetland protection" through eminent domain and smoking bans on privately owned establishments. They failed by adding a prescription drug plan to Medicare. The list goes on and on...
And each one of these demonstrable failures can be rightfully attributed not to any conservative or libertarian sort of philosophy or belief system but quite the opposite. These failings have come to fruition because they are all antithetical to the American experiment; to the ideals liberty and personal freedom.
Hot button issues can make any election cycle. However, there is only one defining political issue which has and always will trump them all and that is the preservation of individual liberty, freedom, and autonomy from a Federal Government.
Make no mistake about it, there is a big Republican boot trying to wedge itself inside the door of the active movement at the grass roots level. However, the men and women committed to this movement know full well theat there exists a fundamental difference between people that come together around a movement or a cause than do come together around a party.
Anyone can pay lip service to "low taxes" and "small government" which is what the Republican party had done for the past 8+ years.
But, their actions are quite to the contrary. Regulatory taxes are still taxes. Mandating that you buy a $4 lightbulb as opposed to a $.50 one is a tax increase (lest you forget that mandate was signed into law by George W. Bush). What's more, there's nothing "small" about doubling the size of the Department of Education (an entity comprises almost exclusively of Union members that support almost exclusively Democratic candidates) or establishing the Department of Homeland Security.
"The Republican Party needs new ideas, new leadership, and a true commitment to good governance."
New ideas ya say? How about pandering to latinos and trying to bring them into the big tent by offering them amnesty and a penalty free path to citizenship? DOH..we tried that.
How about trying to bring those public school teachers around by increasing the DOE budget and subsequently their pay and bonuses?? DOH...we tried that too.
Okay, how about advocating for a cleaner environment and mandating renewable energies in the Energy bill so that we might get some Sierra Club members on board?? Oh DAMN we tried that too.
And, to be perfectly clear, I did not vote for Bush in '04. I also did not vote for McCain in '08.
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