The Decline of the Tea Party

So yesterday was the official tax day this year.  Usually on April 15th, the day taxes are due the tea Party over the last few years have held rallies across the United States.  This year the difference is in the declining numbers of their members showing up at the rallies.  Is the Tea Party movement dead or is it that the sane members have seen just how insane some of their Tea Party leaders are.  Can you say Bachmann?  Or is it they are starting to see that it wasn't a grass roots movement at all, but a heavily funded by big business distraction to the real problems this country faces. 

Let's look at the numbers who showed up.  In Orange county less than fifty people, in Chicago it was several hundred.  In Concord New Hampshire four Republican Presidential hopefuls were headlining that gathering including Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum and the crowd estimate was around three hundred people.  In Columbia South Carolina, a heavy Republican state, their new Governor Nikki Hailey along with Michele Bachmann were the headliners and had a showing of around three hundred people.  Significant because the tax day Tea Party gathering there two years ago drew around three thousand people.  So what has happened that their members have lost interest? 

One thing I can say is that Wisconsin Governor Walker has energized the Democratic base the way I have never seen.  In fact when I marched up in Madison in early March the crowd was estimated at just over a hundred thousand.  As someone who was there I would say that figure is pretty close to reality.  Speaking of Madison, it had one of the largest turnouts for a Tea Party rally yesterday.  Most likely because their headliner was Sarah Palin.  The crowd was estimated at around six thousand people.  The catch to that was that many people had signs against Palin and the Tea Party.  In fact the local ABC affiliate said a solid core of Tea Party people were flanked on all sides by counter protesters.  The other interesting thing was who paid for Palin to be there. 

I have said all along that the Tea Party was not a grass roots movement but heavily funded by big business including the Koch brothers.  If you look at the picture you see Palin speaking from a podium that has a banner "I am AFP".  AFP is short for Americans for Prosperity and their Chairman is David Koch.  AFP does not disclose how much money individual doners give them but  a conservative estimate is that the Koch brothers have given over twenty million dollars to AFP and its predecessor Citizens for a Sound Economy.  Through loopholes in campaign finance laws it is estimated that the Koch brothers funneled almost five million dollars into Scott Walkers campaign. 

Two things I wonder about are why would average Americans with everyday problems relate themselves to one of the richest families in the world (Koch).  While these guys are flying around in their private jets they are conning average Americans into believing we should all be working more hours for less money and benefits so the Governor can give tax breaks back to them (The Kochs).  And finally why is it that the Republicans in congress are so afraid of their base (Tea Party) no matter how small it gets, yet the Democrats in congress loath their base, no matter how big it gets?

W.T.F.

So the tea baggers who got elected on a smaller government, less spending platform, are some of the most hypocritical bunch of assholes I have ever came across. By the way they are the ones who want to shut down government by not funding it. They are trying to blame it on the Democrats in the house but they are holding Speaker Boehner hostage.

In Fact the Tea baggers have told Speaker Boehner that unless they get 242 Republican votes for a budget, that they would shut government down. In other words if Speaker Boehner brought the current budget with all the cuts he originally asked for to the floor he would have enough Democratic votes to pass it. But he will not as he must hold his Republicans together. Tell me again who doesn't have the balls to be a leader.

If government shuts down will congress still get their paychecks? Yep. Will you get your income tax refund? Nope. Will people get their unemployment? Nope. You see, all non essential government services will be shut down. Right now the economy is starting to rebound, and if the economy is good come election time, Obama is a shoe in for re-election.

A government shutdown will snag the flow of money that fuels the economy and if the economy is bad, it's goodbye Obama. That is the goal of the Teabaggers. All of these Republican Senators or Congressman have flat out said they want to shut down government. Mike Lee Utah, Louie Gohmert TX, Mike Kelly PA, Tom Price GA, and from my own Illinois 8th District, Joe Walsh. He goes so far as to say this country needs some shock therapy. Which by the way is the subject covered in Naomi Kleins excellent book "The Shock Doctrine" which talks about how shock therapy has destroyed many countries around the world. Anyways if you don't believe me go to YouTube and look up "Caught on tape, Republicans that support a government shutdown"

The only thing they desire is for Obama to be voted out of office. That is playing politics with peoples lives. Every single member of Congress is a millionaire, it's no wonder that they do not represent "We the People". As for the more government side of things let's look at some of the more crazy bills they have tried to pass that add government not decrease it.

Last week GA State Congressman Bobby Franklin introduced a bill requiring mothers who miscarry to prove that the miscarriage was natural. How much more intrusive can government get. How is it extreme groups like the Michigan Militia who would like total freedom from government not denounce this? Because they're on the same side.

Also included in the Republicans budget cuts is an amendment stopping Washington D.C. from using local, not federal tax dollars funding abortions for low income women. I thought the Teabaggers were all about minimal federal government and letting state and local governments run things the way they want.

By the way if the Republicans are so against government intervention on all levels, who are they to tell a woman what she can or can't do with their body? And don't give me that shit line "The fetus does not have a say" and that's who they're fighting for, because does a four or five year old have a say when his parents bring them across the border illegally into this country? No the Republicans treat them like shit and want them back where they came from.