Posted on 08/24/2010 9:50:14 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
So the "summer of recovery" swelters on, with Democrats sun-blistered, pestered by bottle flies, sand in their swimsuits, water in their ears. Jobless claims increase, Republicans lead the generic congressional ballot, and George W. Bush is six points more popular than President Obama in "front-line" Democratic districts that are most vulnerable to a Republican takeover. Still, Democrats hug the hope that Obama is really the liberal Ronald Reagan -- but without wit, humor, an explainable ideology or an effective economic plan. Other than that, the resemblance is uncanny.
Yet the Republican Party suffers its own difficulty -- an untested ideology at the core of its appeal.
In the normal course of events, political movements begin as intellectual arguments, often conducted for years in serious books and journals. To study the Tea Party movement, future scholars will sift through the collected tweets of Sarah Palin. Without a history of clarifying, refining debates, Republicans need to ask three questions of candidates rising on the Tea Party wave:
First, do you believe that Social Security and Medicare are unconstitutional? This seems to be the unguarded view of Colorado Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck and other Tea Party advocates of "constitutionalism." It reflects a conviction that the federal government has only those powers specifically enumerated in the Constitution -- which doesn't mention retirement insurance or health care.
This view is logically consistent -- as well as historically uninformed, morally irresponsible and politically disastrous. The Constitution, in contrast to the Articles of Confederation, granted broad power to the federal government to impose taxes and spend funds to "provide for . . . the general welfare"
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
He’s right: the Tea Party movement IS toxic for the GOP “moderate” establishment.
Far past time to get our own house in order.
"therefore you ARE TOXIC!!!"sorry Mike, ass kissin days have turned in ass kickin days!
“I didnt read the entire thing but I think the Tea party could very easily work against the pubs just like the reform party and Perot elected Clintoon twice....”
Point taken, but at this juncture of Our Republic’s life, unless Conservative Principles, as in “Constitutional Integrity”, are embraces, promoted, and defended by elected officials at all levels of government, it will matter not the name of the in power! JMHO
I do not see any parallel with Perot, who’s fortune derived from his business with the Federal Government, and was deliberately playing the part of third party spoiler.
The fact that he actually could have won, had he not stopped his campaign with the excuse that his family was being threatened, should tell you that the power brokers understand quite clearly what the majority of Americans want.
These political elites play the public with cardboard cutout characters, called politicians, and maintain control of both parties.
That’s the way I see it tonight, 24 Aug 10, from Mesa AZ.
Tea Partiers are looking for REFORM in the Republican party, so that it will once again be a CLEAR choice against the Democrats.
I'd like to think that Gerson is speaking about the RINO wing of the GOP when he talks about an untested ideology. Individual freedom and a limited government circumscribed by the enumerated powers of the Constitution are certainly not an untested ideology, that combination has been successful for over 200 years, and it's the foundation of the Tea Party movement. He's right about RINO politics though. The idea of splitting the difference between freedom and socialism is untested in any long-term sense, although I'd say that the RINO outcomes over the past couple of decades are not looking at all good.
Boy, the propaganda is thick as hell lately.
Our government (R’s and D’s) just does not care for the Tea Party—all you old-fashioned, liberty-loving Americans, that is.
That means that FReepers must be on their sh*tlist, for sure.
They let you all know what their next move was with the MIAC Report, didn’t they? Only you folks don’t want to see it.
Our government has big plans for you and yours, FReepers.
Land of the free, home of the brave? Ha! The Big Gubmint Train left that station about nine years ago.
No, they are not the same, but the Republicans had gotten WAY too accommodating to the Democrats, and greedy on their own, and that’s why they were voted out of office. I’m hoping that the Tea Party movement has taught the Republicans a lesson. If they get back into the majority and screw it up again, they’ll pay the price, again.
When he talks about assimilation; he seems to forget that the vast majority of Hispanics and Muslim are refusing to assimilate.
I say they are the same. They have voted for more socialistic programs than I can think of. To go along with their friends, the Democrats, joint socialism I guess. It makes me sick when a Republican Senator says a Progressive (communist) Senator is his/her friend! McCain and Snowe are just two names that comes to mind.
The Republicans are going to wait until December for the Joint Economic Report to come out instead of bringing something out on their own before the elections. That is wishy washy politics, no spinal columns exist in the whole damn bunch. The Republicans are doing everything they can to insure that we get to the One World Order as fast as possible.
Don’t any of these fools see what the result of sending American manufacturing overseas has done. Are they doing anything to bring it back? NO! But they sure are making sure that Obama’s tax increases will take place on schedule.
George Bush, Queen Elizabeth, and Vladimir Putin all die and go to hell.
While there, they spy a red phone and ask what the phone is for. The devil tells them it is for calling back to Earth.
Putin asks to call Russia and talks for 5 minutes. When he is finished the devil informs him that the cost is a million dollars, so Putin writes him a check.
Next Queen Elizabeth calls England and talks for 30 minutes. When she is finished the devil informs her that the cost is 6 million dollars, so she writes him a check.
Finally George Bush gets his turn and talks for 4 hours. When he is finished the devil informs him that the cost is $5.00.
When Putin hears this he goes ballistic and asks the devil why Bush got to call the USA so cheaply.
The devil smiles and replies: “Since Obama took over, the country has gone to hell, so it’s a local call.”
The GOP is responsible for the Tea Party movement, if they hadn’t run off the track following the leftists there would be no Tea Party.
“provide for . . . the general welfare”
No damn way!!!!
It says PROMOTE rhw general welfare!!
To promote isn’t to spend or give to anyone, it is to mouth off, like a State Department function, to PROMOTE thwe general welfare.
Who is this asshole?
Punk
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