Tea Party

Anyone that has been reading this blog should realize by now I don't fit into any "normal" political party. While I'm rather conservative on most economical standpoints, I'm also very liberal when it comes to human rights. I don't even feel as though I fit in with the independent party either. While I agree with the independent part fits me, I don't agree it with party. When I hear the term party my brain now goes straight to the tea party. This bunch of hypocritical, double talk, self loathing, and destructive so called republicans have made a mockery of the system of government I have respected all of my life. In this post I would like to cover what it is the tea party says they believe compared to what their actions. It may be obvious at this point I don't like the tea party. Once you have read this complete post, I'm sure you will feel the same.

I didn't want to take the word of the general media on what the tea party state their beliefs are. Therefore, I looked up the tea party website. The first thing I saw on there made me almost bust a gut. When you go to the about page you see this line. "The Tea Party is a grassroots movement" First line in the about section. Wow, how could they possibly still say this without being hypocritical? Let's first take a look at the term grassroots. The dictionary gives its definition as " of, relating to, or involving the common people, especially as contrasted with or separable from an elite" It's been common knowledge for some time now that most of the tea party's funding comes from the Koch brothers. In fact if you google "tea party funding", it brings up " In an article in the August 30, 2010 issue of The New Yorker magazine, author Jane Mayer links the billionaire brothers David Koch and Charles Koch, owners of Koch Industries to tea party movement funding. Mayer writes,Apr 10, 2015" Then noting this information comes from sourcewatch.org Google has always had valid information in that section above the search results in the past. However, I'm not just going to take google's word for it. Looking at the links below the search you find nytimes.com,  huffingtonpost.com, usnews.com, and even msnbc.com all saying the same thing. I think all of these large, well known, and mostly trustworthy news organisations all saying the Koch fund the tea party pretty much means it's true. Besides the fact, I have not seen one contradiction in my search. Now, with the Koch brothers being 84% owners in Koch Industries that is worth over 115 billion dollars being the main funding for the tea party I don't see how the grassroots term applies to them. Do you?

After reading the word salad of talking points that seems like it may have been written by Sarah Palin herself I realised something odd. The little bit of sense it does make doesn't sound all that bad. In fact it sounds pretty good. Talking about security of the nation and domestic tranquility. Yup, I could agree with that. I could even agree with the point they make about bringing the government back to "We the people" However, then I think about the fact that they are funded by some of the richest people in the country that own coal companies. How is that "We the people"? Sounds more like "We the rich and powerful people". 

They tea party website list "15 Non-negotiable Core Beliefs". I would like to cover these one by one to see what they really mean by these. Most of these sound like good ideas, but once you see what the party really is doing you get the impression of, "How does that make sense?"

1) Illegal aliens are here illegally. 

Sure, that is a completely logical statement. I have to agree with the statement. However, why would they have to say this? Doing a little research on this and you see that not only do they want to send back any and all illegal aliens but they also want to make it damn near impossible to come here legally. Therefore, there are simply against immigration.  

2) Pro-domestic employment is indispensable. 

This one makes you first think of making it harder for companies to outsource to other countries. I agree with this one to a point. Instead of making it harder for companies to outsource why not just make our workforce more marketable?  However, lets take a look at where Koch Industries gets their money from.  A quote from Koch Industries website " Koch companies have a presence in about 60 countries and employ more than 100,000 people worldwide, with about 60,000 of those in the United States. We continually search for new ways to create value wherever we operate, applying our core capabilities globally across a wide span of industries." Does that seem like they have about 40,000 employees that are not from the US? Doesn't that sound a bit hypocritical?

3) A strong military is essential. 

Once again, I tend to agree with this simple statement. We do need a strong military to defend our country. However, the tea party has been critical President Obama for not calling for an all out war. I don't think we should be fighting wars. I don't think we should be doing anything with the military except defending ourselves. 

4) Special interests must be eliminated.

I agree with this statement completely. However, the tea party doesn't seem to get this one themselves. How are the Koch brothers not a special interest group? 

5) Gun ownership is sacred.

