The tea party as a ‘hostile takeover’ of the GOP
Two tea-party promoters, Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe of Freedomworks, offer a “manifesto” for the movement in today’s Wall Street Journal. The bit that’s getting all the attention doesn’t come until the end:
[L]et us be clear about one thing: The tea party movement is not seeking a junior partnership with the Republican Party, but a hostile takeover of it.
The American values of individual freedom, fiscal responsibility and limited government bind the ranks of our movement. That makes the tea party better than a political party. It is a growing community that can sustain itself after November, ensuring a better means of holding a new generation of elected officials accountable.
So, it’s a hostile takeover of a political party, but it’s also better than a political party? I think I know what they are getting at: that they are part of a movement that will try to infiltrate the GOP and change it from within, rather than compete with, or take orders from, it. But it’s a little obtuse, as is the notion of setting out a manifesto for a group that, as they write within said manifesto, is not a top-down organization:
The many branches of the tea party movement have created a virtual marketplace for new ideas, effective innovations and creative tactics. Best practices come from the ground up, around kitchen tables, from Facebook friends, at weekly book clubs, or on Twitter feeds. This is beautiful chaos — or, as the Nobel Prize-winning economist F.A. Hayek put it, “spontaneous order.”
Decentralization, not top-down hierarchy, is the best way to maximize the contributions of people and their personal knowledge. Let the leaders be the activists who have the best knowledge of local personalities and issues. In the real world, this is common sense. In Washington, D.C., this is considered radical.
As I’ve said before, the tea party’s best chances for “sustain[ing] itself after November” lie in changing the way Americans engage with politics and politicians — for changing the framework for debate, not working within the old one. And it needs to be done locally before it can expect to have more than a fleeting impact nationally.
I don’t think Armey and Kibbe are wrong about their description of the tea party to date. But if they are right about its intention to remake the GOP nationally, I think the movement will end up using its energies in ways that don’t fulfill its potential.
P.S. — As a challenge to those who will come on here and disparage tea partiers, try to say something more original and insightful than accusing all or most of them of racism.
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310 comments Add your comment
Paddy O
August 17th, 2010
6:49 pm
I concur, his color is irrelevent, the irony of a black man enslaving the people of this country to pay off the debts incurred by the political elite is really astounding.
left wing
August 17th, 2010
6:50 pm
F. Sinkwich @ 6:24 – I very well know the difference.
Here’s the link for the jobs number:
whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/CEA-3rd-arra-report.pdf
The fact is that the JOB I have right now is working on a stimulus project. I think that perhaps you may not understand economics. Although you like to argue about it.
Martin Williams
August 17th, 2010
6:52 pm
This is all true NONSENSE. The tea party will go away as soon as Obama is out of the white house. Where was the tea party when our leaders in both parties lied to invade another country and now costing us billions of dollars every week. The tea party will disappear when our African American president leaves the white house. Of course, a woman will NEVER occupy the white house as long the two parties exist. Lying and invading another country according to both parties is a good physical responsibility…..Both parties are full it, if you know what I mean.
Hillbilly Deluxe
August 17th, 2010
6:53 pm
Did y’all hear that the Blago verdict is in?
left wing
August 17th, 2010
6:56 pm
Paddy O @ 6:32 – maybe you’ll like this link better:
crfb.org/blogs/measuring-effects-arra
And I quote: “CEA estimates that the 2009 stimulus has boosted GDP by 2.7 percent and raised employment by 2.5 million jobs since February 2009, relative to what would have occured absent the stimulus.”
CEA would be the Council of Economic advisors.
However, you sound like the sort that will disregard anything anyone else says, if they have a differnt opinion than yours. In which case, stick your fingers in your ears and believe what you want.
wallbanger
August 17th, 2010
6:57 pm
HDB, why don’t conservatives campaign in black neighborhoods?? Same reason I can’t put what I really think of Obama on my bumper. I would be afraid my windows would be smashed or worse. Anyway, living in Dekalb, and having a series of lousy representatives, including McKinney and now, the idiot in chief, Johnson–obviously blacks will vote for blacks and not based on any intellectual reasoning anyway.
Paddy O
August 17th, 2010
6:57 pm
left wing – tell us what the project is and how it benefits the citizen? YOu also know all the stimulus $$$ was borrowed – we have to pay it back! The housing collapse & wall street hiccup was a market correction. Inept Harvard & Yale grad ran a lot of business into the ground with bad business fundamental. You think I can take the self serving job generation numbers as a candid evaluation of this success of the stimulus? Holy smoke screen
F. Sinkwich
August 17th, 2010
6:58 pm
“A majority of those surveyed by Gallup disapproved of President Obama’s job performance for the first time. According to the Gallup daily tracking poll released on Tuesday, 51 percent of U.S. adults said they disapproved of how Obama was handling his job, compared with 42 percent who approve.”
