Monday, August 08, 2011

WHAT’S NEXT FOR AMERICA’S TEA PARTIES?


SPECIAL POST

There we were, in the midst of runaway spending with TARP, stimulus and Health Care, bailing out this firm and that bank, taking over manufacturing companies and expanding the government sector at a record pace.  Someone, somewhere suggested that we all get together and send every member of Congress a tea bag in protest.  The American Tea Party movements were born. 

Millions of Americans from all walks of life and all political parties joined state and local tea party organizations and started to educate themselves and others about what was going on in Washington.  Both major political parties tried to ignore the growing ruckus, but a major demonstration on the steps of the nation’s Capitol drove the point home: Americans were ticked off. 

By the time the November 2010 elections arrived, the various tea party movements had gathered steam, picked some favorite candidates and were able to exert tremendous influence over the outcomes, thereby chasing our dozens of scurrilous Congressional members and installing dozens of fresh faces.  Now, the tea parties had proven themselves to be someone to be reckoned with. 

So far, so good.  The problem with this true story is that the tea parties are individual organizations, not connected in any official way and with no cohesive and centralized voice.  The cracks began to show when the heat was turned up over the FY2011 budget, and the influence of the tea parties was all but lost in the shuffle.  When the recent budget talks got under way, Democrats bombarded the tea parties with fowl and foul language.  Differing voices spoke out about “official” tea party positions, some of which were outlandish and did not serve the movement well. 

The Republicans, unwilling to stand on their own two feet and upon seeing the waffling of the tea party movements, caved in at the last moment; that set up the stage for the downgrading of the national credit and the expressions of outright dismay from China. 

Now what? 

There are two schools of thought.  One is that the tea parties, having no central organization and no common voice, will now dry up and blow away.  The other scenario is that the tea parties coalesce into one united organization with a common platform.  This itself could take two forms, one with the various organizations still having some local autonomy while belonging to the national organization, and the other being the dissolution of local chapters and the emergence of one united American Tea Party.  In the latter event, local chapters and members would have to be willing to compromise some of their favorite positions and to take on others. 

I think all of us who have followed the decline of America over the last 20 years would agree that the tea parties provided a big and welcome breeze of fresh air.  Suddenly, Mr. and Mrs. America saw that, by standing together arm-in-arm, hand-to-hand and shoulder-to-shoulder, they could have a profound influence on what mischief was being created in Washington.  For the first time in years, hope was created where all hope had been lost. 

To that end, we all owe the tea parties profound gratitude.  They woke us up.  They showed us the way. 

We cannot allow this grassroots movement of Americans to dry up and blow away.  We cannot turn our backs on that beacon of hope.  Now is the time for us to get behind the tea parties and to urge their merging into one voice.  We need a United American Tea Party that can set its sights on achieving political office where Democrats and Republicans are failing to respond to the American dream.  I strongly urge all involved to consider this message and to act accordingly. 

That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.  


No comments: