What's wrong with the Tea Party?

I'm probably going to regret posting this, but I thought I'd ask the 'scholars' of this forum what's so bad about the Tea party? I ask because I constantly see scathing, negative hatred in comments sections after articles, directed at the Tea party. Sometimes I wonder if it's 10 year olds who were allowed to get on the computer to leave remarks, because they seem to get so much amusement out of calling the people "Tea baggers". People think they're so funny and clever posting the (cliche) insult over and over. It's the ultimate dig for them, but they probably couldn't even give a sensible reason why they hate them. I guess you have to consider the source. These aren't exactly NASA engineers posting comments.

I think it's strange how most people whine and moan and bitc# for years! about how badly we need a third party to step up. How the republicans have morphed into something nobody wants and the dimwits are worse as they push a progressive agenda that constantly puts the Bill of Rights under attack.

Most people would agree that both parties have failed miserably. A third party steps up that actually wants to speak for the people voting them into office. They want to actually restore the Constitution from my understanding. They're there for the voter, and they get absolutely vilified! Because difficult decisions actually have to be made at some point. It's shocking really. I'm not sure what exactly people desire from government anymore. I'm not sure that any third party could satisfy enough people to get the job done. Too many people are too stupid to know what might possibly be good for them at any time.

I hope the brilliant minds here can come together and explain what exactly is wrong with the Tea party to make them deserve all the ridicule they receive. Why should we not want it? Convince me. Lets hear it. I don't owe them anything.

 

I don't think this is the answer you are looking for, but IMO the biggest "problem" with the Tea Party is that the Lame Street Media and the left does not like them. Nothing more and nothing less.

 

I don't think this is the answer you are looking for... but my understanding of the Tea Pary is that it was formed by citizens who were members of the Republican Party who felt that the party was no longer truely Republican so being fed up they started their own thing. I am sure many former Reagan democrats also fill their ranks as well. Nothing wrong with them, they are actually more of a free thinker then independents from my view point and are what this county needs more of..people who do not think political parties are religions that should be obeyed or ignored but challenged.

 

The Tea Party is closer aligned with the ideals of the Republican Party, but that doesn't mean that they're in lockstep with everything the Republicans do. The Tea Party would gladly accept Democratic candidates if they could find a Democrat who actually believed in the Constitution, freedom, liberty, national security, values, equality, etc. Unfortunately, those qualities are somewhat lacking in the Republican ranks these days, but are completely nonexistent in the Democratic ranks. I think the Tea Party just wants to see America returned to capitalism instead of socialism, free market vs. government mandate, liberty instead of oppression and national security instead of open borders. The problem the mainstream media has is that the Tea Party is one of the only forces in America capable of blocking their liberal agenda. Basically, the Tea Party is just common people who have banded together in an effort to stop runaway liberal government, liberal agendas, socialistic ideologies, and excessive government spending. If that's the case, I don't see a problem with the Tea Party. GO TEA PARTY!

 

Subdivision of the republican party designed to scoop up more nit wit votes for them. Nothing more.

 

Actualy nothing at all wrong with having a third party in the US and if it is truely indipendent of the Republican movement then even better
However I will pull you on one thing you accuse others of taking great joy in calling them "Tea Baggers" while in the same post you reffering to Democrats as "Dimwits"!!

 

The dims are afraid of the Tea Party because of two facts: it attacks their core existence- tax & spend and the Tea Party has bi-partisan appeal.
Far left extremists use attacks on the Tea Party as a distraction to divert attention away from the terrible job BO is doing.

 

I don't consider the Tea Party a 'third party' any more than I think the 'Blue Dog' Democrats were a third party or any more than I think Joe Lieberman is an Independent candidate. I disagree with the Tea Party on many issues just like I disagree with the Republicans and Democrats on many issues. But that doesn't mean there is anything 'wrong' with them or that I 'hate' them. I do think the 'Tea Bagger' term is as childish as using the terms 'Dim' and 'Con' but that is pretty much what our political system has devolved to so I just try to ignore it.

 

The Tea Party began as a grass roots campaign to protest our political system. It quickly grew. That attracted the political organizers, who wrestled for control of the party. The winning organizers were primarily fringe Republicans who are still in the process of fine-tuning what the Party should stand for. From what I see, compromise is not something they have learned yet, but given time they will learn how to use it to survive as a party.

 

That last sentence was a bit sketchy ...in my defense, it's early morning and I gave up coffee decades ago lol

What I meant was that they are uncompromising politically, and that it is going to hurt any chance they may have of actually becoming a strong third party. If they fail to realize that, they will doom themselves to becoming the latest third party wanna-be, could-o'-beens.

 

The Tea Party is slow to compromise on issues it considers important because those issues are exactly what got us in the position we are in now. Anything less would ineffective. Think about it, it would be pretty meaningless for a group to form to fight taxing & spending then go soft on it when there is resistance. We'll save that hypocrisy for the left.

 

And without compromise you are left with two or more sides bickering and bellowing at each other and nothing gets done.

 

But all this "compromise" has landed us right where we are now- In a jam that has just been passed on to the next group.

 

Yet without a compromise what would the situation be today I wonder?

 

That's why I say we need a tyrant... a dictator... Gadhafi should be available soon lol

 

I'll tell you what... I'll take over. I promise to compromise by not eliminating all that oppose my iron-fisted rule. I'll probably rid myself of most of it, but not all. I prefer to have some left over for entertainment purposes...

I'd certainly get things done. ...Vote now! (or suffer the consequences, vermin)

 

The old religious Right has simply morphed itself into the Tea Party. The number one predictor of Tea Party affiliation is whether you were already a member of the Republican Party. They aren't a third party merely a subset of Republicans. In fact, they are the most extreme wing of the Republican Party. If you consider yourself an extreme Right-winger, you should definitely be a Tea Party member because you are already a tool.

What I'd like to know is why anyone would believe that old white (Caucasian) people who already have every advantage this society can offer believe that they represent a multi-cultural society like America? When I see a diverse movement of people standing up for the whole of America that will be a movement I'll join. The privileged class doesn’t need any more rights.

 

tomc, is that you?

 

Now this is just a dumb, ill-informed statement. Let me prove it to you...as I mentioned in a different thread, I am actually supporting a Dimocrat in our mayoral race. He is a life-long dim, from an old dim family and he's a Tea Party member.

 

Yes, yes, I know how your 1 anecdotal story trumps even multi-year research studies by accredited university political scientists because we've been here before. So I'll post this for those that do have a rational thought process.

…[snip]
Beginning in 2006 we interviewed a representative sample of 3,000 Americans as part of our continuing research into national political attitudes, and we returned to interview many of the same people again this summer. As a result, we can look at what people told us, long before there was a Tea Party, to predict who would become a Tea Party supporter five years later. We can also account for multiple influences simultaneously — isolating the impact of one factor while holding others constant.

Our analysis casts doubt on the Tea Party’s “origin story.” Early on, Tea Partiers were often described as nonpartisan political neophytes. Actually, the Tea Party’s supporters today were highly partisan Republicans long before the Tea Party was born, and were more likely than others to have contacted government officials. In fact, past Republican affiliation is the single strongest predictor of Tea Party support today……[snip]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/opinion/crashing-the-tea-party.html

….[snip]
So what do Tea Partiers have in common? They are overwhelmingly white, but even compared to other white Republicans, they had a low regard for immigrants and blacks long before Barack Obama was president, and they still do.

More important, they were disproportionately social conservatives in 2006 — opposing abortion, for example — and still are today. Next to being a Republican, the strongest predictor of being a Tea Party supporter today was a desire, back in 2006, to see religion play a prominent role in politics. And Tea Partiers continue to hold these views: they seek “deeply religious” elected officials, approve of religious leaders’ engaging in politics and want religion brought into political debates. The Tea Party’s generals may say their overriding concern is a smaller government, but not their rank and file, who are more concerned about putting God in government.

Gee! Everything I said right there in a multi-year reasearch study of 3000 Tea Party folks but you do have your 1 guy. How you gonna twist this one Davy boy?

Oops!