Well, I've decided to vote for Charlie Crist, possibly even work on his campaign. It's still a ways out, but the chances of something coming up that will change my mind are slim. The reason for my certainty is that I vote for Charlie Crist with the full expectation that he will not return the favor on many of my issues... maybe most of them. (one of the nice things about studying poly-sci is that I've had access to really, really smart people who would give me their unfiltered expertise on things if I asked. Charlie will almost certainly vote with Republicans). However, my support for Charlie Crist is rooted in something vastly more important than a single senate seat. Our gulf coast is about to be destroyed. About half of America (literally) cheered on the practices that led to this. They waved flags and called me an elitist because I live on a coast. Well, it turns out that a lot of people live on a coast. And a lot of people's lives depend on that ocean too. Unfortunately there was no way to explain this to everyone chanting “drill baby, drill”. And even more unfortunately, there still may be no way to explain it.
Ultimately the “tea party” stands for one thing and one thing only: rage. The anger supposedly stems from big government. Clearly though, that stem grows out of the fertile soil of economic duress and from where I stand it seems pretty apparent that government was not the cause of these hard times. If anything it was a lack of government. We privatized and de-regulated so aggressively we gave carte blanche to worst scumbags to ever wear a suit to cook up CDOs, CDSs and every other type of CD that necessitated the “bail outs”. Yet despite the fact that more government could have stopped all this from occurring the tea party's solution is “step out of the way Uncle Sam! Wall Street knows best!” (remember, when we're talking about financial regulation “the market” and “wall street” are one in the same)
As for the raison d'etre of the tea party, taxes, they are even more incoherent. They have a strict policy of less taxes. At the same time they also want fiscal discipline. You can't just cut your way to balanced budgets though. Most federal expenditures are mandatory, namely social security and medicare. Infrastructure, education and so forth make up only a small percentage of the discretionary (allocated yearly) budget. We would have to totally dismantle both social security and medicare to be able to balance the budget while cutting taxes at the same time. This is politically infeasible and everyone knows it. You might as well plan on mining gold from the moon. Paying down the national debt will both require spending cuts and tax increases. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
My point here has nothing to do with offshore drilling, financial regulation or fiscal policy. That oil rig was there long before Sarah Palin emerged on America's political radar. Bill Clinton had as much to do with de-regulation as did George W Bush or Ronald Reagan. And our government is going to deficit spend for the foreseeable future no matter who is in office. The big issue is that all the tea partiers know or care about is that they're angry and government is the fault. Media and the very politicians they rail against foster that rage. Anger is now a both a means and an end in American politics. It doesn't have to be this way.
I just read an article proclaiming that the tea party heralds the return of politics to the “ordinary American”. My initial thought was “why is being a fisherman living in Louisiana so unordinary?”. That's a cop out though. What the person was really trying to say is that the tea party is making politics more egalitarian by making politicians more accountable to the people. This is an even scarier assessment because the person who wrote that is either lying or actually believes it. There have always been rich, powerful people who control politics. And as there have always been, there will always be elites. It's a fact of life. As ordinary people we serve two purposes. The first is what the aforementioned author was referring to. Ultimately elected officials must be voted in, so their lies and misdeeds can only be so egregious. The fact that we exist keeps government in check. Tea party or not, this is the case and is unchanging. What the tea party can have an effect on is that the public's mood serves as a general direction for how our elected officials should proceed. At the moment the tea party is sending separate signals. To Republicans the tea party says “do exactly what you did thirty years ago, but more so”. To Democrats they say, “eat shit and die”. It precludes all else.
But while the tea partiers are sick and tired, I think most people are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Let's compromise. It's how democracy works. Let's talk to one another again. We are tearing this country apart with unfounded anger. Anyone who says the bad outweighs the good needs to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. Glenn Beck needs to get in his Toyota SUV (could you really picture him in anything else?) and drive across the country. He needs to see our land, breath our air and talk to our people. Then he needs to look at the CIA factbook online and compare us with other countries around the world. This anger is unfounded and it is destroying us from the inside.
Do I want it my way? Yes.
Is it more important that we have a society where people can talk to each other? Yes.
Can I have both? No.
