Is there Really a Tea Party?

by Max Johnson

I do not believe that the Tea Party is real or independent. They seem to be entirely a manifestation of a bunch of rich folks attempting to manipulate popular opinion. I mean the union movement is always portrayed as an overwhelming Democratic institution, but they are not a monolith. Many safety forces, engineers and even teachers unions were endorsing the Party of the Rich. If the Tea Party was real, they would support independent Democrats or Blue Dog Democrats but that is out of the question. There is never a suggestion that Democrats are fiscally responsible even though the last Democrat in the White House left the country with a surplus.

I very much appreciated Dana Milbank of the Washington Post pointing out the hypocrisy of a Tea Party member who wants to de-fund the Legal Services Corporation as retribution for an immigration case they took. Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia wants to end federal legal services for the poor after Georgia Legal Aid won a EEOC ruling that a company was discriminating against US citizens in favor of Mexican immigrants. Milbank rightfully called out Rep. Scott for betraying his Tea Party roots.

The Blue Dog Coalition lost half of their members in 2010 including Ohio's Zack Space. These were not radicals or tax and spend Democrats. If the Tea Party were truly independent, most of the these members would have retained their seats. The Tea Partiers have threatened those who voted for the debt deal that they would run a challenger in the party primary next year. Notice the threat was not that the Tea Party members will vote for Democrats, but that they will go even more conservative. If the House member voted for a reasonable compromise to avoid not being able to pay our bills, the extremists are demanding an even more extreme candidate to take his or her place.

They developed out of a concern over the finances of the United States. Much in the same way, Congress pulled back on government spending in the late 1930s before the country was out of the depression. But now these guys are embracing candidates with a focus on social issues, anti climate change candidates, and the high fences crowd. They are nothing more than extreme conservatives who are well funded and available to the highest bidder.