And here comes "The Tea Party" ("TTP"). The Liberal Elite and other members of the looney Left tell us that all members of TTP are white, fat, old, racist, uneducated hypocrites that want to keep the "gubment hand's off our social security" - anybody remember the African American Congressman that swore he heard the "N" word at a rally with THOUSANDS of video cameras? Haven't heard much about that silly accusation lately, have we? Because it didn't happen... and neither has the Media's attempted character assassination of TTP... didn't happen, that is. For all of the disinformation coming out of the media, the Libertarian insurgents within the Republican party were about as welcome by the establishment RINO's as the proverbial turd in the punch bowl. What the 2H1P just can't seem to understand is the desire of the Tea Party folks to power down the Federal Government's power in favor of state and local government. Is the Tea Party really the Libertarian take over of the Republican party, or will it be a case of "I thought I heard the voice of the people..... must have been something else"...
And while the Tea Party may not push the Republicans over into power in the Senate, I am not sure that that is the issue (or should I say that I HOPE that is not the issue). Maybe, just maybe, we now have 51 Democrats, 44 RINO's, and 5 Libertarians. What the 2 headed 1 party ("2H1P") desperately tried to extinguish - the potential for a "new party" to emerge - now might in fact be a fait accompli. (To my mind these folks would be better off caucusing separately so that they are not cast aside in the next election... our electorate still seems to believe that there is a political answer to our economic problems.)
As for the House, the drubbing that the Dems are going to take will be without precedent.
As Scott Rasmussen said in his excellent WSJ piece yesterday, tomorrow's vote is not a vote in favor of RINO's as much as it is a rejection of the 2H1P (yea, I know I was a little liberal translating his title... but I think that statement is closer to the meat in his article).
But none of this means that Republicans are winning. The reality is that voters in 2010 are doing the same thing they did in 2006 and 2008: They are voting against the party in power.
This is the continuation of a trend that began nearly 20 years ago. In 1992, Bill Clinton was elected president and his party had control of Congress. Before he left office, his party lost control. Then, in 2000, George W. Bush came to power, and his party controlled Congress. But like Mr. Clinton before him, Mr. Bush saw his party lose control.
That's never happened before in back-to-back administrations. The Obama administration appears poised to make it three in a row. This reflects a fundamental rejection of both political parties.
More precisely, it is a rejection of a bipartisan political elite that's lost touch with the people they are supposed to serve. Based on our polling, 51% now see Democrats as the party of big government and nearly as many see Republicans as the party of big business. That leaves no party left to represent the American people.
Voters today want hope and change every bit as much as in 2008. But most have come to recognize that if we have to rely on politicians for the change, there is no hope. At the same time, Americans instinctively understand that if we can unleash the collective wisdom and entrepreneurial spirit of the American people, there are no limits to what we can accomplish.
In this environment, it would be wise for all Republicans to remember that their team didn't win, the other team lost. Heading into 2012, voters will remain ready to vote against the party in power unless they are given a reason not to do so.
Elected politicians also should leave their ideological baggage behind because voters don't want to be governed from the left, the right, or even the center. They want someone in Washington who understands that the American people want to govern themselves.
"And therein lies the rub"... The Tea Party needs a "Great Communicator" now more than at anytime in our history - including 1860. If the electorate is expecting anything other than a deeper recession than we now have should the Tea Party succeed in shrinking the Federal Budget to a manageable size... well, it would be inevitable that they would be the shortest lived political party in the history of the Republic. The electorate needs to be informed, challenged, and cheer-led onward, A coupe of good slogans wouldn't hurt "All we have to fear is fear itself" combined with "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country" into fill-in- the-blank (I will take a stab at coming up with a new slogan over the coming weeks).
The American people will needs be better acquainted and educated with the issues of economics and energy. There are good reasons why Oil is $83 per barrel in the middle of the worst recession since the 1930's and no one wants to get into the bond insurance business - Peak Oil and Peak Credit cannot be "artfully dodged" any longer. The Tea Party would do so at its peril and to its detriment.
Let us hope that is not the case.
20 comments:
The Tea Party is taking over for the Obama "cry for help," except the Tea Party has really only one mandate: allow the the rich to become even richer. The rich (especially the Koch brothers) are the ones who started and funded the Tea Party, and then gave them patriotic tho incoherent, distracting strategies that would accomplish nothing.
The Tea Party people (and their Republican bretheren) keep saying the same things that they have NO intention nor possibility of making come to pass: smaller deficits, less government, less regulation, government out of our lives, less debt, etc. all platitudes signifying nothing that will ever be achieved. They are the biggest nothing in this decade.
