The political world was shaken in last November's midterm elections when the Republican party re-gained control of the House and increased their numbers in the Senate considerably. Their landslide victory was propelled by a hard line fiscal conservative, known to most people as the Tea Party. Their message was a relatively simple one: The Obama administration, backed by the Democrat-controlled Congress, was spending too much money and increasing the size of the federal government exponentially, and they needed to be stopped. The Tea Party said that less spending, lower taxes, and smaller government were the answers to the nation's economic problems. This message resonated well with many conservative and independent voters, who were frustrated with a lack of economic growth coupled with a soaring deficit. These people believed that the Tea Party was working to make life easier on them.
However, that never was the case. The Tea Party immediately proved itself to be a Corporate Rights movement, showing no mercy to the middle and lower classes as they began assaulting social programs such as healthcare, strong arming unions to give up their collective bargaining rights, and reducing the amount of financial aid given to prospective college students. They also engaged in what amounts to financial hostage taking. They threatened to let the debt ceiling collapse unless more cuts were made in the budget. A debt ceiling collapse could potentially throw the nation into a double dip recession. In an even more stone-hearted move, House majority leader Eric Cantor, a favorite of die hard Tea Partiers, said that more cuts would be needed in the budget if the tornado-ravaged city of Joplin was to be rebuilt. In Cantor's eyes, preventing a few extra million dollars in debt is more important than saving an American city. Instead of cutting wasteful spending , such as the taxpayer funded Jell-O wrestling contests being held at the South Pole, (as outlined by Senator Tom Coburn in a recent report) the Tea Party began firing indiscriminately at everything, even crucial, necessary spending areas. People were quickly becoming fed up with their corporate backscratching and fundamentalist beliefs (in both a fiscal and social sense).
Over the past week, the Tea Party may have finally done itself in. They put their hand in middle America's wallet one too many times, and the public is finally starting to realize that things were going missing. The elderly, who were an important demographic to many Tea Party candidates in November, have isolated themselves from the movement that they were fully behind six months ago. This can be credited to the not too subtle corporate favoritism found in the budget proposal made by Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan. In his budget plan, which has been praised by other Tea Party politicians in Washington D.C., Ryan calls on ending Medicare while increasing the amount of tax cuts given to corporations and other companies. Without medicare, many seniors would be left without assured health care coverage. Reaction to Ryan's plan has been negative, as shown in a popular YouTube video in which a group of seniors boo Ryan after he says that the wealthy are taxed fairly.
While the Tea Party seemingly campaigned for the middle class, they have been corporate tools all along. Their fervent opposition to Obama's economic proposals are driven in the name of fiscal responsibility, but in the name of defending their top donors on Wall Street. What people have come to realize is that, no matter how much they despise big government, it's still not as menacing as the greedy, scorched earth culture that dominates the corporate America. In government, social programs provide people with an assured amount of money or assistance, and political leaders can always be voted out of office if you disagree with their policies. In business, private programs can be dramatically increased or lowered at any time. So privatized medicare would hardly serve as the safety net it is meant to be. Also, if you disagree with leaders of the private sector, tough shit. They'll stay where they are until they retire, leave their jobs, or are replaced by a board of directors. People are beginning to see that it is better to keep your perceived enemies closer rather than farther away. Expect the Tea Party to end next year. In a recent special election held in New York's 26th congressional district, the Democrat Kathy Hocul defeated the Republican candidate, Jane Corwin, in a major upset. The district almost always voted Republican in the past, but not this time. An anti Tea Party fervor is slowly building amongst the middle class, and it will reach its peak once the GOP Presidential Primary Circus begins touring at the start of next year.
However, that never was the case. The Tea Party immediately proved itself to be a Corporate Rights movement, showing no mercy to the middle and lower classes as they began assaulting social programs such as healthcare, strong arming unions to give up their collective bargaining rights, and reducing the amount of financial aid given to prospective college students. They also engaged in what amounts to financial hostage taking. They threatened to let the debt ceiling collapse unless more cuts were made in the budget. A debt ceiling collapse could potentially throw the nation into a double dip recession. In an even more stone-hearted move, House majority leader Eric Cantor, a favorite of die hard Tea Partiers, said that more cuts would be needed in the budget if the tornado-ravaged city of Joplin was to be rebuilt. In Cantor's eyes, preventing a few extra million dollars in debt is more important than saving an American city. Instead of cutting wasteful spending , such as the taxpayer funded Jell-O wrestling contests being held at the South Pole, (as outlined by Senator Tom Coburn in a recent report) the Tea Party began firing indiscriminately at everything, even crucial, necessary spending areas. People were quickly becoming fed up with their corporate backscratching and fundamentalist beliefs (in both a fiscal and social sense).
Over the past week, the Tea Party may have finally done itself in. They put their hand in middle America's wallet one too many times, and the public is finally starting to realize that things were going missing. The elderly, who were an important demographic to many Tea Party candidates in November, have isolated themselves from the movement that they were fully behind six months ago. This can be credited to the not too subtle corporate favoritism found in the budget proposal made by Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan. In his budget plan, which has been praised by other Tea Party politicians in Washington D.C., Ryan calls on ending Medicare while increasing the amount of tax cuts given to corporations and other companies. Without medicare, many seniors would be left without assured health care coverage. Reaction to Ryan's plan has been negative, as shown in a popular YouTube video in which a group of seniors boo Ryan after he says that the wealthy are taxed fairly.
While the Tea Party seemingly campaigned for the middle class, they have been corporate tools all along. Their fervent opposition to Obama's economic proposals are driven in the name of fiscal responsibility, but in the name of defending their top donors on Wall Street. What people have come to realize is that, no matter how much they despise big government, it's still not as menacing as the greedy, scorched earth culture that dominates the corporate America. In government, social programs provide people with an assured amount of money or assistance, and political leaders can always be voted out of office if you disagree with their policies. In business, private programs can be dramatically increased or lowered at any time. So privatized medicare would hardly serve as the safety net it is meant to be. Also, if you disagree with leaders of the private sector, tough shit. They'll stay where they are until they retire, leave their jobs, or are replaced by a board of directors. People are beginning to see that it is better to keep your perceived enemies closer rather than farther away. Expect the Tea Party to end next year. In a recent special election held in New York's 26th congressional district, the Democrat Kathy Hocul defeated the Republican candidate, Jane Corwin, in a major upset. The district almost always voted Republican in the past, but not this time. An anti Tea Party fervor is slowly building amongst the middle class, and it will reach its peak once the GOP Presidential Primary Circus begins touring at the start of next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment