Tea Party-time

I'm trying to figure out these Tea Party people. The more I hear about them and what they are about, they less I like them. Any movement that embraces Glenn Beck is an immediate candidate for dismissal, and on closer inspection, these folks are just a little wacky.

Who are these folks?
Some suggest that the tea party is made up of upper-middle class people, but a further analysis shows they are mostly middle-class. These folks have a right to be angry, after a decade of lost wages, a housing bubble, and a credit bubble. Heck, I'm angry about that, too. But I focus my anger on the conservative, pro-market government policies of the past 30 years, and not because my party lost the last election. What sickens me most about the Tea Party is that they strike me as a bunch of hypocrite, whiny Baby Boomers and Gen X'ers who want to have their cake and eat it, too.

Frum Forum has a great couple of articles about the Tea Party. What is most galling is that most of these folks are completely mis-informed. They think that taxes have gone up since Obama took office. They think that Obama is a socialist. They want to cut spending but keep their Medicare and Social Security. I don't know where Tea Party people get their information, but it's hard not to draw a connection between them and folks like Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Ken Blackwell. Republicans should be wary about trying to embrace this group. They don't like the government. The may really dislike Obama, but they don't like Republicans much, either.

I think it's good to see more American's becoming concerned with how our government works, but they need to come at these issues with their facts straight. Screaming about how socialism is evil and then saying they like Medicare and Social Security (both socialist programs) really shows just how ill-informed these folks are. American's should be upset about government spending, but in a way that is helpful, not voting out anyone who suggests that higher taxes will be needed and entitlements will have to be cut or adjusted. Americans should be really angry at Wall Street (this is where I do agree with Tea Party people). Reigning in Wall Street is good for America. I've talked about this many times on this blog, but I'm too lazy to link back to any posts right now. Reigning in Wall Street will not 'destroy America' or hurt small business. It won't. We went from 1940 - 1985 without any systemic financial failures, and the middle class came to great power and wealth during that time.

American's need to come out of the fog of TV and hyper-commercialism and accept the facts about reality. Anything else will doom us to extinction. Ignoring Tea Party people is just as dangerous as embracing them, because left unchecked they will continue to spread lies and mis-information.