Obama was nothing more than a cry for help in 2008, from an electorate that knew something was wrong, somebody was stealing their future from them, and they didn't know what else to do. Obama has turned out to be more "ordinary" and amateurish than we would have liked. This time around, it is the Tea Party, which has the added benefit of not being black. :)
We can not longer buy off both sides with tax revenues from cheap energy and borrowed money .. the money/credit has run out. So, it is now a pitched battle to see which side wins funding. And since both Republicans and Democrats have good arguments, it will go back and forth, back and forth, wasting year after year. It's downright tragic. :(
The Tea Party is the first step towards sectional upheaval. The majority of the population will never understand the sacrifices which must be made and the financial/economic/deficit spending mess has gone too far. One side or the other is gonna explode when they are not funded or handed a bill.
Rising oil prices will make this upcoming storm all the worse. If you take out all the households below the poverty line and those on pensions there are simply not enough "paying households" left in the U.S. to fund it.
Regardless of the political outcome tomorrow night, despite any gains the TP "might" make the lines have been drawn. Enough people have declared their loyalties to one side or the other.
The violence which showed itself during this election cycle is just the beginning. Draw the line where you will racial, income, religious, political. One side is used to getting it's way the other has given in as far as they are going to go.
Personally I do not see anything stopping this powder keg from growing and exploding. Perhaps a more intelligent leader than what we have now will emerge but I doubt it.
Why can’t we get “None of the above” as a permanent fixture on the ballot? It would clear things up nicely.
Pioneer,
We certainly do need a Cincinnatus.
The elected politicians are doing EXACTLY what we are electing them to do: we want our benefits and we don't want to pay anything for them. Don't blame them. It is us.
I hope the Tea Party win big. Then several things happen;
- they have to walk the walk.
- they'll have to make real decisions, not just criticise Obama's decisions.
- we'll see what kind of people they really are when in some kind of power.
- the media will get a chance to dig around in their history and we'll REALLY find out about their skeletons!
- Obama will be able to share the blame when things go wrong, after picking up the pieces of Bush's cock-ups!
Interesting times!
P.S. Here's one for Tea Party, the let's-cut-taxes-and-all-live-free party; http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/commentary/neil-reynolds/the-scary-actual-us-government-debt/article1773879/
Note that taxes would have to DOUBLE personal and corporate taxes to have any chance of rescuing the US economy. Alternatively you can ignore it, call the IMF communist sympathisers, and ride this bomb all the way down!
Third parties have the potential to become mainstream parties when things get REALLY bad and the country is almost 100% polarized as it was prior to the Civil War. Lincoln received zero votes in the South . The Republicans were a third party to the Democrats and the Whigs. We're not there yet.
As far as leadership is concerned the Tea Party is going to have to do better. Look at what is happening in California. Jerry Brown is going to win because Meg Whitman is a nasty B---- like Leona Helmsley of the internet. One look at her and you get the impression that she is ready to beat up her servants. This is the same impression I get from Sarah Palin. She reminds me of one of the mean girls I knew growing up who would have said nasty things about me behind my back because she was really insecure. In contrast, Bill Clinton is probably the most successful politician of the last 50 years and part of his appeal is the fact that he really likes people. You cant fake that. Nobody really trusts the Tea Party. And the message of this election just reflects the fact that Americans don't really trust any politicians and want to effectively neuter Washington.
Wow... interesting observations...
Three cycles in a row the ruling party gets drubbed out . Prior to this it had never happened TWICE in a row...
Donal:
Yes, TTP will have to walk the walk, won't they? If they do not, they will go and John Stewart's folks will come in with their party... no doubt that should they walk that walk (or not) you and yours will throw sticks and stones.... I love politics...
I do not give 2 sh#1's about skeletons... they always seem about sex and we all know what hypocrites we are regarding that....
CryBaby!
It is indeed and unfortunate and unfair that Meg Whitman and other Republican middle aged women get judged on their looks, or lack thereof... actually, it seems to me that women HATE Republican women... Look at Governor Palin - gorgeous soccer mom makes good all the way to the governor's mansion, sells the governors jet, cuts costs, and respects life... and is impaled and pilloried daily by the Democrats... and just who are the "Democrats"? Well, certainly not white men over 65% of white men are Republicans... the bigger issue seems to be gender rather than race. White women are, for the most part, democrats, and white men are, for the most part Republicans.... ergo "the white women" party seems to reject unattractive Republican women while embracing them under the Democrat banner. hmmmmm.....
So how many billions of T-bonds is the Fed going to buy this week? And how does this 'create' jobs/reduce unemployment?
