Can someone explain to me what the Tea Party movement actually is

reply to post by SeventhSeal

I know I am going to regret this, but what the heck.

Hey Seventh Seal,
What would YOU call Obama? Describe YOUR propaganda poster.
This is your chance to get some stars. Impress everyone with your intelligence. Don't worry about the stupid T.E.A. Partiers, impress the rest.

Who is he?

It is TOO easy to make fun of people. People you don't know.
An entire group of people made fun of like they are idiots. How hard can that be?
Who resorts to that sort of thing? Who tries to keep the discussion on a higher plane?

The T.E.A. Party is made up of people. Some are as ignorant as some of the people that post here. What else can I say?

Originally posted by SeventhSeal

Things Tea Partiers are afraid of:

-Health Care for others besides themselves

As a TEA Partier I have to totally disagree with you. There is a right and wrong way of doing things. Health Care reform can only work at the state level as they have different demographics and economic activity. Not only that, but it would be the Constitutional way of doing it. A Federal mandate to purchase insurance is antithetical to freedom. The Freedom to choose.

-Immigration

I'm an immigrant to this country, not yet a citizen. I will be a citizen by the end of the year. I'm Hispanic, and I'm completely against illegal immigration. And no I'm not rich and my family and I didn't buy our way into the US. My parents escaped Cuba, and we all lived in poverty in Costa Rica until we got the green light to fly into Miami.

-Religious Tolerance

I'm not particularly religious, but I have spent a lot of time studying religion in all it's forms. I'm not just 'tolerant' of religious sensibilities, I'm understanding.

-Homosexuals

I'm for gay marriage, and ending don't ask don't tell.

-Equality

WTF does this mean? I want equal protection under the law and equal justice. I don't believe in "economic equality", as you livelihood is your responsibility and if you don't rise to the challenge then your failures are your own.

-Free Thinking

Another superlative attack like being "anti-equality". Just because people don't agree with you doesn't mean they don't think for themselves, or are against other people thinking for themselves. I'm all about free markets, especially the free market of ideas...

-Any other news outlet that isn't Fox

Irrelevant. I personally watch every news agency from print to TV. I'm not interested in slanted BS, I'm interested in digging for the truth.

-Paying taxes that build roads and schools for their children

Taxes don't pay for that. Deficit spending does. Your taxes go to paying the interest on the national debt. This has been true for a couple of decades now. The FEDERAL Department of Education has spent billions of dollars with negative results for a little over 50 years. Teachers unions are demanding wages which are paid through deficit spending(funded by future tax receipts) that are 3-8% higher than the rate of inflation which has been at 0-1% for 2 years now. State Governments are going broke because of this and the education of our kids is suffering.

-Masturbation

You're kidding right?

-Not being able to scream in a public setting to get their point across like a bunch of children

I've been to many anti-war and lefty rallies where riots broke out. Yelling is the least of anyone's worries in comparison to some of the mayhem I've witnessed.

Some things Tea Partiers Support

Did you ask any of us before making this list? Probably not huh?

-War is good until a Democrat is involved

War is never good. It wasn't good when republicans were in and it certainly isn't good now. The liberals I once defended during the Bush administration are now advocating Obama's war policies.

-Less governmental control unless it benefits them

I want as little government control as possible. Period. I don't need government telling me what I can eat, what health care insurance I should buy, what I can defend myself with, or how much money I'm allowed to make.

-Comparing Obama to Hitler when they bashed Liberals for doing the same thing with Bush

It is very difficult not to make such a comparison when the actions and policies of both bush and Obama were and still are suspiciously similar.

-No government involved with health care unless it prohibits women from getting abortions

This is a community issue and should be dealt with as such. If you're against abortion you should not have to pay for someone else to have one.

The list continues.

I'm sure it does. I'm also sure it will just be more MSNBC-Obama-butt-kissing propaganda too. I swear you people remind me of all the little Karl Roves running around here when Bush was doing his part to destroy the fabric of our Free Republic. You should be ashamed.

reply to post by projectvxn


I starred that post because I liked your rebuttal.

reply to post by projectvxn


Not a fan of MSNBC really and I tend to avoid it along with most MSM outlets. As for the Masturbation joke, you're not really up to date with your fellow Tea Partier, Christine, are you? I'm glad you have your opinions on certain matters, it's important and you should keep it up. However, you should do a bit more research on what exactly the majority of the "Partiers" represent.

