Tea Parties and Tea Baggers

Amazing how much angst the Tea Party Movement has stirred. In visiting the official website of the Tea Party movement (http://teapartypatriots.ning.com/) I found the following radical information —

Mission Statement
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.

Core Values
• Fiscal Responsibility

• Constitutionally Limited Government

• Free Markets

Wow. How offensive is that? Fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and support of free markets. It shows how truly divided and politicized we have become and how out of touch much of the mainstream media is with, not only the American people, but also the principles that made this country great. The truth is that the United States has been different. Our natural distrust of a too powerful central government is ingrained in our history. Traditionally, while the debate has gone on about the role of the Federal Government since the nation’s founding, the principle that most Americans believed in was that, for the most part, government should stay out of our lives. That instinct is pretty good. The history of powerful central governments is not good.

When do we hit the point that we have enough laws and regulations? At what point does it stop? How did this country manage to survive without all the additional laws we have today?

Look at Congress. We have an elected body that is supposed to represent the people but is obviously sold out to special interests — and not the special interests we typically think of. Why haven’t we built new nuclear reactors and oil refineries? Why haven’t we gone after our vast supplies of oil? We can do it in an environmentally responsible manner. We are way past the era of raping the land to get at natural resources. Most Americans don’t realize this. We are held hostage to a vocal, well-organized green movement that is well financed and well represented by lobbyists. It is ridiculous that we have to get oil from the other side of the globe while financing despotic regimes and terrorism. When gasoline was four and five dollars a gallon people cried out but nothing was really done. Why? Because the interests of middle eastern oil Sheiks and a bunch of enviro nuts take precedence over the needs of the American people.

The more power government grabs the more out of touch it becomes. Limited government benefits everyone. The Constitution was designed to protect our individual rights. We ignore it at our peril. We make it a “living document” at our peril. When the Constitution becomes a document that whoever is in power can interpret for their own agenda we are all in trouble. The law you love today may come back to bite you twenty years from now.

Much of the knee-jerk response to the Tea Party movement is in actuality a response to the Tea Party’s defiance of the agenda put out by the current administration and the Democrat control of Congress. The Democrats, reading the 2008 elections as some kind of mandate have reached too far. In doing so they provoked a reaction from middle America. I’m not sure why so many people have been surprised but that’s an article for another day.

With all the political variety across the landscape the Tea Party movement asks some important questions. Who do you want to be in charge of your life? Do you really think that government knows best and has the answers for your problems? Is the government your parent or your servant? Do you really think that government control of your money is better than you controlling your money?

You can judge how much someone feels threatened by their response. Sarah Palin, whether you like her or not, has been savaged by the left because she is a threat. Same with the Tea Parties. When Chris Matthews calls you a tea bagger it means you are doing something right. When Keith Olbermann explodes into one of his pompous rants about the Tea Party movement being racist you know you’re hitting a nerve.

Sometimes you really can tell what is right by who hates what you are doing.