Bad News for Media and Democrats

Since early last year, a number of people have been involved with Tea Parties throughout the United States. I have been to two different Tea Party rallies, and have been impressed with the people I have personally met there. The vast number of them have been very normal people who are just worried about their country. I have met Republicans, Independents, and Democrats at these rallies.

As the movement has gained more and more attention, the mainstream media, and a number of Democrats have insulted, dismissed, and belittled Tea Party attendees. I have never understood this. The people who go to Tea Parties are average Americans that are concerned about the direction of their government. Their primary concern from the beginning was to stop the out of control spending by our government. When President Bush was criticized for eight years, we were told questioning our government was patriotic. Where did that sentiment go? CNN, MSNBC, and other outlets have insulted these people time and time again. Tea Party members are simply exercising their constitutional rights, even while their elected representatives ignore them. That may soon change.

There are two polls out that suggest the Tea Party is much more mainstream than even I thought. Here are two findings of these polls that should really give Democrats and the Media a pause. First, according to a Rasmussen poll, more people identify themselves with the Tea Party (48%) than President Obama (44%). Second, a USA Today / Gallup poll finds that 26% of Americans identify themselves with the Tea Party while a slightly smaller percent oppose the Tea Party.

So what does this mean? How should elected officials interpret this when the Tea Party itself has no official leaders? It's simple: Democrats, Republicans, and the media need to stop insulting these individuals and start listening to their concerns. The Tea Party has attracted a large number of Americans from all walks of life. The USA Today poll even found that the demographics of Tea Party supporters closely mirrors the demographics of the country at large. Members of Congress who ignore this group may be looking for a new job after November.

Why I go to the Tea Parties

There have been a lot of comments on here and in an assortment of media outlets regarding the people who attend Tea Parties. Some of the worst comments are those like Jeanine Garofolo saying that Tea Party attendees are only protesting a black man being President. The racist comments are uncommon, but not as uncommon as they should be. What seems more prevalent is the belief that the Tea Parties are organized by Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and Fox News and that the goal is to overthrow the government. Anyone who says this hasn't spent any real time talking to those who attend the parties.

While kooks are often attracted to protests (both on the left and the right), the majority of people I have seen at the Tea Parties are there because they are upset by the spending going on in government right now. Many were mad at President Bush and the previous Congress for TARP and the bailouts of GM and Chrysler. They are also mad at President Obama and the current Congress for continuing these bailouts, and for the ever increasing budgets and spending programs. Many of the attendees realize there is no way to continue this level of spending without dramatically raising taxes on everyone. The chart below was published originally in the Washington Post, and has been researched and defended by the Heritage Foundation. It shows the deficit under President Bush and the projected deficit under President Obama.

Whether you believe the White House or the Congressional Budget Office, neither of the above estimates are good. The spending in Washington is way out of control. Every idea in Washington revolves around funding a program, spending money on research, or buying something. There are very few elected officials arguing to cut the budget, and not enough officials arguing to stop the bailouts (auto, credit, or bank). My biggest fear is that the bailouts are going to make things worse, not better. By propping up these industries, we are delaying the day they go through the reforms they need. As painful as those reforms are now, they are going to be much more painful down the road.

I go to the Tea Parties to protest the current levels of spending by our government. This includes President Obama's spending and Congresses spending. I am not there to protest just President Obama. If the protests were about Global Warming or some of the other silly idea's this administration has, I probably wouldn't attend. While these ideas are worthy of debate, and I do debate them here, they aren't as dangerous as the continued spending by Washington. If we continue on the pace the chart above shows, our economy is going to get so bad, cap and trade and national health care won't matter. I can't speak for everyone at the Tea Parties, only myself. I can say that many of the people that I have spoken with at these parties have the same concerns I do, and are worried about the same things. The Tax burden on the American Worker is already too high. Spending like we are seeing in Washington is going to make that tax burden much worse.

I also go to the Tea Parties because I don't believe it is the role of our government to do these things. I don't believe our government should bailout financial companies and car industries. I don't believe we should step in and fire private CEO's. I don't believe the government has a right to interfere in how business pays their employees. Every time the government interferes in these areas, all of our freedoms are diminished. Anytime the government is allowed to save a bank, or a car company, or to fire private employees, it represents a time when the government gets to take control of our lives. I think Americans would be much better off without the government telling them what to do. Do we need some boundaries for companies to operate within? Sure. Do we need the constant intervention created at the end of Bush's term and perpetuated under President Obama? Absolutely not.

As I said, I can't speak for every person at these Tea Parties. I can say most of them are every day Americans who work and send their kids to school. These Americans deserve our respect and they deserve to have their voice heard in Washington. I , and many of the Tea Party attendees, believe Republicans and Democrats have stopped listening to voters. That's not good for anyone.

This post was published at Tea Party Patriots and Political Friends.

Maui Tea Party

Having attended a Tea Party in Atlanta a while back, I was very excited when the national tea parties started showing up for Tax Day. I was going to be on vacation, but was able to coordinate with the organizers in Maui to be at their tea party today.



Unlike the last one I went to, the weather was great. I asked around, and I estimate there was probably 200 to 300 people at the event by the time I left. This is pretty amazing because most of the people were residents of Maui. Many of them were complaining about their local representatives.

I have heard today's events reported as "tea parties that were started by conservative bloggers, talk show personalities, and republicans." This isn't true. These tea parties are grass roots movements. The one I attended today was organized by a self proclaimed Democrat. In an email to me, he stated that he has supported a number of liberal groups over the years, but he felt the spending in Washington has really gotten out of hand.

As I am on vacation, I thought most of this post would be some of my favorite pictures from today's event in Maui. This first one made me laugh the most:



Considering this weeks revelation of what the Deparment of Homeland Security thinks of out spoken conservatives, I thought this one was pretty good too:


This sign also appeared at another Tea Party in Lahaina earlier in the day:



One participant was kind enough to let me borrow his sign so I could get a photo of me at the demonstration for my readers:

Quick Notes: Dad, the Dow, and more Tea Parties

A couple of quick hits that I wanted to share with the readers. I thought this was a perfect time for another issue of "Quick Notes"


My Dad. My Dad has entered the world of blogging. He has written a very detailed piece examining the rhetoric used by Adolf Hilter prior to taking over Germany, and President Obama's rhetoric on the campaign trail, and as President. Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs has posted it and I encourage people to stop by her blog and read the piece. It is an interesting site, so look around for a bit.

The Dow. I was reading my copy of The American Patriot's Almanac: Daily Readings on America, and came across an interesting entry for today. On this date in 1999, the Dow closed above 10,000 for the first time. I believe it closed on Friday at just over 7776.

Tea Parties. A number of my readers are interested in Tea Parties, and especially the ones held in Atlanta. Jenny Beth Martin is one of the organizers of the ones here in Atlanta. She also has a link to other tea parties across the nation. I found one on Maui I am going to visit on my vacation. It was also from Jenny that I found out Sean Hannity is going to be at the April 15th Tea Party held in Atlanta.

The Atlanta Tea Party!!

For my readers in the Atlanta, Georgia, there will be a Tea Party tomorrow to protest our Government's massive spending! The event is tomorrow, February 27, 2009 from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. The organizers are asking people to bring tea and tea leaves to the capitol in Atlanta. For complete details, see the Peach Pundit here.


This idea originated from Rick Santelli's attack on the wasteful spending on air. If you haven't seen it, go watch it here.


People are getting fed up with the government's spending. Go to the tea party tomorrow if you are in Atlanta. If you aren't, look around, a number of these are popping up around the nation.