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| Tea Party Protest, Washington D.C. September 12, 2009 |
With all the un-sportsmanship and un-statesmanship like conduct of the progressive left, just what the Tea Party movement is all about has certainly been muddied. And it hasn't helped to have a media that goes along with it - well, except for that...
"radical, right wing etxtremist" news station called Fox. I thought to myself, what is the Tea Party about - and are their ideas extreme, radical, racist, and evil?
Well according to the Contract From America, there are ten things that the Tea Party encourages its congressional candidates to follow. Let's see if we can find something extreme.
1. Identify constitutionality of every new law: Require each bill to identify the specific provision of the U.S. Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does.
Now that is truly extreme, right? I mean come on - it is almost anti-American to suggest that our laws conform to the constitution! One might get branded as a Patriotic American instead of a Global Citizen. No social progressive would be able to live down that stigma...HELP!
What is so extreme, radical, racist, and evil about having a deep conviction that the laws of the land conform to the United States Constitution? Why isn't the media running with this crowd? After all, it is because of the Constitution that they can exist without state control. I am convinced liberalism would shoot itself all nine times if it was a cat.
2. Reject emissions trading: Stop the "cap and trade" administrative approach used to control carbon dioxide emissions by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of carbon dioxide.
In other words, Tea Party Americans are against reducing America to third world status. Yes, I know that is a problem for those that want America to be on an "even" and "fair" playing field with the rest of the world. Never mind the blood of our soldiers that have preserved our liberties, and in doing so, have enabled us to rise above the ancient practices of other nations that date back thousands of years. I guess when you spit on soldiers that come home from war, a polar bear or two becomes pretty important. Never mind that it was America that went from the stick plow to being the first to walk on the moon in just two hundred years. I guess your an extremist, a radical, a racist, and evil because you have great pride in the progress of your nation. People that are free and un-encumbered from controls and regulations - why, they are dangerous!
3. Demand a balanced federal budget: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax modification.
OK, this one is really controversial. Not only do Tea Party Americans want the government to run the nation's checkbook like us on Main Street, but if there are any deviations from that, it would require majority agreement. You see, I guess it's not extreme to have a 13 trillion dollar debt and a 2 trillion dollar deficit. No, that's not extreme. That's not financial child abuse upon future generations that aren't even born yet. I do have to ask myself, what idiots elected these idiots to office? Are these the best politicians that huge sums of money can buy?
4. Simplify the tax system: Adopt a simple and fair single-rate tax system by scrapping the Internal Revenue Code and replacing it with one that is no longer than 4,543 words – the length of the original Constitution.
Let's say, for example, each and every American, old enough to go to war and defend our nation, had to pay in taxes 10% of their income. I am all for taxes to keep our military equipped, to keep our bridges safe to drive on, to have a fire department to put out the fire, to have police on patrol to keep our people safe, etc...taxes are not all bad. And just think if all you had to do at the end of the year was send in 10% of your income.
I have to say, that would be extreme, compared to what we have. Extreme in a good way. We could maybe fit that on just one page; there is the tax code, fair and balanced.
How many pages are in the tax code right now? Are you ready for this? The tax code is over 60,000 pages long with over 1100 forms and supplemental information. That is 10 times longer than the Bible, and unlike the Bible, contains no good news. It is estimated to take Americans over 6.6 BILLION hours to prepare their taxes. Now maybe it is just me, but doesn't that sound extreme, radical, racist if you can't afford a tax preparer, and yes - evil?
5. Audit federal government agencies for constitutionality: Create a Blue Ribbon taskforce that engages in an audit of federal agencies and programs, assessing their Constitutionality, and identifying duplication, waste, ineffectiveness, and agencies and programs better left for the states or local authorities.
So let me get this straight. The government doesn't mind the IRS auditing Americans to ensure they pay their taxes, but the same politicians don't want the tax payers to audit them to ensure they are behaving Constitutionally and not wasting our money? It is no wonder the progressive left, which includes the President, doesn't have anything good to say about the Tea Party! Need I elaborate any further?
6. Limit annual growth in federal spending: Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of the inflation rate plus the percentage of population growth.
Don't grow too big too fast? Isn't that what this is saying? Additionally, as government spending grows, it must be legitimate growth - in other words, growth tied to actual reality, not because politicians are greedy!
What an extremist, radical, racist, and evil idea - don't let the government have a blank check signed by the American people. Don't put our grandchildren on the hook either! You know what, I am thinking I could easily acquire a taste for tea.