It's full of hypocrisy and bitterness. There is no denying such a factual description of the sore losers...I mean Republicans. And yes, Tea Partiers are Republicans. Don't try to differ the two either.

I think I pretty much nailed it when I stated that once we have a Republican (god forbid) back in the White House, the Tea Party will lose popularity and probably will disperse. They will live happily in their fairy tale worlds where everything is right. War will be good, restricting rights of gays will be fantastic and women's rights won't matter. All is well until a ...GASP! A liberal, a stinking progressive gets into office!! That will mean one thing

COMMUNISM!

..or Socialism..

....Nazism?

No, Fascism!

Marxism!

Leninism!!!




indecisive much, Republicans?

Originally posted by Stewie
reply to post by SeventhSeal

 

I know I am going to regret this, but what the heck.

Hey Seventh Seal,
What would YOU call Obama? Describe YOUR propaganda poster.
This is your chance to get some stars. Impress everyone with your intelligence. Don't worry about the stupid T.E.A. Partiers, impress the rest.

Who is he?

I'd probably call him a Democrat

Originally posted by saltheart foamfollower
reply to post by Southern Guardian

 

As for the communists and the socialists. Hmmm, let me just make a couple links-

Jones
Both Labor Leaders
Democrat Socialist of America
Jim Wallis
Globalist Green movement
etc etc etc why even bother

This still does not explain anything about your prior post. What 'old' Democratic party are we talking about? You appear to reference the time of the 'old' democrats. When was that?

reply to post by Curiousisall


Could I track down something from every tea party in the country? Yep, sure could. Will I waste my time doing so? Nope. I already know your agenda, and I already know it would be an exercise in futility. They are all different and they all make their own decisions on who to support. No single list will have every single tea party endorsed candidate on it for that very reason. If you'd rather go by preconceived notions instead of common sense, and would rather make assumptions than do real research of your own on the topic then I'm afraid there's not much I or anyone else can do for you.

reply to post by WeRpeons


The only thing you got right in your entire post is that there are a lot of uneducated people who rely in television sound bites. The irony is your post sounds like a collection of anti tea party sound bites from msnbc. When the only thing the news tells you is that an entire group of people are all exactly the same and portray them as evil incarnate, that's your big clue that you're probably being lied to.

Originally posted by projectvxn
Health Care reform can only work at the state level

While I agree the federal mandate will not work (i supported the public option) neither will healthcare reform at a state level. The fact is while we have individual states and while some of these states may have their own laws and boundaries at the end of the day they are apart of a wider free and open Union. Americans move freely from state to state so managing a healthcare programme at a state level catered to those state residents is unsustainable as folks from across state lines could more so easily take advantage of it. There are already a significant amount of Americans crossing into the Canadian border taking advantage of their healthcare. A state level of this process will make absolutely no difference.

I'm an immigrant to this country, not yet a citizen. I will be a citizen by the end of the year. I'm Hispanic, and I'm completely against illegal immigration.

Most progressives do not support illegal immigration but at the same time we don't believe in dumping constitutional rights in favor of 'papers please' laws. Illegal immigration must be dealt with but in a way where we do not have to sacrifice any right of an american. Strengthening the borders is a small piece to solving the issue, cracking down on businesses is a big part to solving the problem. It is unfortunate that the topic of immigration has become political opportunism, not something for real solutions. This arizona law was not a solution to the problem, it was a political ploy in time for the November elections.

The FEDERAL Department of Education has spent billions of dollars with negative results for a little over 50 years.

Virtually every department of the government has been increasing spending over the years, education is just a tag along to that fact. Do you support privatized education? Privatizing education will do nothing more than allow loose standards for learning which will do what for the colleges out there? It will also make education at a young age a financial driven commodity just like healthcare is and we all know how swell healthcare is going at the moment. It's unaffordable. Public education has been around this nation since the 17th century and there has never been much of an objection or issue to it being public, infact education was mandatory for all children even during the time of American independence. It was a right at the time and still should be today, for all american children.

War is never good. It wasn't good when republicans were in and it certainly isn't good now.

and yet where were the tea parties dring 2003? or 2005? Where were the tea parties during attempts to cut funding to the war that continue to cost billions a month? While there may certainly be anti-war tea party protesters who can trace their stances since 2003 or 2001, they are far few compared to the rest in the movement.

