By Andrew Zarowny
Joe Klein of the Time Magazine may disagree, but 2010 is the Year of the Tea Party! The grassroots movement which grew organically after the infamous Rick Santelli rant over the Obama stimulus bill in 2009 matured in 2010, resulting in a major victory during the mid-term elections in November. Since the CNBC analyst’s fuming over government spending and economic policies, the Tea Party movement evolved into a formidable force, sending shockwaves through Washington, DC. Scoffed and berated by most in the establishment media, plus by Beltway-insiders, the Tea Party has proved that they are a force to be reckoned with by politicians of both Democrats and Republican persuasions.
Standing for ‘Taxed Enough Already’, the primary issues for Tea Party members is government spending and growth. In the past year, sales of books on the Founding Fathers, the Constitution and American history have soared as a rebirth of fundamental principles evolved. Not since the early 1800s has the National Debt and the Constitution been such hot topics of debate.
It may seem difficult to believe but there had been a time in American history when politicians actually campaigned on paying down the National Debt and reducing the size and power of the Federal government. Even more astounding is that they, the politicians, actually meant it, too! The first popularly elected president, Andrew Jackson, made eliminating the National Debt his main campaign promise, and he kept it! Within his term of four years, he brought the debt down to a paltry sum of just a few thousand dollars.
After the Civil War, when America went into deep debt, the next four presidents following Abraham Lincoln all worked diligently to pay down the National Debt. The primary method was slashing spending and reducing the size, and power, of the Federal government. After the Wilson administration, and the huge debt racked up during the First World War, efforts to consciously reverse the trend again helped clear the books. By the time Calvin Coolidge handed the White House to Herbert Hoover, about 56% of the National Debt had been paid off. In 1932, FDR campaigned on criticism of Hoover and his attempts to spend his way out of the Great Depression. Once elected, FDR doubled-down and spent even more.
Since FDR, balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility have become rare events. For the most part, the American people accepted the situation and went along for the ride. But the Crash of 2008 and the bail-out mania that followed changed the dynamics. More and more Americans had had enough of pork, stimulus, earmarks and bailouts. The Obama administration’s expansion of Federal budgets and regulatory bureaucracy, up 24% (discretionary spending) just in 2009, prompted a wave of anger in the Heartland.
The Obama healthcare bill caused a massive backlash during the late summer of 2009 as people challenged their elected representatives during town hall meetings. The arrogance of Washington DC reached new heights as Nancy Pelosi declared that the only way to learn what was in the bill was to pass it first, instead of reading the 2,500+ page monster. Backed by Tea Party support, Scott Brown won the U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts that had been held by Democrats, namely Ted and John Kennedy, for some 60 years!
By 2010, as the primary schedule unfolded, long-serving Republican ‘moderates’ became the next set of victims of the Tea Party movement. Demonstrating ‘blind-partisanship’, the Tea Party worked to reject and eject anyone who smacked of arrogance or pragmatism. They demanded a new breed of politicians, those committed to fiscal responsibility and the principles of our Founding Fathers.
While many in the GOP establishment cringed over candidates like Christine O’Donnell and Sharron Angle, the Tea Party movement didn’t care. To them, principles were more important than elect-ability. As the movement grew and became more organized, they demonstrated their resolve and fielded large rallies, often at a moment’s notice. Despite media reports to the contrary, the Tea Party also showed that theirs was a peaceful revolt. Their signs and placards may have had spelling issues, but they were not burning police cars or smashing windows.
There is little doubt that the Tea Party movement impacted 2010 in the November mid-term elections. Thanks to them, the largest single swing in House seats in about 60 years took place, sending Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barack Obama and the Democrats a clear message. That the Progressive agenda of the last century has been stopped cold! A nationwide revival of principles and values is the new currency of the land. So 2010 is the Year of the Tea Party. Joe Klein of Time Magazine doesn’t think anything significant happened this past year. But like most of the establishment media, he just doesn’t ‘get it’ and probably never will ever again.
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