Please don't allow the Tea Party movement to become marginalized

I don't know how long many of you have followed this blog, but twenty months ago when I formed this blog it was with an idea of getting back to our roots. This blog is truly meant to discuss ideas and generate dialogue in the interest of the people of the Hickory area.

For far too long, we have seen our interests pigeon-holed into defined parameters that allow very little wiggle room for open minded thought. Truly, I believe that there have been very few forums to discuss issues in an in-depth manner. One thing that a mentor has instilled in me is that I need to find value in what others say. I believe that I am succeeding well in this goal. Other compatriots that I associate with are moving in this direction also, but sadly this is not the mindset of the vast majority of people in this community.

Let's look at our community. For the most part, we are registered Republicans, but it isn't very simple, because there are a few factions that make up those who label themselves Republican. The glue that binds us is the fact that we are financial conservatives. We work hard for our money and we want to keep it. We want the government to spend as little money as possible and some of us will even gripe over every penny that is spent, even in many cases when it is justifiable.

Where many of us differ is in the cultural realm 0f conservatism. On one side you have the Christian Conservatives who can be intolerant towards those who may not agree with their positions on religious issues. In many cases, they will not compromise or negotiate on issues that do not adhere to the strict dogma they desire to practice. Many even desire to try to control others through there political practices.

Then there are the Country Club Conservatives that twist like lilies in the wind when it comes to any cultural issues. They don't want to judge anyone for anything, but they will try to control you through social and environmental interaction based upon ideas termed to be "Progressive" in nature. They are financially conservative, because they want to be frugal with their own assets, but they also want to tell you what you can do with your assets. Most of the Country Club Progressive types are obsessed with image and perception.

When it comes to Democrats, I have to admit that I have never understood them. It seems to me that they have a party centered around cultural activism where everyone has some kind of chip on their shoulder. Most of the Democrats that I have witnessed have no concept of sound monetary policy. It's all about spend it today and we'll worry about how to pay for it tomorrow. Admittedly, many Republicans have fallen into this philosophy also. But, Democrats have never met a tax they didn't want to raise, while Republicans never met a deficit they didn't want to explode.

Who can argue that politicians today, in general, are like used car salesman. Let's get you into it today and we'll worry about the payments tomorrow. Does this make sense? Do we not need to have a plan?

I remember last year when the origins of the tea party came about. It came about on February 19, 2009 when a frustrated Rick Santelli, a commentator on CNBC, called for all the remaining capitalists to join him in Chicago for a "Tea Party"; watch the video below.



Then on tax day many people got together to protest what we saw happening, which I summarized in the following article - April 15, 2009... The Tea Party was Cool. The events that followed in the Spring and Summer last year involving the Health Care debate culminated in a lot of Town Hall gatherings across the country, which were mainly attended by many of the same people that gathered on Tax Day. Locally, our Congressional Representative Patrick McHenry held an event at Lenoir-Rhyne, which was basically filled to capacity. I covered that event in the following article - 8/11/2009 - Congressman Patrick McHenry's Town Hall in Hickory.

We are nearly nine months past the fervor that we saw attached to the Health Care issue. Massachusetts saw to it that Scott Brown was elected as a Republican Senator to take over the Forefather of Public Healthcare's, Ted Kennedy, seat. What good came out of all of the efforts that we saw? How spectacular was the waste of energy that people put forth? People put forth their heart and soul to show that they didn't want the proposed healthcare package passed and in the end it was ramrodded through anyway.

There is a long line of egregious powergrabs that have been foisted on the American people over the last several years. My current thought is how will they stick it to us next. It certainly looks like the stars are aligning on the immigration issue. By hook or by crook they are going to try initiate amnesty for the illegals and this should not be allowed to happen. We need to protect our borders and the value and rights inherent to United States citizenship.

We know where the Democrats stand on these issues, but the impotence of Republican United States Senators is what is at the root of the problems that we see related to Conservative Idealism. Arlen Specter showed his true colors and did the right thing by joining the party that held his philosophy. Now, there are only four Senators at the forefront of Progressive Ideology and they do not represent any type of core Conservative Philosophy. These Senators are John McCain, Lindsay Graham, Susan Collins, and Olympia Snowe. Each of these Senators that I have mentioned have been uniquely responsible towards the development of Socialist Ideals at the expense of true Republican Philosophy.

When I look at the Americans whom would consider themselves to be a part of the Tea Party movement, I see people who believe in what Ronald Reagan espoused when he came to power in the early 1980s. Government is necessary, but it is a problem when it gets too large and tries to control every facet of citizens' lives. People understand the need to pay taxes, but they want them to be fruitful and create value. They don't want their taxes used to create moral hazards.

Tea Partiers understand that their needs to be healthcare reform, but they do not want to see a system developed to take care of people who will not control their vises. They don't want to have one size fits all policies. They want there to be methods implemented to control costs without punishing healthcare providers or participants. And most of all they don't want to see healthcare used as a method to control the populace.

When it comes to the Financial industry crisis. Tea Partiers are tired of seeing Wall Street placed to the head of the line before citizens, especially when Wall Street created this fiasco. People are tired of the lobbying shenanigans, the insider trading, influence peddling, and conflicts of interest. Laws are being usurped, problems keep being pushed down the road, no one is being held responsible for wrongdoing, and the problems continue to grow like a metastasized cancer. People have a gut feeling that the politicians, bureaucrats, and banksters don't have a clue what they are doing, but they seem to be in cahoots lining their pockets with our money.

The most important objective that the Tea Partiers must realize is that we need a new way. The Tea Party movement can't allow itself to become labeled, for in doing so they become marginalized. If the Tea Partiers march in lockstep with the Republicans, then they are just Republicans.

I have seen Republicans, such as Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney represent themselves in the ideology of the Tea Partiers. Be careful, because Sarah Palin has campaigned with John McCain and John McCain is a status quo, big government progressive. I also have seen where Dick Cheney is standing against Rand Paul in his run for Senate in Kentucky. Rand Paul (Ron Paul's son) is the ideal new wave conservative who fully represents Tea Party values.

What we need to get back to is the fundamental philosophy of Independence and Rugged Individualism. That does not mean that we are not interdependent on society. That means that we, as individuals, should be allowed to choose where and under what circumstances we want to participate with others. We should not be forced to join into groups that we don't want to be a part of.

The Tea Partiers should be careful not to cast their lot with any static philosophy. We need representatives who are willing to think outside of the box in these times of exponential change. We don't need to be following simple subjective approaches. 2,700 page legislative documents are as subjective as decrees of law can get.

We need to practice objectivity. That is what the founders did. Their objectivity was rooted in principle, while limiting the constraints that the government and society could place on a person's thoughts and actions. This is why we were so free. Free to invent new technologies. Free to explore the West. Free to go to the Moon. Free to create computers and the Internet. We are losing that through our current mode of governance. We need a new way and falling right back into line with the same cast of characters is not going to get us there.