The idea that our government should work for the people, that we should be responsible with the tax dollars spent from Washington and that our personal liberties and freedoms are more valuable than anything are noble ideas.
Supposedly, this is the basis for the TEA Parties. But I don’t buy it.
I don’t buy it because when President Bush was proposing and signing bailout bills, this group was largely quiet. When President Bush was signing orders that took away some of our civil liberties in the name of national defense, this group was largely quiet. And when President Bush was increasing our national debt billions of dollars at a time, this group was largely quiet.
There is a group, however, that has always been consistent on economic issues. They want as low of a tax base as possible. They abhor runaway spending. And they want to carefully consider how each tax dollar is spent.
They are fiscally conservative members of Congress, and they are Democrats.
The Blue Dog Democrat coalition is the strongest group of fiscally conservative legislators we have, and President Obama has worked with them from Day 1 to pass his economic agenda. Without the Blue Dog coalition, Congress would grind to a hault.
The difference between the Blue Dog Democrats and the current Republican makeup of Congress is that the Blue Dog Democrats have worked to forge compromises when they disagree with a piece of legislation. They want to get work done.
The Republican leadership — and many of the Republicans who appear at the TEA Parties — simply want to serve as obstructionists to any legislative item put forth by the Obama Administration so they can try and win elections in 2012.
See the difference?
If the recent TEA party in Biloxi was any indication, it looks like at least half of those in attendance are there simply to protest President Obama. Some interesting photos can be found at http://www.msatheists.org/2009/07/photos-from-teabagging-in-biloxi.html
To the Mississippi Democratic Party:
It is a mistake to associate the Tea Party movement with the Republican Party. Moreover, it is a mistake to see this movement as a reaction to the personage of President Obama. In truth, the Tea Party movement was founded upon the conservative principles of fiscal discipline and limited government. These are not principles to which either party can claim exclusive ownership, though in fairness, they have traditionally been associated with the Republican Party.
It is worth noting that President Bush exercised neither fiscal discipline nor respect for limited government. One of the key criticisms of the Tea Party movement is that those involved did not voice concern over the conduct of the Bush administration. In response, I would state a few facts. First, several of the people leading the charge in the Tea Party movement actually did voice concern over President Bush’s spending. I, for one, published newspaper articles on the subject. Second, there is no comparison between the level of spending done by the Bush administration and the level of spending being undertaken by President Obama. We find ourselves facing a catastrophic deficit with mounting long term debt and forecasted declining revenues. In six months in office President Obama has pushed through a 787 billion dollar stimulus bill, arguing that it would hold unemployment to 8% (we are hovering around 10% today), we have seen across the board spending increases in the omnibus $410 billion supplemental budget, are facing a $1.5 trillion health care proposal and a nearly $4 trillion budget for next year. Third, even if we could have done more to protest President Bush’s spending, does that disqualify us from rising up now? If you’re driving down a one way street going the wrong direction with an 18 wheeler coming head on and have the opportunity to turn around, do you turn around or do you mash down the accelerator and hope for the best? Right now, the Obama administration is mashing down the accelerator and we are on a collision course with fiscal disaster.
This spending is historic and threatens to wreck the value of the dollar. It is for this reason that the Tea Party movement has drawn crowds larger than either party could garner in an off-year for elections. Admittedly, the movement has drawn a wide cross section of our population. Some are more interested in social issues than economic issues, but underlying each message presented at these rallies, is a desire to protect the liberty paid for with the blood of U.S. servicemen.
I find it interesting that the Mississippi Democratic Party feels the need to attack honest, hard working Mississippians who are concerned about the future of our country. I also find it interesting that the Mississippi Democratic Party would essentially endorse one wing of its fractured party (the “Blue Dogs” over the liberal majority that actually leads the party nationally). No doubt that this is a politically expedient move in a conservative state like Mississippi, but it is rather disingenuous given the nature of the leadership in Washington, D.C. Furthermore, it seems inaccurate to state that President Obama and the Blue Dogs are allied; especially at a time when the Blue Dogs are presenting the biggest impediment to President Obama’s plan to push through ineffective and costly health care reform–reform that will do little to address health care costs (according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office), but instead amounts to a redistribution of wealth program.
Whoever wrote this blog post is also confusing the reason Republicans are opposed to this legislation (because it’s bad) with the political advantage that will stem from opposing bad legislation. If the American people wanted President Obama’s brand of health care reform (which polls show they do not), then the Republican “obstruction” would backfire. The fact is that both the Republican and Blue Dog position on this legislation is reflective of the will of the people.
Lastly, I find it particularly telling that the only posted response to this blog post is an email from an atheist organization that, per its avatar, apparently wants to ban all religion. Amazing the type of support the Mississippi Democratic Party is drawing these days.
Now, if someone will post and keep this entry up on your wall, that will show some real courage.