I've been posting the answer to that question, repeatedly. But I don't blame you if you've better things to do than search my old posts.
You cut their salaries, clip their wings, and make them surrender, by not waiting for someone else to do it. Voting (the ballot box) doesn't help. Shooting them (the cartridge box) isn't legal. Talk (the soapbox) is rarely helpful unless you're a Beck or a Limbaugh with a vast audience.
What would work is for the taxpayer NOT to work. Go OUT of the box and divest yourself of the income that obliges you to pay income tax. Encourage others to do likewise.
If enough taxpayers did this, the government would cave to ANY demand. They can't keep the lights on without YOUR money.
As for the TEA Party, if as you say they were "cut down pretty quickly," and "fell back in line," then they were paper tigers at best. I have other designations for such people as you describe.
There are three ways the federal government is funded:
1. Taxes
2. Federal Reserve
3. Financial Trade*
* This is an offshoot of private placement. The Fed’s have their own platforms and are using them to finance expenses beyond 1 and 2 above.
The takeaway here is that powers within the federal government do not need taxpayers nor do they need Congress performing actions such as raising the debt ceiling.
What they're doing isn't legal.
“What would work is for the taxpayer NOT to work. Go OUT of the box and divest yourself of the income that obliges you to pay income tax. Encourage others to do likewise. “
I am concerned that would encourage them to enslave us outrightly.