How can this be ???? Obama is the Messiah !!!
I just wonder who those 42% are. Oh yeah, I saw a lot of them in the AJC pics in the Section 8 line.
Morons.
Paddy O
August 17th, 2010
6:59 pm
who is in cea?
Both sides are Thieves
August 17th, 2010
6:59 pm
… and the name calling continues. We all have both liberal and conservative in our brains. Nobody in their correct frame of mind (outside of defense contractors) will pay $600 for a hammer. Nobody would just walk away from a child crying for their lost parent without offering help.
Hate to break it to both sides of the argument people but until we can all meet in the middle (which every incarnation of the US government seemed to be able to do for the good of country until the mid 70’s) we are doomed. The only difference between the people in this blog today and the people running the country is that the people in this blog have to work normal jobs and answer for their lousy performance. The name calling, use of racial bias (to any race) and inability to work together stinks all the way up top. I propose another political movement for those in the center who wish you all would grow up and work for the good of every citizen in the country instead of acting like children and working ONLY among idealistic lines.
Sadly that will NOT happen.
F. Sinkwich
August 17th, 2010
7:01 pm
left wing, how does it feel to be a leech?
RW-(the original)
August 17th, 2010
7:05 pm
Did y’all hear that the Blago verdict is in?
Hillbilly D,
Not much of a verdict with one guilty count and 23 no-decisions, but did you hear Blago at the microphones a few minutes ago? Why to hear him tell it he stood up to the big bad government on behalf of us little folks and it sounded like he was about to announce a candidacy.
Paddy O
August 17th, 2010
7:08 pm
Martin – I sent an email to Phil Gingrey – telling him if he voted for the TARP, I would never vote for him again. It does not matter – Bush, Clinton, Obama – corporate welfare, financed via borrowing from a communist country is wrong. Let the Market work like nature – the weak are killed, the strong survive. This country must adopt a balance budget amendment.
Paddy O
August 17th, 2010
7:09 pm
left wing – you have to convince me of your position, not simply parrot stats from a self serving governmental agency – kind of like you with the stimulus job, eh?
Paddy O
August 17th, 2010
7:14 pm
both sides – at least you know you are in utopia. But of course, what is the center precisely? And, what exactly would the government do that all people would think it benefitted them? Lower taxes? Get our troops out of Korea? Stop rendition? Your proposal for all to jettison their idealism is really very sad – in a republic, the ideas attract adherents; hopefully, the wisest ideas attract the most and get implemented. These ideas generally germinate from an individuals or groups idealism.
"Information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment" - BHO, May 1, 2010
August 17th, 2010
7:19 pm
Kyle — You are blind.
“As I’ve said before, the tea party’s best chances for “sustain[ing] itself after November” lie in changing the way Americans engage with politics and politicians — for changing the framework for debate, not working within the old one. And it needs to be done locally before it can expect to have more than a fleeting impact nationally.”
The Tea Party is changing the discussions. It is being heard. It is being taken seriously. It does make the system rattle.
THAT’S THE POINT !!!
Most of America laughed or jeered us last summer…
They aren’t laughing now.
Information and the ability to share it has proven quite useful to millions of Americans who found themselves “asleep” for a while.
Nada Mas!
Wanna really get to the truth Kyle?
Support a thorough, unrestricted and independent audit of The Federal System.
The American public MUST know where the money comes from and goes to !
@@
August 17th, 2010
7:19 pm
Blagojevich was convicted on one count…lying.
He’s got a lot of company.
@@
August 17th, 2010
7:20 pm
And he’s gonna appeal THAT conviction!!!!!
Too funny!
Hillbilly Deluxe
August 17th, 2010
7:21 pm
RW
I didn’t see Blago. I wonder how much that trial and the re-trial are going to cost us.
md
August 17th, 2010
7:24 pm
“And I quote: “CEA estimates that the 2009 stimulus has boosted GDP by 2.7 percent and raised employment by 2.5 million jobs since February 2009, relative to what would have occured absent the stimulus.””
Operative word is “estimates” – layman term is “guess” – coming from 3 economists appointed by the President.
Weak…………
barking frog
August 17th, 2010
7:25 pm
Blago like Martha Stewart will do his time
and that will be that.
