Tea Party Protesters - 'Debt' is OK If It's MY Social Security Check!
THE TEA PARTY is proud of their ‘work-ethic‘, their ability to be self-supporting, patriotic Americans, who rely on no one but themselves. They want everyone in the country to be like them and stop taking handouts and relying on those nasty old ‘entitlement’ programs that make people soft and lazy. Programs like Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment Insurance, Medicaid, Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) and Food Stamps, among others, have come under attack, with support from stalwarts of the Far Right Wing, like Michelle Bachmann, Ron Paul and Rick Perry.
Lets be fair; lots of Tea Partiers are also survivalists, supremacists and other crazies, who shouldn’t be taken any more seriously than the goofy folks they are. But most Tea Partiers are not racist, bigoted, holier-than-thou libertarians, even though they may sound like that! (Notice that I didn’t include ‘homophobes’ – why? I think most of them are definitely homophobic! Perry is a good example).
When you really poke around and start putting the facts together, you will quickly find the hypocrisy that underlies the Tea Party movement. Of course, the first obstacle we must overcome is to determine what Tea Party supporters really stand for and what they truly believe. Because of the diverse beliefs of those who come under the Tea Party Umbrella, I am only listing some of the most popular positions, embraced by the majority of TP members. Let’s take a look at what some of these positions mean and why they’re so prominent in the TP movement.
I Hate Government Health Care; where Is My Government Health Care?
The hypocrisy began before the new class of pols was sworn in. When it was reported that “a conservative Maryland physician elected to Congress on an anti-Obamacare platform surprised fellow freshmen at an orientation session by demanding to know why his government-subsidized health care plan takes a month to kick in,” it raised eyebrows. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) said, “I was just asking a question!” But then, he asked more questions to find out what his alternatives were, never thinking that these are the very same questions asked by millions of Americans who have no health care coverage at all.
"We Can't Afford To Wait For Healthcare!"
When Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), the less-than-rousing inspiration for the Tea Party movement, was asked if he thought it was hypocritical for members of Congress to accept government-subsidized and regulated healthcare plans, he replied simply, “[c]ould be.” ”Could be?” This is the same man who decries the “intrusion and over-regulation of federal government in our lives.” He would like nothing better than to see the Federal Government dissolved, or, at the very least, reduced to a coordinator of foreign policy, but without the power to do anything about it. Remember, Paul is trained and experienced as a medical doctor, who understands the suffering (even if he has fantasies about ways to alleviate it) of those with medical conditions and no insurance. He has read the studies and seen the headlines: “Over 40% of Texas workers under the age of 65, have no health benefits at all!” This, apparently, is what he wants for the rest of America – but not himself!
We Support The Constitution…Except When We Disagree With It!
It seems that he Constitution has become the answer to every policy debate for the right-wing of the GOP – or at least their tenuous and limited understanding of what it says. However, after the new Tea Party-supported candidates were sworn in, they didn’t take long to trash the document. As Ryan Grimm reported for the Huffington Post:
“Two House Republicans have cast votes as members of the 112th Congress, but were not sworn in on Wednesday, a violation of the Constitution on the same day that the GOP had the document read from the podium.
As if that weren’t enough, the two lawmakers, incumbent Pete Sessions, (R-Texas), and newcomer Mike Fitzpatrick, (R-PA), couldn’t make the swearing-in because “they were attending a fundraiser at the U.S. Capitol, even though lawmakers are barred from using official resources for campaign or fundraising activities.” That’s illegal, too…and they did it on day one!
It doesn’t take long for the ‘sheep’s clothing’ to come off and see the wolf for what it truly is…an agressive pack animal, interested only in being the dominant player and taking advantage of the weak, young or very old. Sound familiar?
We Don’t Need No Stinking Rules.
The new GOP majority in Congress was supposed to be different from past majorities. Being heavily supported and influenced by the Tea Party, they promised greater transparency and openness to the public. “Leaders overreach because the rules allow them to,” said newly elected House Speaker, John Boehner (R-Ohio), speaking to the American Enterprise Institute. “Legislators duck their responsibilities because the rules help them to. And when the rules don’t suit the majority’s purposes, they are just ignored.”
Is there a King James version of the Constitution?
