Recent polling shows that just 8% of voters now consider themselves to be Tea Party members, down from 24% shortly after the passage of Obamacare. Peggy Lee's 1969 classic "Is That All There Is?" comes to mind. (Do watch the video for the full impact.) What happened?
At it's height, the Tea Party tried to define itself in the mission statement of the Tea Party Patriots: The impetus for the Tea Party movement is excessive government spending and taxation. Our mission is to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize our fellow citizens to secure public policy consistent with our three core values of Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets. Nothing about guns, illegals, abortion, or foreign wars. In that mode, they were the energy behind the Republican wave that gained 63 House seats, 6 Senate seats, 22 state legislative chambers, and 5 governorships in 2010.
In two short years the leaderless movement has almost dissolved. The 49-member Tea Party Caucus in the House, led by Michelle Bachmann, has been unable to stop party leadership from agreeing to the January 1, Obama tax increases or the $60 billion grabbag Hurricane Sandy "stimulus lite", with its AmTrack upgrades, national highway reconstruction, and all manner of unrelated spending. Financial conservatives have been removed from the Financial Services and Budget committees. None of the Tea Party members in the Senate - Rand Paul of Kentucky; Mike Lee of Utah; Jerry Moran of Kansas - bothered with a filibuster on the tax increases.
The Republican Party is a coalition of interest groups - evangelicals, small business owners, national security hawks, libertarians, gun owners, financial elites. In 2010 the Party leaders welcomed the Tea Party numbers and energy, fearing a "worst case" third party revolt. In 2012, they nominated a patrician who, I believe, would have been a great president, but whose campaign did not articulate or personify the mantra of fiscal responsibility and limited government. We true believers expected that an organized effort and a "fiscal prudence" theme would produce a great turnout. It didn't. Romney's defeat was particularly crushing to the amateurs who first became engaged in politics just two years ago. And the media's constant drumbeat has caused the public to identify "Tea Party" with any form of extremism.
Where to now? Obama apparently believes that he has the measure of John Boehner and the House Republicans and that he can get massive debt limit increases and more tax increases without giving on entitlement reform or general spending reductions. Some 63% of Republican voters think that Republicans in Congress have lost touch with the values of their electorate. Meanwhile, the media have grown tired of the fiscal cliff and ignore the impending automatic spending cuts, having moved on to the more interesting issue du jour, the debate over gun control.
Maybe if there is a bolt out of the blue there will be a rebirth of concern about debt and inflation sometime in the next couple of years, but a better bet is to follow Peggy Lee's nihilistic advice and "let's keep dancing."
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This week's video is candidate Obama's 2008 demagogueing against President Bush's $4 trillion in deficits over 8 years - about half of his pace.
bill bowen - 1/18/2013
HILLARY: If yesterday didn't end Hillary's dreams of being President then the left can elect anyone.
Posted by: Bill McCormick | January 24, 2013 at 08:57 AM
THE 'TEA PARTY' CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO FAIL. Although the 'Progressive Left' does point to social problems that must eventually be addressed; economic solutions don't materialize. Never more clear was this fact depicted than Wednesday at the Brookings Instittute. Alexis Tsipras of the Greek radical left social party, the Syriza, spoke. For an entire hour, iterations of the social injustice of AUSTERITY imposed by the 'RICH ROBBER BARONS' was touted. Each solution proposed was always one more 'move to the left'i.e.taxation,then strikes, then riot, then chaos , as each successive failure occurs.
The reality that there exists 310 million solutions and not one 'Progressive' grand plan , never occurs in the mind of the 'left'. Our Justice Dept. refused to prosecute several of Wall St's criminal executives; solely to make the point that the fault lied within the SYSTEM' and to isolate the government from any discovery.