This is a community issue and should be dealt with as such. If you're against abortion you should not have to pay for someone else to have one.

The core issue was never government to pay or support abortion, the issue was always over the legaility of abortion, especially in those very unfortunate circumstances for some woman. That is what most progressives are concerned with. If social conservaitves and the like were just concerned about government spending and if this had nothing to do with abortion being a personal decision this would not be an issue, but that is not the case.

reply to post by Jobeycool


"...absolutely absurd nonsense."

I wish it were. I was only being slightly hyperbolic.

reply to post by SeventhSeal


I can only speak for myself. The TEA party is made up of individuals who have their own views on social issues. I'm not afraid of people who disagree with me.

A woman running for office in Delaware does not necessarily speak for me. The TEA party, above all things, is about individual responsibility, individual liberty, and independence. Just because some TPM org endorsed her doesn't mean I'm against masturbation. The only common thread we share is the desire for a small government that isn't a threat to freedom and prosperity here and abroad.

Originally posted by Southern Guardian

Originally posted by projectvxn
Health Care reform can only work at the state level

While I agree the federal mandate will not work (i supported the public option) neither will healthcare reform at a state level. The fact is while we have individual states and while some of these states may have their own laws and boundaries at the end of the day they are apart of a wider free and open Union. Americans move freely from state to state so managing a healthcare programme at a state level catered to those state residents is unsustainable as folks from across state lines could more so easily take advantage of it. There are already a significant amount of Americans crossing into the Canadian border taking advantage of their healthcare. A state level of this process will make absolutely no difference.

For this reason Residency of 90 days should be obtained. It would help curb much of the cost. And I don't mean getting a PO box, I mean you must physically reside in the state 90 days. If we absolutely MUST have this reform at the Federal Level then any legislation should take into account individual state economies, what their current health care costs are, and whether existing programs at state level suffice. NO MANDATE. But I think we agree on that.

I'm an immigrant to this country, not yet a citizen. I will be a citizen by the end of the year. I'm Hispanic, and I'm completely against illegal immigration.

Most progressives do not support illegal immigration but at the same time we don't believe in dumping constitutional rights in favor of 'papers please' laws. Illegal immigration must be dealt with but in a way where we do not have to sacrifice any right of an american. Strengthening the borders is a small piece to solving the issue, cracking down on businesses is a big part to solving the problem. It is unfortunate that the topic of immigration has become political opportunism, not something for real solutions. This arizona law was not a solution to the problem, it was a political ploy in time for the November elections.

Agreed. Although, I will say that we have to give LEOs some authority to deal with this. The Federal government can't do it all on their own...They can barely do anything at all anyway.

The FEDERAL Department of Education has spent billions of dollars with negative results for a little over 50 years.

Virtually every department of the government has been increasing spending over the years, education is just a tag along to that fact. Do you support privatized education? Privatizing education will do nothing more than allow loose standards for learning which will do what for the colleges out there? It will also make education at a young age a financial driven commodity just like healthcare is and we all know how swell healthcare is going at the moment. It's unaffordable. Public education has been around this nation since the 17th century and there has never been much of an objection or issue to it being public, infact education was mandatory for all children even during the time of American independence. It was a right at the time and still should be today, for all american children.

That wasn't my point. My point is that the DOE has wasted billions on absolutely nothing. And the teachers unions are demanding wages that outpace inflation rates by ridiculous amounts-3 to 8%. That is unsustainable. Teachers are also under-performing-and still try to worm higher wages for poor quality work. One thing about private education, you get what you pay for. If your private school isn't performing it's duties you can always take your money and go elsewhere. Most private school student in this country have far better grades and testing scores than any school in the public system.

War is never good. It wasn't good when republicans were in and it certainly isn't good now.

and yet where were the tea parties dring 2003? or 2005? Where were the tea parties during attempts to cut funding to the war that continue to cost billions a month? While there may certainly be anti-war tea party protesters who can trace their stances since 2003 or 2001, they are far few compared to the rest in the movement.

A lot of the people who make up the Tea Party today are people like me. People who have been standing against statism for as long as they've drawn breath. We started our fight back then, it is only now that what we have had to say for 10 years is being heard by the vast majority of the people.

This is a community issue and should be dealt with as such. If you're against abortion you should not have to pay for someone else to have one.

