We have been making the case for months that the anger expressed at the hundreds of tea parties and Congressional town halls held from coast to coast has been aimed at both political parties and our process, not solely at Democrats, as the mainstream media (MSM) has maintained in their attempt to marginalize the protesters. Millions of informed and educated voters have seen the small-government lies from Republicans while Bush signed every spending bill that crossed his desk. And before Democrats start joyously smirking at the above reality, your side could give a flying flop about deficits, growth in government, generational rape and the related sins of Uncle Sap spending a whole heck of a lot more than he collects.
And the angry tea-partiers get it. They understand that in last year's federal budget we spent approximately 80% more than we collected in tax receipts. Eighty percent. The number are simple: approximately $2 trillion was generated and received, and we spent $3.6 trillion. Think about that for a moment. This year (FY 2010 commenced October 1), the numbers will be nearly identical. A range from 50-80% appears to be the new normal, as far CBO's eye can see, which is about 10 years.
So while the tea parties have their fringe elements, (and any party without a fringe element is a lot less fun to observe), the core of the anger and frustration found reverberating through the masses is predicated on the deficit equation detailed above. And the criminal injustice of using trillions in borrowed savings from our children to rescue and support failed banks while the guilty remain in power and out of jail, is so troubling for some of us that we have no alternative but to scream until we can no longer whisper.
Politicians would be wise however, not to miss the message through the rancorous din:
- 'IT"S THE DEBT AND BAILOUTS, STUPID!'
Sure it's a rip-off of James Carville's political maxim for Clinton's first campaign, but it feels somehow more appropriate now. And it's a pox on both sides. Incumbents beware 2010.
- "When Republicans were in power, they acted like everyone else," said marcher Debi Bohannon of Oklahoma City.
- "Tea party forces are confronting the Republican establishment by backing insurgent conservatives and generating their own candidates — even if it means taking on GOP incumbents."
- "In a handful of states, tea party activists have zeroed in on House Republican incumbents and have launched primary challenges in protest of their past support for the controversial Wall Street bank bailout."
- Canyon Clowdus, an Army veteran who is taking on third-term conservative Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), has blasted the incumbent for making “a horrible mistake” in voting for Troubled Asset Relief Program. 'He has put a financial burden on my four children that will amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars each,' Clowdus says of Conaway on his campaign website[.]"
- "[I]f you talk to grass-roots activists, [the bailout] has become a political test for them.”
- "Moylan [of the National Taxpayers Union] agreed that TARP is 'really kind of the flash point that started all of this.'"
- "Erick Erickson, founder and editor of the influential conservative blog RedState, has urged tea party activists to 'put down the protest signs' and stage takeovers of local Republican parties."
- “Grass-roots activists need to start infiltrating the party,” said Erickson. “The only way to start getting [the establishment] back is to start pounding them with every fist we have."
Click HERE for a phenomenal resource on the Washington DC Tea Party. They have aggregated crowd metrics, photos and videos from all over the web. Outstanding work.
************************************
Click To Scroll Our List Of Recent Stories
Thank you!
