Got your attention! Here’s an interesting memo I obtained over at the Atlantic.
This memo, which hasn’t been validated, but is being reported on by Fox News, purports to provide a “Target List” of candidates for the Tea Party to presumably unseat in 2010. Listing them under the heading of “Enemy of Liberty” or “Potential Enemy of Liberty,” one quickly, with even the most cursory attempt at fairness, concludes that this is not a Tea Party Target List, but instead a republican target list of democrats under the guise of the Tea Party. How do I conclude this? Well, assuming the list is accurate, and I see no reason not to, there are 45 names on the list. Of those 45 names, 42 are democrats (really it’s 44 because 2 of the names are primary challenges). So, am I to conclude from this that there are no republicans who might be enemies of freedom?
I believe in fair play. So, I compiled my own list that the real Tea Party might want to take a look at as well. And please, don’t accuse me of being a democrat plant just trying to counter the republican Freedom Works…I used to work for two republican Members of Congress (though I’m now registered unaffiliated).
Here’s the House and Senate Members that voted FOR Medicare Part D: republican-house-members-who-voted-for-medicare-part-d2; republican-senators-who-voted-for-medicare-part-d
So, why did I highlight Medicare Part D. Well, according to most analysts, this legislation will far exceed the costs spouted about when this new giveaway of your tax dollars was voted upon in 2003. And yes, this along with every other entitlement Congress has foisted upon us in its never-ending thirst for power will be paid for by our children. In this regard, here’s a great quote from an article Bruce Bartlett wrote just last year over at Forbes:
“Just to be clear, the Medicare drug benefit was a pure giveaway with a gross cost greater than either the House or Senate health reform bills how being considered. Together the new bills would cost roughly $900 billion over the next 10 years, while Medicare Part D will cost $1 trillion.”
Befitting the title, each of these Members of Congress have been labeled “Enemies of our Children’s Future” and thus should be on any Tea Party target list.
So, I would caution any group such as Freedom Works from suggesting they might have a “target list” for the Tea Party. If they had called it a Freedom Works “Target List” this would never have become an issue. Suggesting we Tea Partiers support this…well, makes us all either hypocrites or worse, makes us wonder if you might think we’re all novices at this. Hmmm, I wonder which it is? Perhaps both?
So the question begs.. where was everyone the 8 years of Bush ? How about the beloved Reagan, who turned this country from the number 1 creditor to the number 1 debtor nation, all because of what GHWB called "voodoo" economics.
Problem is, it's too late. There's a bill that needs to be paid, of which 77% was generated by "conservatives", called the national debt.
If you really want to save this country.. guess what..you won't like the answer..
Cut military spending
cut SSI
cut medicare
Increase taxes
Put tarriffs on good/services from countries that cheat via slave labor and don't have the same environmental standards.
Bring manufacturing jobs back
Break up the "too big to fail" banks, and place limits on CEO bonuses (Bonus should be based on REAL performance)
It's not rocket scient…
First of all, here at the Tenth Amendment Center, we started out in 2006 at the height of the Bush years – and opposed the criminality of those thugs like we do the Obama thugs.
Secondly, while there could be some debate about exactly what needs to be done, we certainly agree in general with the some of the cuts you’re talking about.
And, if the constitution were followed to the letter, you’d be cutting much of what the feds do, including foreign policy, and you would not need to raise taxes as you suggest. You could likely get rid of the income tax altogether.
Mark,
You're right that people who are struggling to restore liberty in America should be careful not to get used by either party or their surrogates. But you should also check your sources.
I have worked directly with FreedomWorks in Virginia, and I can tell you first hand that they have no interest in claiming leadership of the Tea Party movement. In fact, you'll notice that the memo doesn't mention the words "Tea Party" anywhere. That connection was drawn by the journalists who wrote the accompanying story.
My experience with FreedomWorks has been that they are principled advocates of constitutionally limited government and lower taxes. In fact, in the fall of 2008, when every "conservative" group from Heritage to Americans for Prosperity was backing the Bush bailouts, FreedomWorks and Cato were the only ones who stood against the Republican pressure machine, and said publicly and frequently that bailouts were a bad idea.
Each of us should use caution and choose our allies carefully, but don't assume FreedomWorks is what the media says it is. Actions speak louder than words.