Bilderberg Enforcer
August 17th, 2010
7:27 pm
The Federal Reserve System is great!
The American public shouldn’t know the The Fed is not the Bank of The United States.
How dare somebody suggest in a blog the The Fed is a private corporation run by PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL BANKS, not the US government…..
BLAM!
Sylvester Stallone and The Expendable dudes are attacking my bunker…. gotta go!
Both sides are Thieves
August 17th, 2010
7:35 pm
Thanks Paddy. Proves my point.I didn’t suggest jettisoning ideals. Middle ground means working together, not name calling and not getting defensive while there are available options. Should Obama have bailed out GM? NO. Should Bush have bailed out Wall Street? NO. Should the people in office work together to improve the country for all citizens, rich, poor, white, black, young or old and everything between? Yes. Its truly a sad day when **that** is viewed as utopia. We united on 9/11. Its a shame it took a whole lot of innocent lives to make that happen.
Sadly it will take something just as awful to get this lot of people to work together.
Even sadder is that there is nobody who really cares enough about the middle to do anything to cater to them. Extreme Right and Extreme Left wings will destroy this country beyond repair.
Remember that Reagan dreamed of a world free of a Nuclear threat – todays GOP views that as “Too Liberal” What does that say when the man many of you considered to be one of the greatest presidents of all time would not be in office if he ran today?
Clown Puncher
August 17th, 2010
7:37 pm
Three words that gets the liberal Dimwitocrats into a frothy fit: “Tea Party Patriot.” Gotta luv their drooling.
Now everyone who is surprised on Blago getting off mostly scott free please raise your hands and ask yourself what a clueless bunch of Chicago idiots on a jury and a city full of corruption have in common. Seriously. This assclown is accused of selling Obama’s senate seat, among other things. Democrats can get away with some of the nastiest corruption ever to be on US soil. And many of them comprise the Obama administration.
Jed
August 17th, 2010
7:52 pm
I nominate Paddy O as an Honorary member of PCAN.
The truth hurts and sides are sometimes hard to pick, but………………..
There is no middle ground when it comes to revolution.
@@
August 17th, 2010
7:57 pm
Hillbilly:
Blago’s retrial will cost us double. We’ll be paying for his prosecution and defense. He’s out of money.
Blagojevich Campaign Fund Officially Tapped
I’m betting they won’t pursue it further. The reason/motive behind the whole debacle? We’ll never really know.
Both sides are Thieves
August 17th, 2010
8:11 pm
So losses are acceptable as long as you prevail, Jed? Sounds like what was said when the Shah of Iran was overthrown – that was a revolution as well. And I am willing to bet you look at those people so unable to not meet in a middle ground that they are willing TO BLOW THEMSELVES UP to prove their point. Be it religion or politics a fundamentalist is still a fundamentalist and they are dangerous.The only difference between those folks and hardcore politicals such as yourself is that you’re not dedicated enough to sacrifice your life for your agenda. But go ahead and tell me that I am unrealistic, make fun of me, say nasty things.
That’s so much easier than to admit that BOTH sides are wrong sometimes, isn’t it?
Both sides are Thieves
August 17th, 2010
8:13 pm
Somewhere along the line we all forgot that the first word in USA is UNITED.
Paula
August 17th, 2010
8:19 pm
You write” P.S. — As a challenge to those who will come on here and disparage tea partiers, try to say something more original and insightful than accusing all or most of them of racism.” is in itself a racist remark. It diminishes those who are concerned about racist elements of the Tea Party.
Its pretty obvious there are some.
@@
August 17th, 2010
8:24 pm
“[Obama] was not the one to propose the ethics bill in the Illinois senate. He was not even a cosponsor until the day it passed. Five months after the ethics bill was introduced, and more than one month after it reached the senate, Obama was invited by Emil Jones to become its chief Democratic cosponsor. As David Mendell writes in Obama: From Promise to Power, former Rep. Abner Mikva convinced Jones to let Obama handle the legislation. Sen. Dick Klemm (D.) was removed as chief cosponsor and replaced by Obama on May 22, 1998 — the very day the bill passed.”
Keep in mind, Emil Jones was Obama’s political godfather….his mentor so to speak. But it was only during his presidential run that Obama pushed ethics reform to the wall. Ethics reform would look good on CANDIDATE Obama.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama has taken the unusual step of weighing in on a high-profile ethics bill in Illinois, legislation that had been held up by his political mentor, Sen. Emil Jones.
