by Gayle Plato
Reflecting on the Tax Day Tea Party, there is a sense of what next? This is a slice of the pie regarding the day, the movement, a back story, and one perspective of a little get-together with a few thousand friends:
“As Republican Members of the House of Representatives and as citizens seeking to join that body we propose not just to change its policies, but even more important, to restore the bonds of trust between the people and their elected representatives.
That is why, in this era of official evasion and posturing, we offer instead a detailed agenda for national renewal, a written commitment with no fine print.
This year’s election offers the chance, after four decades of one-party control, to bring to the House a new majority that will transform the way Congress works. That historic change would be the end of government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public’s money. It can be the beginning of a Congress that respects the values and shares the faith of the American family
Like Lincoln, our first Republican president, we intend to act ‘with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right.’ To restore accountability to Congress. To end its cycle of scandal and disgrace. To make us all proud again of the way free people govern themselves.”- The Contract With America, 1994, Republican Congressional Promise to the Voters.
Gayle,
If you are correct, how come Dick Armey, one of the tea party organizers, said on April 15 that federal taxes were now at ‘a good level’? In fact he went to admit that unless we wanted deep cuts in defense budgets we would probably need to increase taxes.
Ron, Unlike some movements where all messages are coordinated by a central artificial Axelrod turf hub, we out here in the real grass have individual opinions. Armey didn’t check in to see if I agreed. We like it that way; everyone has an opinion and a point of view.
There are interesting parallels between these modern day “tea parties” and the original colonial ones – but not in the ways I think many on the right understand.
The main cause of the colonial tea protests was not in fact, as the popular imagination would have it, that taxes on tea had been increased but rather that the price of British tea has dropped. At the time there was a active merchant trade in smuggled tea with many of the organizers of the protests involved in that illegal trade having become wealthy merchants. When the East India Company dramatically dropped prices this undercut the entire economy of smuggled tea because the new price was less than what the smuggled sources could achieve.
Just as then, we now have a group of wealthy interests seeking to rile up the populace largely for their own benefit. This is why you see the Koch foundation funded groups and many others all over these modern day tea parties. They have certainly been successful of convincing some of the general populace like Gayle that in fact this is a “grass roots” movement when it clearly has been driven by a central hub of organizations who have been lucky enough to have Fox news as a outlet for its press releases.
rightwoman,
I appreciate your view of free speech. Apparently others who write for this blog don’t share our views (see the recent blogs about John Shaddeg and Cindy and Megan McCain).
I am not pleased to see fellow writers use this medium for rude attacks. We have the opportunity to write substance and honest criticism. Or, we can become Perez Hilton giving verbal slaps. That was EXACTLY my complaint of CNN and MSNBC.
I am not interested in writing for a gossip column or derisive Anderson Cooperstowns of crude.
Given the boo’s and hiss’es Shadegg received on April 15th, and given his unwarranted attack on the AzGOP and the Maricopa GOP, it seems fitting to point out to the readers his hypocrisy and self-interests.
Simply put, the 3 Johns have been in office too long an no longer represent the people of the State of Arizona.
Once someone is holding power, they don’t yield it easily. Power is gripped tighter than life itself often and, therefore must be wrestled from those who abuse it.
As for the Meghan McCain piece? Simply put, a good share of the general population has no issues with alternative sexual preferences; BUT they do have an issue with homosexual cohabitation being sanctified as marriage.
As for the GLBT segment of our neighbors? Nearly a two-thirds majority of them don’t support Gay Marriage.
In fact most of them just want to live their lives and be left alone and not be politicized.
It is a minority within a minority who are the activists for this issue. This has been the subject frequently of commentary in various GLBT media over the years; the lack of committed activism.
Generously, maybe 10% of the general population is GLBT, and within that percentage maybe 35% support Gay Marriage.
Lets see, 220 million adults; 7m to 18m members of the GLBT cohort = less than 6 million adults out of 220 million are attempting to dictate a fundamental social shift in US culture. How’s that work out? Less than 3% of the overall adult population or, 1.8% of the total US overall population is demanding Gay Marriage.
Gayle, how well do you know JD? Did you talk with him in Florida after his election loss? There are reasons JD is where he is and why Shadegg remains in Congress and hopes to rise to the Senate.
Todd, you are correct. The American Revolution was fomented by the merchant class and, fanned by New England merchant interests. Again, we are in agreement.