Re: The Tea Parties: We’ve Seen It All Before

[Jarrad Reiner]

The author fails to mention it, but there have been many elected "conservative leaders" who opposed their own President and Party during the Bush Socialist Streak of 2008.   In 2008, 108 Republican Representatives and 15 Republican Senators voted against Bush's TARP; a vote against their president and their party.  In January of 2008,  16 Republican Senators and 28 Republican Representatives voted Against Bush's Stimulus Package.  There are in total  17 Republican House Members that have voted NO on every single bailout/stimulus since they began in early 2008.   And contrary to popular belief, Bush was not a fiscally conservative leader.  A fiscally conservative leader does not put his principles on hold during a crisis, not if he truly believes in them.  Bush did and even admitted to it. There has been no shortage of mad conservatives calling in to "conservative" radio shows bashing Bush's liberal spending policies and later McCain's (during the election).  There are rino's out there who on one hand are for big government intervention while simultaneously supporting the tea party's as a way to gin up support against the majority party, but you cannot make a blanket statement that "Conservatives" are for big government until they find themselves out of power.  That is true of some republican lawmakers too scared of their party and their president to vote their "supposed" principle, but was not true of all elected officials and especially their constituents. Fair weather Conservatives are no better than their liberal counterparts.  And you'll find many conservatives Americans who despise them.  Last Wednesday, a Greenville Tea Party Crowd  "Booed Mercilessly" for like 6 minutes at a Republican Lawmaker (who Voted for Bush's TARP) as he tried to give his speech. The author's claim that these Tea party's were really to oppose Obama's social policies mystifies me.  As I listened to the speakers at the Jefferson Area Tea Party, not a one that I heard even mentioned Obama's stance on BAIPA, gun control, gay marriage, or most of his other far left social-wacko views...They mostly stuck to fiscal policy, as did the tea party's that I was able to watch later on TV and you tube.   Maybe the author's tea party was different, but I'd like to see  proof of that.  And I'll tell you, this may have been a conservative protest, but I saw and talked with independents, liberals and libertarians all in attendance (the liberals I didn't talk to, but recognized).  The best speaker there was a Libertarian, John Munchmeyer, who spoke on socialism in America and how to revive Economic liberty.  He was awesome, got me thinking I might even try attending some of his Libertarian meetings (he's the Chairman of the Party in our Area).  Jarrad Lance McCulley wrote: As I wandered through the crowd at the Denver Tea Party protest last week, I was struck by just how paper-thin is the movement’s opposition to government power. The Tea Party movement is clearly a "Conservative" movement in its membership and core philosophy, and therefore it is not surprising that many of the very same people who now loudly claim to oppose government spending and taxation, were the very same people who, for the last eight years, had been cheerleaders for one of the most profligate administrations in American history. And yet, here they were at the Tea Party, pretending to be principled opponents of government power. Indeed, the existence of the Tea Party events only raises the question of why such events hadn’t ever been organized at some point during the Bush years. After all, for the last eight years, the government has spent record sums of money and all the time, the national debt barreled toward 10 trillion dollars. ... Given the Conservative movement's performance during the last eight years, the Conservatives can't possibly be opposed to Obama's taxing and spending policies on principle. No, Conservatives start from a personal and emotional disdain for Obama, and then search for policies to oppose. If John McCain were president, and the government were bailing out its friends at the same rate that it is now (which it almost certainly would be), would the Conservatives be protesting with nearly as much vigor? Only the most naïve among us could claim such a thing with a straight face. No, Conservatives oppose Obama because they despise him on a cultural level. Obama represents the culture of the urban coastal leftists who promote social policies the Conservatives loathe, and since he’s a Democrat and not their man, they’ve taken to the streets. On matters of war and fiscal policy, Bush and Obama differ only to the slightest degree, but culturally, the two are worlds apart. ... Conservatives have been doing this since the fifties. In order to enhance the popularity of their cause, they pretend to be the ideology of low-taxes and decreased spending, espousing the many benefits of austere government. Then, as soon as they are in power, they quickly forget all about the ideals of small government and focus on what really matters to them: nationalism, war, and doling out the spoils of political victory to their friends. --http://www.lewrockwell.com/mcmaken/mcmaken129.html -Lance --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Politically Opinionated Outspoken People Expounding Religion" group. To post to this group, send email to pooper@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to pooper+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/pooper?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---