However, after taking the Speaker’s gavel, Boehner divested himself of such sentimental drivel and altered his perspective. Politico.com reported, “the new majority is already showing these promises aren’t exactly set in stone.” Transparency, it seems, is not all that it’s cracked up to be.
Here’s the GOP majority’s tally on ‘transparency’ after taking control of the House: At first, they said that all bills would go through a regular committee process. When it came to a bill that sought to repeal the Obama health care law, it was decided (by the GOP leadership) that it would not go through a single committee!
Despite the ”more transparency” promise, including a more open amendment process for bills, amendments for the health care repeal bill were all but shut down. Further, there were original calls by the GOP members that a list of committee attendees be posted online. So, what happened instead? GOP members, ‘encouraged’ by the leadership, voted for removing that requirement from the House rules. Anything else? Funny you should ask; these new all-American, patriotic, supporters of the constitution, promised to supply direct citations to the appropriate Constitution sections, for every bill they submitted for action. Unfortunately, no such rules were put into place. Perhaps, no one in the GOP has the King James version of the Constitution to refer to?
The Constitution Is Perfect As It Is…Why Does The Supreme Court Need To ‘Interpret’ It?
So, what other actions are Tea Party fanatics taking, in violation of the US Constitution? Too many to list here, but here are a few for consideration, just so you get the gist:
The Iowa Tea Party is backing a “nullification” bill that would allow the state to ignore federal laws, a direct violation of the Supremacy Clause. David Gray Adler, who directs the University of Idaho’s McClure Center for Public Policy Research, told the Washington Post that “nullification proponents ignore the fact that one Supreme Court decision after another has gone against them.” The state’s Republican Attorney General weighed in, stating the obvious, “There is no right to pick and choose which federal laws a State will follow,” which is why “no court has ever upheld a state effort to nullify a federal law.”
“Oh, what the hell…let’s try it anyway” seems to be the attitude of the Iowa Tea Party. I mean, really, what’s the worse that would happen? Hmmm, let’s see: several years of adding another case to an already-clogged federal docket, plus, let’s not forget the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of dollars that would have to be spent by the opposition (state and federal attorneys’ offices – in other words, TAX MONEY) in order to reap another decision supporting the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause!!
"I'm Not Crazy; All I Wanna Do Is Shoot Some Humans!"
Jason Brodeur, a local Tea Party newcomer in Florida, also got into the act, offering a bill that would make it a crime – punishable by a hefty fine or even jail – for a medical doctor to ask a patient whether there are guns in the patient’s home. The Constitutional problem seems obvious: it doesn’t permit the government to limit a physician’s free speech rights just because some lawmaker really, really likes guns. Or, as the Orlando Sentinel put it, the proposed law “protects the Second Amendment from the First.”
Now, I don’t know about those wild Floridians who love their guns, but as someone who has long enjoyed firing off a round or two of a .44-Magnum (yeah, the big Dirty Harry cannon) at some paint cans on a friend’s farm, I can honestly say that if a doctor is asking the question, there’s probably a good reason for it; like, MAYBE THE PATIENT IS FREAKING CRAZY??? Maybe, he’s talked about grabbing a gun and talking care of “those assholes who make fun of me all the time!?!?”
Ok, so where does all this leave us? As mainstream Republicans and neo-conservatives have scrambled to rally the support of the Tea Party movement, many have failed to take notice of some of the important inconsistencies implicit in the Tea Party message. A recent New York Times/CBS poll reveals some interesting information about the movement and its fundamental “principles.”
According to this poll, 91% of Tea Partiers want a smaller government with fewer services. Despite this hostility to big government, 62% of Tea Partiers believe that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are worth the cost (apparently no one bothered to tell them that Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid are evil Godless socialist programs that will bring our country down to the fiery pits of Hell). These findings would suggest, that in order to achieve fiscal sanity, the Tea Party believes that spending cuts are to be implemented elsewhere within the vast expenditures of the federal apparatus. However, when we question their beliefs on paying down the debt, the result is especially troubling. When asked whether they preferred deficit reduction or tax cuts, 49% of Tea Partiers said they would favor tax cuts, while 42% would prefer deficit reduction!
Gee…HYPOCRITICAL AND SCHIZOPHRENIC!!
