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                        Tea Party       25 Jan 10

The one major characteristic of the Republican party that long kept me from registering as a Republican is they always seem to be successful at muffling differing courses of action before the general public gets a chance to contemplate the merits and disadvantages of the strongest possible options.  Somehow, somewhere, by some unknown process Republican party leadership seems to always manage to limit the discuss of policy and the number of candidates in a primary.  This is why I'm so happy to see a Tea Party wing emerge.  I believe the Republican party and especially the country is far and away better off when there is a healthy discussion of ideas within a public forum.  I believe those involved in the Tea Party movement can bring this type of public discussion to the Republican Party.

One of the promising aspect of the Tea Party is most members don't feel they are obligated to one particular party or the other. The people in the movement seem to be tolerant of people with views that differ from their own.  A group made up of individuals with that characteristic possesses the hope of finding productive solutions to the complex issues of today.  These people show a willingness to speak and to listen and to contemplate the good and bad aspects of more than one course of action.  In fact, this desire has always been a characteristic of the rank and file members of both parties.  Now is an exciting time because a good portion of those rank and file members have decided they are tired of having candidates and platforms pushed on them.  You'll know the Republican party has turned the corner and embraced the ideals of Tea Party members when Republican primary elections become contests instead of a rubber stamp of the candidate chosen by the party elite.

The other aspect of the Tea Party I find exciting is I believe in the same fundamentals as what inspired them to start speaking out.  First, although most might normally vote Republican, most would probably consider themselves as conservative independents.  As independent thinkers they are more likely to listen and contemplate; and they also don't condemn just because an opinion is different. The good part is even though they may not be a stalwart supporter of the party, at least they belong to a party.  Independent thinking is productive.  But talking to yourself in the kitchen does very little to influence anyone.  That is why I recommend all "independents" pick one party or the other and express your opinion within it.  You will be surprised how many others feel the same way as you.  

Beyond being open to ideas, news reports tell me the active members of the Tea Party movement believe fiscal responsibility means about the same thing as I believe it means.  This is the trick about political parties and philosophies.  Most people's priorities can all be generalized using the same terms and phrases.  Aren't we all for better schools, better jobs, a clean environment and fiscal responsibility?  The differences occur in our opinions as to the best course for achieving better schools, better jobs, a clean environment or fiscal responsibility.  I like what I hear about the Tea Party movement because it seems they agree with me that a large deficit is detrimental to the long term future of the country and that waste by any party weakens us competitively.

I suspect most members of the tea party would disagree with my perspective on who to emulate in order to put this country back on solid financial ground.  I say that because President Reagan seems to be a consensus hero of the conservatives.  Reagan conservatives are often mistakenly associate with fiscal responsibility.  From my perspective though the only fiscally responsible Presidents we've had in my lifetime were the President Ford and the first President Bush.  It's hard for many to embrace these leaders because their achievements are generally not recognized.  In order to adapt these Presidents as the fathers of modern day conservatives you have to also believe as I do in the general principle that it is impossible for the policies to significantly affect American quality of life until years after their implementation.  In fact, it is unlikely even a two term President would ever see any benefit or suffer from policies they put in place while in office.   President Johnson suffered from the Kennedy administrations war policy and the continuation of that war policy hurt President Nixon.  President Nixon significantly increased government give-a-ways which caused the finical mess which caused President Ford and President Carter from being re-elected.  Likewise President Reagan's deficits destroyed the economy during President Bush's term.  Conversely, in the couple years President Ford was president he vetoed numerous spending bills and helped build the foundation for the perceived success of the Reagan years.  The first President Bush also laid the foundation of fiscal responsibility that sustained the economy in the Clinton years.

President Ford and the first President Bush don't get the credit they deserve for other reasons other than just the economy.  One of the other reasons both presidents did not get re-elected was because they were responsible when it came to military expenditures.  President Ford started decreasing Army strength after the Vietnam war.  The first President Bush started to rein in the abhorrent waste produced by President Reagan's policies.  The defense industry's lose of their blank check meant both these fiscally conservative president's would loose the enthusiastic backing of key financial backers.  President Reagan on the other hand piled money into the defense structure with no requirement for any appreciable return for the American public.  The Reagan give-a-ways ensured him a special endearment within typical Republican elite and their continued vocalization helps propagate that adoration to other Republicans.  That is fine if you believe the defense departments and the defense industry are entitle to grandiose amounts of financing with no accountability. But if you are a fiscal conservative you cannot embrace the fiscal policy employed during the Reagan years. 

This is an exciting time and the existence of the Tea Party wing of the Republican party offers the country an opportunity to begin an era of open ideas and discussion.  We can only pray they are successful in leading a departure from the traditional ploy of obstructionism and "win" at any cost - even if "winning" comes to the detriment of the country.  I'm glad to finally see a time when we may have one of the major political entities go from "party first" to Country First.