The core issue was never government to pay or support abortion, the issue was always over the legaility of abortion, especially in those very unfortunate circumstances for some woman. That is what most progressives are concerned with. If social conservaitves and the like were just concerned about government spending and if this had nothing to do with abortion being a personal decision this would not be an issue, but that is not the case.

That wasn't the point either of us were making. I'm not for abortion. But I'm not going to stand in your way if that choice is the best for you. I just won't pay for it, nor will I support any Federal funding of it.

|"whats the matter with kansas" by thomas frank is a good intro into the social conservative backlash movement that rises up every time a Democrat is in office.

Obama is a Communist and his entire administration are Communists and they should be tried as a enemies of the Constitution and the United States of America.
The rally that the White House is sponsoring on Oct 2nd reads like a FBI watch list ,over 300 communist,Marxist and socialists organizations are supporting it.
So if you go there you are a Communist or a Marxist or a Socialist and thus YOU ARE THE PROBLEM.
And if you elected this Communist you must bare the blame for all the failed polices and the harm they have done..

Originally posted by wfaherty
Obama is a Communist and his entire administration are Communists and they should be tried as a enemies of the Constitution and the United States of America.
The rally that the White House is sponsoring on Oct 2nd reads like a FBI watch list ,over 300 communist,Marxist and socialists organizations are supporting it.
So if you go there you are a Communist or a Marxist or a Socialist and thus YOU ARE THE PROBLEM.
And if you elected this Communist you must bare the blame for all the failed polices and the harm they have done..

What a wonderful example of extreme satire!

Second line given to the People.

The problem is that "Democrat" doesn't really mean anything, and neither does Republican. Today's Republican could very well be yesterday's Democrat.
Even Conservative doesn't mean anything if most of the voters can be convinced that conservative just means republican.
And Liberal. The Liberal of today would have been EXECUTED by the Liberal of a hundred years ago.
Maybe not executed...
The liberal of today is a communist, no doubt. But Obama?

Obama is NOBODY. Why don't you people get it? He has no ideology, he simply takes orders. If he had an ideology, he would STAND for something, and actually get some respect from SOME quarter.

So, it can be concluded that he is a Fascist, or a Corporatist. They are always just front men.

reply to post by davespanners


There has been far more said of it than I have time to digest I'm afraid, and so I won't presume to throw in on the aspects that have probably already been more ably addressed.

What I would like to add though is that beyond the tremendous discussion generated by the Tea Party's intended function, there is a bit to be said about its form. The Tea Party Movement represents the next logical step in political campaigning, and so far is proving to be a reasonably good proof of concept, but also a demonstration of some really big problems to which this new style of politics must adapt.

The 2008 Presidential Election stands a very good chance of going down as the pinnacle of the art of televised campaigns, if not in quality or honesty, at least in terms of sheer size, influence, and prestige. But along with that came what might end up being commonly cited (not quite correctly) as the beginning of the age of the guerrilla cyber-campaigning in the form of the 2008 Democratic Primary and the fund-raising race that took place there.

And regardless of my personal tastes I admit to being just a little bit reassured that this came at least in some portion from the right for a multitude of reasons, the least cynical of which being that it suggests this is not the work of a mastermind strategist on one side but a real evolution of the way we participate in politics here in America, where the mainstream political dialog has moved away from public places and family tables and onto living room couches, which is not a good place to get things done. Hopefully this will re-publicize political discourse even if we can't physically bring it back into public places.

The best thing to come out of it so far is that there are more than two camps even in the mainstream media now because of this. A significant third presence- even if not embodied in a candidate- is sorely lacking in most American debates. So this new smash mouth politics isn't all to the detriment of civilization...

BUT the second edge to that sword is that some of these new voices getting into the MSM are a distraction- newly important kooks who bring nothing but shock to the public discourse do displace some very important facts in American newscasts.

I guess we'll see what happens.

Originally posted by Jenna
reply to post by Curiousisall

 

Could I track down something from every tea party in the country? Yep, sure could. Will I waste my time doing so? Nope.

Then do us both a favor and do not waste either of our time trying to tell me I was wrong and you can prove it and then just kind of forget to actually prove it and then whine and cry that what you gave was less than half assed.

If you cannot prove what I think is wrong, then you cannot tell me I should not be thinking it.

reply to post by ThomasNHunter


I'm of the mind that much of the negative things that occur within any new political shift is the growing pains as that paradigm seeks sophistication. Your post is about the most honest and thoughtful I've seen thus far. Very well done.