Back to Charlie. Governor Crist is best summarized as a competent, experienced, moderate Republican. Floridians love him. Marco Rubio is from the right wing of one of the most right wing of the 50 state Republican parties. From everything I know about him, he is fervent conservatism personified. The tea party loves him. Kendrick Meek is... a Democrat. He hasn't exactly been running a high visibility campaign, so that's pretty all I know about him. If there has ever been a referendum on whether we want reasonable political discourse in this country, this is it. I will vote for (what is in essence) a Republican if it's a vote for the future of Florida and America. I can only hope that others see the same way.
Ultimately the “tea party” stands for one thing and one thing only: rage. The anger supposedly stems from big government. Clearly though, that stem grows out of the fertile soil of economic duress and from where I stand it seems pretty apparent that government was not the cause of these hard times. If anything it was a lack of government. We privatized and de-regulated so aggressively we gave carte blanche to worst scumbags to ever wear a suit to cook up CDOs, CDSs and every other type of CD that necessitated the “bail outs”. Yet despite the fact that more government could have stopped all this from occurring the tea party's solution is “step out of the way Uncle Sam! Wall Street knows best!” (remember, when we're talking about financial regulation “the market” and “wall street” are one in the same)
As for the raison d'etre of the tea party, taxes, they are even more incoherent. They have a strict policy of less taxes. At the same time they also want fiscal discipline. You can't just cut your way to balanced budgets though. Most federal expenditures are mandatory, namely social security and medicare. Infrastructure, education and so forth make up only a small percentage of the discretionary (allocated yearly) budget. We would have to totally dismantle both social security and medicare to be able to balance the budget while cutting taxes at the same time. This is politically infeasible and everyone knows it. You might as well plan on mining gold from the moon. Paying down the national debt will both require spending cuts and tax increases. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
My point here has nothing to do with offshore drilling, financial regulation or fiscal policy. That oil rig was there long before Sarah Palin emerged on America's political radar. Bill Clinton had as much to do with de-regulation as did George W Bush or Ronald Reagan. And our government is going to deficit spend for the foreseeable future no matter who is in office. The big issue is that all the tea partiers know or care about is that they're angry and government is the fault. Media and the very politicians they rail against foster that rage. Anger is now a both a means and an end in American politics. It doesn't have to be this way.
I just read an article proclaiming that the tea party heralds the return of politics to the “ordinary American”. My initial thought was “why is being a fisherman living in Louisiana so unordinary?”. That's a cop out though. What the person was really trying to say is that the tea party is making politics more egalitarian by making politicians more accountable to the people. This is an even scarier assessment because the person who wrote that is either lying or actually believes it. There have always been rich, powerful people who control politics. And as there have always been, there will always be elites. It's a fact of life. As ordinary people we serve two purposes. The first is what the aforementioned author was referring to. Ultimately elected officials must be voted in, so their lies and misdeeds can only be so egregious. The fact that we exist keeps government in check. Tea party or not, this is the case and is unchanging. What the tea party can have an effect on is that the public's mood serves as a general direction for how our elected officials should proceed. At the moment the tea party is sending separate signals. To Republicans the tea party says “do exactly what you did thirty years ago, but more so”. To Democrats they say, “eat shit and die”. It precludes all else.
But while the tea partiers are sick and tired, I think most people are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Let's compromise. It's how democracy works. Let's talk to one another again. We are tearing this country apart with unfounded anger. Anyone who says the bad outweighs the good needs to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. Glenn Beck needs to get in his Toyota SUV (could you really picture him in anything else?) and drive across the country. He needs to see our land, breath our air and talk to our people. Then he needs to look at the CIA factbook online and compare us with other countries around the world. This anger is unfounded and it is destroying us from the inside.
Do I want it my way? Yes.
Is it more important that we have a society where people can talk to each other? Yes.
Can I have both? No.
Back to Charlie. Governor Crist is best summarized as a competent, experienced, moderate Republican. Floridians love him. Marco Rubio is from the right wing of one of the most right wing of the 50 state Republican parties. From everything I know about him, he is fervent conservatism personified. The tea party loves him. Kendrick Meek is... a Democrat. He hasn't exactly been running a high visibility campaign, so that's pretty all I know about him. If there has ever been a referendum on whether we want reasonable political discourse in this country, this is it. I will vote for (what is in essence) a Republican if it's a vote for the future of Florida and America. I can only hope that others see the same way.
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