“Senator Obama called Senator Jones today to offer his strong support for the ethics reforms pending before the Senate and urged him to pass them at the earliest possible opportunity,” Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said in a statement.
Some lawmakers and self-styled good government groups have called on Obama to weigh in with Jones, given Obama’s history of pushing ethics reforms during his tenure as a state senator. Until Wednesday, however, Obama had declined to get involved.
It wasn’t too long after that, that Emil Jones gave up his seat in the Illinois house. Who did he push to replace him? His son. It didn’t fly, but still….
Chicago style politics at its “finest” and Barack Obama is/was in the thick of things.
Linda
August 17th, 2010
8:24 pm
Left @ 6:18, You are the one who brought up Reagan’s budget.
The deadline for the budget for FY2011 was 4/15/10. This is the first time in history that the house hasn’t passed at least a 1st version of a budget since implementation of the ‘74 Budget Act. They have been warned by Bernanke, the CBO Dir. & former Fed. Reserve Chr. Volcker, O’s adviser. This is reckless & major serious.
The stimulus bill was a $ trillion mistake. They have never worked in the US, in Europe nor Japan. When they were pushing it, unemployment was about 7.7%. The Chr. of the Council of Economics, Romer, predicted that it would rise to 10% if it wasn’t passed, but would not exceed 8% if it was passed. Unemployment has risen to 10% since it was passed & has remained there. 10% is more than 8%. Simple math!
TARP was the Toxic Asset Relief Program & has yet to remove a toxic asset. Some of the banks that received TARP funds did not need them but were forced to take them because the govt. didn’t want the public to know who was really in trouble. The free market should decide who should fail & there’s no company too large to do so.
Goldman Sachs is the most corrupt bank, maybe the most corrupt corp., in the US. The Council of Economics are all economic professors who have no experience running a fruit stand. More than 90% of Obama’s adm. come from acedamia land, not from the business world.
I understand a little about economics since I have a BS degree in it from one of the largest universities in the US. There was no problem with corporations spending money in 2/09. Corporations aren’t spending money today because they’ve passed nearly 10,000 pages of new regulations & taxes are going up on everything!
It wasn’t rich people who lost in the stock market. It was everyone who is not depending on the govt. ponzi scheme of social security. Pensions (assembly line workers, government employees, etc.) & IRAs & 401Ks from self-employed & middle-income people are invested in the stock market.
Govt. spending has actually added to the worsening of the economy. The banks are borrowing money from the Fed. Reserve at almost no interest & loaning it back to the Fed. Govt. for 4.5% with almost no risk!
Corporations & rich people don’t pay taxes. For example, in ‘08 Goldman made a profit of $2 B, paid out $10 B in compensation & benefits (using TARP funds) & paid less than 1% in taxes. Their CEO made $43 M, 3 times what Goldman paid in taxes.
Based on a personal tax return, how do you tell the difference between these “rich” people compared to small business employers who produce 80 per cent of the jobs & most of the taxes in America? What percentage of EMPLOYEES make over $350,000 per year? They are EMPLOYERS!
During a recession, the only thing worse than a govt. spending money it doesn’t have is raising taxes. This adm. is getting ready to make both fatal mistakes. It was also announced last week it is monetizing the debt, which Bernake promised under oath 6 mts. ago he would never do.
Being fiscally conservative means not burdening my great, great grandchildren for any programs we cannot afford today.
Hillbilly Deluxe
August 17th, 2010
8:26 pm
@@
According to the reports I heard, they immediately said they would retry it. Those reports could turn out to be wrong but they’ve got a lot invested and they need to save face.
Jed
August 17th, 2010
8:32 pm
Both sides are Thieves
UNITED at gun point.
That never works.
Regardless, I never said nasty things about you. I respect your opinion.
Linda
August 17th, 2010
8:36 pm
Paddy O @ 6:32 & others, If you really want to know how corrupt Goldman is & how much they have cost you personally, go to:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/12697/64796?RS_show_page=6
Read the last page of the article about cap & trade first.
@@
August 17th, 2010
8:38 pm
Hillbilly:
The reports aren’t wrong…they did say they’d retry it, but I’m thinking they won’t. They’d have to go higher to get the testimony they’re looking for. Obama sought to unload Blagojevich to limit any damage to his campaign.
Obama’s Effort on Ethics Bill Had Role in Governor’s Fall
In a sequence of events that neatly captures the contradictions of Barack Obama’s rise through Illinois politics, a phone call he made three months ago to urge passage of a state ethics bill indirectly contributed to the downfall of a fellow Democrat he twice supported, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.
