Tea parties: they just don’t get it

To be truthful, I don’t know if the so-called mainstream media covered the “tea party” tax protests that took place all across America yesterday. That’s because I have long ago stopped looking toward the MSM for truthful information. What I do know is the people toward whom these protest were directed haven’t got a clue as to what they are about, nor, it appears, do they have a place in their consciousness to put it.

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Contrary to the belief voiced by an assistant of Sen. Ben Nelson (D NB), the tea parties are not a protest against the government per se, but against the way the government is being handled. The standard comment on the tea party phenomenon seemed to be that, “well, the Republicans had their chance and look at the mess they made of it.” Or, “This is just another attempt by the neo-cons to derail the brilliant plan devised by our president to solve the nation’s economic problems.” Nice try, but these responses aren’t even close. The tea parties are not about whether Republicans or Democrats wield power, nor are they about conservatives and liberals. The tea party protests are about government being out of control. Not just the government of the day, but also of the previous administration. Consider the fact that between George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the federal government has incurred $12.8 TRILLION dollars in debt in just the past six months! Unborn children will inherit nearly $50,000 in debt on the day they are born and chances are that their grandchildren will have to finish paying it off. The United States used to be the country where anything was possible; where a poor person could rise to the pinnacles of wealth on the strength of his or her initiative and dedication to hard work. The country’s current trajectory precludes any such possibility, as its citizens will be working to pay off the government’s debts, rather than enriching their own lives. After Japan, the United States has the second highest corporate taxes in the world, meaning that investment in the United States is being redirected towards those nations that do not unduly punish success. But given the spending addictions of all levels of government, these high taxes are necessary in order to pay for the profligate spending habits of those who govern us. Contrary to what Sen. Chuck Schumer (D. NY) claimed, Americans do care about those “little, tiny, yes, porky amendments” that piggy politicians of both parties have been writing into budgets for years. The tea party protests are clear proof of that. These amendments result in bringing government largesse to their states or districts, but given the level to which they have taken these expenditures, they are also killing the nation’s ability to pay for them. Americans are turning into de facto slaves of the US government so that politicians like Chuck Schumer (D), Arlen Specter (R) and Lisa Murkowski (R) can stay in office indefinitely. Many commentators on the right side of the political spectrum believe that the tea parties will accomplish absolutely nothing. It’s almost certain that no substantive change will come from government as a result of these protests. However, the protests will accomplish two things. First, people are finding out that they are not alone in their revulsion of what the government is attempting to ram down their throats. They are discovering kindred spirits in large numbers who believe as they do—that the government should serve the people and not the other way about. Second, and perhaps more importantly, out of these tea parties the germs of an organized effort to change the faces of those in Washington is highly likely to emerge. When that happens we’ll see some real change in government, instead of the “change” the last election has brought about.