Posted by: DickG | January 24, 2013 at 03:28 AM
AMEN
Posted by: DickG | January 22, 2013 at 08:22 AM
The "I" man disappeared: yesterday I watched as the "I" man took the reins for another 4 years. The speeches by the liberal supporting set were well done. The set and focus were clearly on the military making one wonder what will be their fate over the next 4 years post sequester? But, the facination was the change in tone of the "I" man. One who spent the past 6 years claiming all good ideas were his and listening to no one. The imperialist spouting socialist solutions to our problems all the time using the first person "I". Now he gives a speech with the word "I" used only once and that in conjunction with "you and I". A beautiful speech it was and I listened to all of them that day. As well as all the toasts. But, the message was as clear as the brutal "I" messages of the past: "we" will focus on healthcare,global warming,immigration reform,gun control, clean energy development of high paying jobs, tax reform, education reform,----the list went on of liberal sound bites. This was the same man who just a week earlier announced "'I' will not negotiate on the debt ceiling!" It was disappointing to see what lies ahead: more push to the left. More challenges to the bare bones of the Republicans. More spending. More taxing. No cuts. No ideas on entitlement reform. On a day after Repubicans had proposed to give him another 3 months to figure out how he will begin to end the deadlock moving the (can) debt ceiling fight down the road, he gives no hope. The "I" man no more,perhaps, but the smoke and mirrors still linger.
Posted by: Bill McCormick | January 22, 2013 at 06:14 AM
STATE OF MO.ANSWERS EXECUTIVE ORDER;"Show'n us how !"
Introduced by Missouri State Representative Casey Guernsey, with 61 co-sponsors, is the Missouri 2nd Amendment Preservation Act. House Bill 170 (HB170) would nullify any and all federal acts, orders, laws, statutes, rules, or regulations of the federal government on personal firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition.
The bill states, in part:
“Any official, agent, or employee of the federal government who enforces or attempts to enforce any act, order, law, statute, rule, or regulation of the federal government upon a personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is owned or manufactured commercially or privately in the state of Missouri and that remains exclusively within the borders of the state of Missouri shall be guilty of a class D felony.”
Look at that. Nullification and penalties. Thanks Missouri, GO FIGHT! From Spartanburg TEA PARTY MEMO Jan 19,2013. "MUST BE IN THE 'DNA' DOWN HERE."
Posted by: DickG | January 19, 2013 at 06:14 AM
The TEA PARTY MOMENTUM as you correctly point out has been lost as fast as the resistance to OBAMACARE. The REPUBLICAN leaders are the good old boys and the good old boys do not like the absolutism of Tea Party members. And, they showed it in their reluctance to support Sarah Palin. She was virtually invisible in Romney's attempt to win by moving to the middle while proclaiming Tea Party/conservative values. And, unlike 2010 she did not deliver the tidal wave of angry voters to take out Obama or even the vulnerable Senators. After all as you have pointed out several times, Bill, most incumbents win.
The Republican party has yet to grab on to the new faces of Mario, Jeb(another Bush), Christie(who disappointed them fighting for his state), Ryan and Jindal. Someone has to boldly step forward and challenge the Democrats with new solutions to the major problems: entitlement reform, immigration, women's rights, budget changes, Defense spending, etc. Forget Boehner and Mitch. They will not be President. Unless the Republicans get a strategy and a spokesman/contender to attract women and minorities we are doomed to the minority role for a long time and will lose the House eventually.
Posted by: Bill McCormick | January 18, 2013 at 08:03 AM
TEA PARTY TAKE HEART. This morning, NPR's Mara Liasson, following many years of research and consultation with academia, has concluded:"The President's Plans don't seem to be in line with the Country's needs". She was quoting someone of course. Additionally, it seems that same innnoccuous source seems to feel that Mr. O's "Investments" might not be quite possible ,great as they are,with a non existant 'growth rate'.
So take heart, TEA PARTY. The 'blind squirrel' may finnally be arriving abreast of 'THE NUT'and will of course adopt it as it's own. We will have YOU to thank; even in "defeat".
Posted by: DickG | January 18, 2013 at 04:20 AM
EXPLANATIONS ARE DUE; for instance, why does the Presidential nominee 'throw' the Campaign following the revelation in the first debate of Obama's incompetancy ? Why does the Chief Justice so inadroitly fail to comply wih the Constitution; in the face of such legislative fraud, mockery and incompetancy ? Why does the Republican Party purposely cause a 'rift' at the Convention with a leader who so dedicatedly exposed the country's financial erosion by the FED ? Why does a major Republican, Leader of the Fed, reverse sound 'Monetary Philosophies' to support a 'hapless' inept Preidential effort ? How does a former 'Joint Chief' and Sec of State suddenly conclude he has been 'Schucked and Jived' his whole life ? Set's one back a bit ; at least for now !
Posted by: DickG | January 18, 2013 at 03:03 AM