I call bullshit on this one. Every definition of sacred says something about a religious beliefs. If gun ownership is part of your religious beliefs, then you have a dangerous religion. I'll agree that everyone has a right to own a gun. However, the constitution already provides this right. Until that changes or is about to change, shut up about the guns. 

6) Government must be downsized.

I do agree with this one to a point. However, it would seem the tea party wants to downsize the government to nothing. Considering, that is what they have done to congress. Prevented congress from even doing the one job they are supposed to do. Yet, they still want to get paid for the job they didn't do. 

7) The national budget must be balanced.

Absolutely, who wouldn't agree to this? Oh, that's right, the tea party. It was the  tea party that opposed raising the debt ceiling. I know that sounds like it makes sense on the face of it. However, the debt ceiling is what allows us to pay off the debt we already have. By opposing the debt ceiling they are basically saying, "Don't pay our bills". Does that sound like a good idea?

8) Deficit spending must end.

Isn't this the same as the last? Does it really need to be said deficit spending must end when you already said we need a balanced budget? I don't get this one. 

9) Bailout and stimulus plans are illegal.

Yes, that one makes sense as well. Until you look at who voted in favor of the bailouts and realise many of the current tea party was part of the majority that approved them. I find that rather interesting myself. 

10)  Reducing personal income taxes is a must.

That would be nice wouldn't it? However, the only tax legislation that have voted in favor up is lowering the taxes for people that make more than $250,000 a year. It would seem that they are for lowering the taxes only for the rich.

11) Reducing business income taxes is mandatory.

Um, couldn't they have combined these last two as simply saying lowering all taxes? Thus far, I have not been able to find any legislation they have voted for when it comes to business income taxes. This may just be a failure of my research. I'll give them this one.

12) Political offices must be available to average citizens. 

Yes, that is how the government was planned. Anyone can run for office. However, it's normally the one that raises the most money that wins. With people like the Koch brothers backing them, it's no wonder the tea party's winning elections. There is also the point that very few of the tea party's members are "average citizens"

13) Intrusive government must be stopped.

Wow, yes, absolutely. Why couldn't I find a group that believed this before I became a registered voter. Oh, wait, they don't believe this either. The tea party is the same party that votes against marriage rights. These are also the same people that have fought against women's rights at every opportunity. To their credit though. they do seem to be on the side fighting against the patriot act. 

14) English as our core language is required.

The United States of America does not have an official language. Therefore, this one is just crap. While I can agree life would be easier if everyone spoke the same language, it is not a requirement to become a US citizen. A huge majority of this country is populated with families that were once immigrants. Including every single tea party member. Did they all speak English? I'm sure this is not the case. 

15) Traditional family values are encouraged.

This one is the best so far. I have yet to be able to find a definition of what traditional family values mean. However, there is a group that seems to align with the tea party rather often that does state what the "traditional family values" are. This group is known as focus on the family. They have been known for a long while to promote (according to wikipedia)  "abstinence-only sexual education, creationism, adoption by married opposite-sex parents, school prayer, and traditional gender roles. It opposes abortion, divorce, gambling, LGBT rights, particularly LGBT adoption, same-sex marriage, pornography, pre-marital sex." I don't know about you but this whole "traditional family values" sounds like a line of crap to me. I think it's really funny that a few of the tea party's top protesters of same sex marriages have been caught cheating on their spouses with people of the same sex. Don't believe me, look it up yourself. 

On the surface the tea party makes a lot of sense, some good points, and even things I would agree with. When you scratch the surface just a little you find lie after lie, hypocritical stances, tons of double talk, self loathing anti gay rights, and destructive policies. I find it absolutely amazing how people can get conned into voting against their own beliefs. However, they are talking to people that believe this lovely quote from the tea party's website. "Yes, we are a Christian nation." This is from the same people that have this say, "We stand by the Constitution" Here is one small statement that contradicts their statement completely. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" -The Constitution of the United States of America

Please, don't just take my word on any of this. Do the research yourselves. Come to your own conclusions. I mean really, what do I know. I'm just a guy named rug, and all of this is only what I think.