7. Repeal the health care legislation passed on March 23, 2010: Defund, repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
O boy - here we go...this has got to be the reason why Tea Party Americans are so horrible. After all, just being born in the United States should be enough to force you to buy Health Insurance, right? According to "Obama-care" all you have to do is nothing, and now you are taxed with having to buy health insurance, or you can pay a penalty. Imagine that, a penalty to be an American!
While I don't doubt that the healthcare system in America could use a little fixing, taking over the whole thing and forcing Americans to pay for the fixes is not what I envision as liberty. I am still trying to find their rational in the constitution, but after looking it over several times, even buying some books to help me understand it better, I still can't find it.
8. Pass an 'All-of-the-Above' Energy Policy: Authorize the exploration of additional energy reserves to reduce American dependence on foreign energy sources and reduce regulatory barriers to all other forms of energy creation.
This has always amazed me. The government walked into our energy policy and said we can't look for energy on our land or in our waters (essentially). Of course the result of that was dependence on foreign sources for energy, because Americans, as a majority, like the form of energy we have. Then the government comes along and says we have a problem - "we are dependent on foreign sources for our energy. This is a national security threat, an economic threat, and a threat to our American way of life." Well - duh! You think so? Of course, the government's solution is not to backtrack out of our energy policy and stop being the problem, no, they have to look like they have the answers for the problems they created. Of course, the answer is to give the EPA all the control, shove the color green down our throats, and inspect our homes for energy compliance.
I'm sorry, but it sure seems like the bully who was shoved into our energy policy by the environmental/special interest groups is the extreme, radical, racist, and evil gorilla, not a group of Americans fed-up with all this ludicrous nonsense.
9. Reduce Earmarks: Place a moratorium on all earmarks until the budget is balanced, and then require a 2/3 majority to pass any earmark.
This one is enough to get even pigs in a hog barn to start belly laughing. Yes, the "pork-barrel" spending sprees of late. I really don't care if you are Democrat or Republican, the spending has got to stop until we fry some bigger fish. In case you politicians just don't get it, if we live beyond our means today, by default, we must live under our means tomorrow.
Can I ask the same question the Tea Party is asking? Why do we think it is the Federal Government's job to pay for everything. Why should I in Minnesota have to pay for some "pet" project over in Nebraska? What is so wrong with requiring the States, and in many cases, the local governing bodies to bear the responsibility of their own problems? And what is so inflammatory about requiring a majority agreement from politicians, when they are asked to spend everyone's money? Wow...where did these people go to school?
10. Reduce Taxes: Permanently repeal all recent tax increases, and extend current temporary reductions in income tax, capital gains tax and estate taxes, currently scheduled to end in 2011.
So here is the logic. If I am allowed to keep more of my money, I will then have more money to invest, buy things, and help out others in need. As I do that, I grow my business, hire more people, buy more things, and have more to help those in need. At the end of the day, I have contributed to growing the economic engine in my individual world of influence. Now if we could multiply that by everyone in this country, we would generate untold sums of wealth. The more wealth we generate would then result in more tax revenue, without having to cut into our economic engine and wealth generation. In other words, the government would have the money it needs to run efficiently, we the people would enjoy reaping the prosperity that flows out from our hard work, and personal responsibility would go up because those in need that received help locally would be faced with accountability. No more abusing the system.
Now even though that's the logic that took us from a stick plow to the moon, and though that is the economics (called Capitalism) that has allowed the poorest among us to be deemed wealthy by world standards, I guess it is too extreme, radical, racist, and evil for our day. Yeah, those Tea Party Americans, they are dangerous; you have to keep an eye out for them.
Let me just say this in closing. I am Tea'd-Up! I hope you are too. We need to get out and vote back into office real Americans, who are not afraid of their Patriotic shadow, and have the guts to stare down this over taxing, over burdening, and over reaching government. It is high time the government learns to humble itself to the American people, not just in word, but in deed.
And Mr. President, you recently said that folks like me are scared, living in fear, and may not think rationally when it comes time to vote. I can understand that view, especially when you indicated that that was your view from the Oval Office. I think it shows how out of touch you are with the American people and their reality on Main Street. When people like me are informed, showing up at rallies, donating time and money to help out candidates, putting up signs, and blogging; when we are called extreme, radical, racist, and even evil, this shows me that you are the one who is scared, fearful, desperate, and not thinking rationally. But that's OK, Mr. President, because the change that I am hoping for is just 13 days away.
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