My friends father gives out loans at a small bank, and they can't give money away as it is...even with home interest rates at amazingly low levels and he says that new investment loans in businesses are also no existent. I'm not sure how representative this is nationwide, but nearly zero% interest money to banks doesn't seem to be trickling down into lots of new loans to consumers...maybe banks are buying up things with the cheap money--Goldman's etc?
And in regards to the tea party, its not monolithic. I have no tea party rep's locally I would vote for, they are not Libertarian, the Libertarians do have a party and run candidates in most large population areas. The local tea party people sound more like 18th century religious zealots, and are quite pro-war, I don't see hardly any difference between them and the other Rep Candidates locally, beyond they aren't rich folks like the other Rep's and they have no experience in politics. I don't think many libertarians are hanging their hat on the Tea-party, but it does seem to be powerful among Republicans. Karl Denninger has renounced the Tea-party b/c of the lack of push for accountability with the Govt-Corporate rip-offs of the last few years.
-Meiyo
Meiyo:
I have no idea what you have locally.... and that wack job in Delaware ain't helping...
but ron and rand paul are clearly libertarians, and they have great deal of muscle right now... let us seewhat happens with a bit of time... we can always reject them later, let us press them now...
Ron Paul is the man! He can give cogent arguments for libertarianism both in its more idealistic format and in a more developmental format. Rand doesn't seem to have his father's knowledge base, but Ron has been knee deep in his political philosophy for decades.
Ron Paul was booed in nearly every Republican primary last election cycle due to his Non-interventionist foreign policy. It was sad to watch as Republicans seemed to be taken over by the chicken-hawks neo-cons.
Perhaps Congress/Senate will get nothing done, but my guess is that they will come together when it come's to more authoritarian/tyranny based legislation--of course to protect us sheep. The two parties always seem to come together for warmongering, patriot act, and anything that helps the banksters/military industrial complex.
A government bought and paid for is what we have, a few people not owned by the financial oligarch's means little, maybe some roadblocks as the wheels come off. I think that a Republican congress will almost ensure an Obama victory in 2012, if the Dem's remain in control, he will most certainly lose--but since things won't be any better in 2012, likely worse for most people---the House/Senate possibly being Republican dominated will allow them to blame partisan inaction for 2012.
-Meiyo
Bur,
It is not about wining funding, you moron, it is about leaving the money in the pockets of the people who earned it. I'm 56 years old, and if they canceled the whole thing today, I would applaud. I'd get to keep 12.6% of a big chunk of my income for the next 10 or 15 years. You can't possibly imagine that there are people in the world that DO NOT WANT SOMETHING FOR NOTHING and don't think it is the government's job to take from one and give to another. Go soak your head, and I hope your parents leave their money to the Salvation Army.
Regards,
Coal Guy
Applause!!!!
Bur,
Sorry for the name calling. I was at the dentist this morning.
Regards,
Coal Guy
Greg,
Can you remove previous post.
Coal Guy
Greg; you really start to worry me when you go drooling all over Sarah Palin! You seem to lose your sense of reality; I can almost see you cross-eyed and with your tongue hanging out!
Just so long as you aren't losing your critical judgement(like all the rest of those old, white Republican men!)
Carbon,
I prefer you to be in serious, unending pain .... when you are commenting. :)
Your theory doesn't jibe since there are alot of intelligent, not so pretty Republican women who have the respect of both parties. Sarah Palin just isn't one of them. She's not only not intelligent, she's downright stupid.
Jeffers doesn't like me cause, deep down, he agrees with me. The Libertarian "everyone pull yourself up by your own bootstaps" stuff is just a mask. He knows very well the world is FILLED with people who are not optimized human beings, and their desired deaths aren't gonna happen.
These are people who are old, handicapped, injured, homeless, addicted, who have no luck at all, stupidly spend everything, save nothing, are screwed over by government and their families, and always make bad decisions ... people who normally would have either just faded away or asked their church for help.
Today, with the TV cameras 24/7, everyone is gonna be helped, whether they like it or not. And that costs. Borrowing against future generations is not only immoral, but we cut our own throats. Teenagers having to borrow a lot for college won't be able to borrow even more money to buy a baby boomer's house, or even form a real family.
235 years of America has shown one thing ... we pretend to be individuals, but in reality, we are all stuck together. So stop being a bunch of cheap ... farts, and stop borrowing the childrens' money. Pay your taxes with pride. :)
Bureaucrat:
Thank God there are people like you to stick it to the right wing lunatics of the world! If they don't like the US they should go somewhere else and start their own country.
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