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Reflections on local TEA partiesBy Rep. MATT RAMSEY Last week, in Fayette County, we had the privilege of addressing one of the 2,000 tea parties held nationwide to mark “tax day” in America. Every year at this time, Americans are reminded of the outrageous absurdity of a tax code so complex that one must pay an accountant or some other service simply to comply with the law. Yet something is different this year, as Americans from sea to shining sea felt compelled to come together to publicly express their displeasure. Americans of all political stripes are concerned — concerned that the very nature of the relationship between the government and the governed is changing. Now, Americans were promised change during the campaign, and change they have received. But this is not the change they were looking for, or promised. No candidate campaigned on metamorphosing the presidency into the CEO of American business. The federal government is now the proud owner of an assortment of private enterprises, including much of the American car industry. Politicians are often accused of being used car salesman, but this is taking it too far. What we found most striking about the tea party we attended, and those that we observed taking place elsewhere, is how it departed from the normal partisan atmosphere one comes to expect at political rallies. Those in attendance were for the most part not political activists, and most did not come to support one party or oppose another, though certainly there was an emphasis on limited government that once was, and must become again, the rallying cry of the Republican Party. We say once because during the presidency of George W. Bush, Republicans in Washington abandoned their economic principles. Spending rose and the earmark culture flourished. As has often been said, Republicans went to Washington to drain the swamp, but instead joined the alligators. Thus, the furious reaction by many on the left to the tea parties. They hoped, they believed that fiscal conservatism was a spent force, that conservatives had lost the credibility and even the will to be fiscally responsible. After bringing America dramatically closer to the European economic model of state control in three short months, with only fawning approval from the mainstream media, suddenly from out of nowhere came demonstrations of mass opposition to the Obama program. Left wing activists, flush with triumph, could only ask with great annoyance: How could the “failed” policies of the past eight years suddenly have such popular support? They fail to recognize that the tea parties are not Republican forums for Bush nostalgia. They are expressions of frustration with the government’s failure to live within its means, as the rest of us must. Hundreds of billions of dollars in Bush administration debt are being chased by trillions of dollars of Obama administration debt. The pundits care only about political scorekeeping, so they simply are not equipped to understand the honest-to-goodness, enough-is-enough exasperation of the tea parties. The fact that the tea parties represent a grassroots movement only perplexes the cynics further, because Obama’s election to the presidency has been marketed as the apotheosis of grassroots populism. It is as if the true believers of ever-expanding government have actually convinced themselves that only hedge fund managers on Wall Street could possibly oppose the government takeover of the private sector. Of course, they’ve also convinced themselves that a federal government unable to balance its budget — or even to finish its budget on time — year after year is somehow going to introduce sound accounting to the private sector. It has been only three short months. As much money has been spent, as much debt has been incurred, and as many private industries as have been taken over by a federal government of supposedly enumerated powers, more is coming. Much more. Government will soon make a play to become America’s health care provider. All while the core function of the federal government — national defense — is staring down the barrel of massive program cuts. This administration has a strange sense of where the federal government’s competence lies. It may be surprised to find that more and more Americans develop a taste for tea during what could be a long, hot summer. [This column was written jointly by Rep. Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City), District 72; and Sen. Ronnie Chance (R-Tyrone), District 16.] login to post comments | Matt Ramsey's blog
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