The Tea Party Movement is an American tradition. It comes from a tradition of local home rule, and individual interests were more important than are community interests. That led to a more involved citizen, through town hall meetings and even vigilante movements. The Tea Party Movement is but an extension of these American traditions and perfectly correct. It is what the elite few who want to rule the many, as the current Democrat Party and many old-line Republicans, would oppose. The differences are cited in the Changing Face of Democrats, Our Libertarian Roots Lost, on Amazon and claysamerica.com.
Excellent point, Mark.
The Tea Party federal hit list must include every incumbent that does not sign the Federal 10th amendment pledge.
I just checked and not a single federal incumbent has signed on.
The little letter behind the name means nothing anymore. Either they are with us or against us.
Until the GOP and the talking heads put up they need to shut up.
America deserves and demands better. Vote out the enemy.
I couldn't agree with you more…this is time for principle to dominate the discussion and not raw politics. Together we have to nurture this along because it's a very tall mountain to climb. My only hope is that we can reach the peak, though as the post illustrates, it won't be without obstacles and peril.
Great piece Mark!
We must continue to change the hearts and minds of the people and open their eyes to these snakes in the grass…
If we’re to take the country back…“Non-violent revolution must burn in the hearts of patriots across the country like a raging fire.”
This ties in to the total picture of frustration that myself and other Tea Partiers have. It is not enough to be labeled "tea baggers" as some sort of derogatoy term by some, and ignored by most, but to have so called Tea Partiers who are nothing more than neoConservative hacks such as talk radio show hosts as Mark Levin and Laura Ingraham latch on to our movement – it absolutely tears down our fragile reputation. All this serves to do it discredit those who have a real beef with the federal government – regardless of political affiliation – and degrades us to requiring us to divert our focus and distance ourselves from these disingenuous fools. It's NOT just about Obama and the Democrats!!
Exactly Taurus and this is precisely why I wrote this post…this fight is about the extra-constitutional activities of the HUGE centralized federal government that both parties have supported (i.e. Medicare Part D). The status quo is untenable and in my view, all Freedom Works and others like it want to do is co-opt the Tea Party movement to regain power in DC. There was always the risk that this new "movement" populated by rather new entrants into politics could become disoriented and co-opted, but the speed at which this is happening (if it already hasn't happened) is remarkable. I'm still hoping though that events such as the 10th Amendment Summit in Atlanta will help reorient the movment.
Mark, Unfortunately I couldn't disagree with you more in regards to FreedomWorks. FreedomWorks made a "target list" of the people that they feel need to go. They are not trying to co-opt the Tea Party Movement and take control. They are simply giving the people a platform to voice their opinions. We simply can't just vote out all of the incumbents (inlcuding republicans) because there are really good republicans that do stand for liberty, freedom, and democracy. I feel FreedomWorks is simply another organziation/group that is helping our voices be heard at the national level. We need some form of backbone or organizational structure. Are you saying we shouldn't have a Campaign for Liberty, FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity, Pro Life Groups, Tea Party Patriots, We The People groups/organizations…the list goes on. FreedomWorks is mixed in with the dozens of other national groups out there. They may have the loudest voice because they have the most membership and activists. I do agree that this needs to be a citizen lead movement and we need to make sure no one organization or group takes over or co-opts the tea party movement.
The Tparty movement has a conservative character to it anyways in terms of state rights. The 'hack' Mark Lavin wrote a good book called Liberty and Tyranny and he wrote about what a federalist system would do. It got me hooked into the idea.
This is not to say all republicans are perfect stewards of state's rights and limited government. Just look at the Real ID act. That was passed under a republican controlled congress. It was the reason I did not vote republican in 08 or 06.
Yes, Liberty and Tyranny is a good book. However, I try to listen to Mark every day, and his spoken words do not match his written words. He is EXTREMELY pro war, and soaks "Old Right" Republicans (not that there are many of them) and Libertarians EVERY chance he gets. He and Limbaugh are on such a crusade to squash ANY third party movement that it is a daily occurence of bashing. We could "rebuild" the Republican party, but their version of what it should be, and the version that an overwhelming majority of Tea Party protesters think it should be, are practially night and day. That's the crux of the issue I see with this argument and current Republicans in general: they hate legislation / regulation, unless it is THEIR legislation / regulation. All we want is for less of any of it, and to be left alone.
I completely agree with you on your comment, and your example, of REAL ID.