Bruno
August 17th, 2010
8:45 pm
Just my opinion, but I think Kyle missed a good opportunity this week to win folks over to his blog by not hanging around and interacting. Whether you agree or disagree with Jay, he keeps the interest level high with his appearances.
@@
August 17th, 2010
8:51 pm
Bruno:
You should be around when Kyle does interact. He’s very respectful of his visitors.
In all honesty, I’ve found jay to be rather condescending. That’s not a quality I appreciate in anyone.
Kyle brings the facts to support his claims. He’s very good at what he does.
Linda
August 17th, 2010
8:51 pm
Bruno @ 8:45, Are you nuts? I can’t wait ’til Jay gets back. I had forgotten what Muttonheads were.
@@
August 17th, 2010
8:52 pm
Another thing, jay takes things way too personally.
Linda
August 17th, 2010
8:53 pm
Both sides, Do you know what progressives are?
Bruno
August 17th, 2010
8:58 pm
“In all honesty, I’ve found jay to be rather condescending. That’s not a quality I appreciate in anyone.”
@@–You have to admit that Jay does have an endearing quality or two, or why else would he have such a loyal following which includes a fair number of unrepentant conservatives?
RW-(the original)
August 17th, 2010
9:11 pm
@@,
I wish they would just take their lumps and not bother with a new trial, but the optics from a political standpoint are not one Obama is going to want to risk. My guess is they’ll at least say they’re going to have a new trial until after the midterms.
why else would he have such a loyal following
Because when the AJC shuts down a blog where several people had interacted for years they moved to a new blog and stayed in touch.
Hillbilly Deluxe
August 17th, 2010
9:13 pm
Bruno
Kyle hasn’t been around that long but his blog seems to be growing some. Maybe this increased exposure will build his following. This blog is like the others; the tone of the discussion depends on who is here.
I’ll agree on his being very respectful. He and Jay both show more patience than I would.
The topics seem to be a little more varied here and Kyle writes on state and local topics a little more than Jay does. I’d like to see them take about one day a week and each write on the same topic. It would be interesting to discuss the contrasts in their views.
I hope Kyle’s readership continues to grow. We need to see things from different sides.
HDB
August 17th, 2010
9:13 pm
Paddy O
August 17th, 2010
6:42 pm
HDB is an anti-American apologist. He want the destruction of this country, because it is just not as perfect as his elite mind thinks it should be. He is uber high maintenance citizen. Keep doing things his way, only his way, and he will be a despot over all you other not so highly educated individuals. The past must be dredged up to justify today’s racism of the minority (affirmative action). Of course, the smart white male just puts his wife as CEO of the company he runs, and thus thwarts the immoral thrust of the law.
First: I’m FAR from being anti-American; I’ve served this nation in the military – proudly – and want only the best for her!
Saying that as a preface….there are many aspects of this nation that needs improvement..and it’s not “uber-high maintenance” to call things out!! Many here have not experienced what I have….and that guides what I see as how the nation can improve! In the beginning, discrimination targeted black people; now, Hispanics and Muslims are receiving what I did in the past. Those that forget history are doomed to repeat it!! To get this nation to where ALL people are considered equal will TAKE a LOT of maintenance!! As long as those who are willing to work for it, it’s worth it!!
wallbanger August 17th, 2010
6:57 pm
“HDB, why don’t conservatives campaign in black neighborhoods?? Same reason I can’t put what I really think of Obama on my bumper. I would be afraid my windows would be smashed or worse. Anyway, living in Dekalb, and having a series of lousy representatives, including McKinney and now, the idiot in chief, Johnson–obviously blacks will vote for blacks and not based on any intellectual reasoning anyway.”
That’s BOGUS!! There has to be a VIABLE option….and so far the GOP hasn’t been that option! As I’ve stated before, the platform is antithetical to minority interests! The focus on social issues to the detriment of what REALLY matters to the nation….and the focus on discrimination…won’t attract many minority voters….
That needs to change!!
Del
August 17th, 2010
9:14 pm
Obama is self destructing and wants to take the Democratic party with him. Rise up Democrats and get with American ideals. Give up the Kool-Aid and Internet sites like Media Matters that will only bring you down.
Linda
August 17th, 2010
9:14 pm
Jay is coming back, isn’t he? I read something on this blog that indicated trouble.
RW-(the original)
August 17th, 2010
9:19 pm
Hillbilly D,
Jay B will write about state and local topics once he moves to Anchorage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oops! Should have been a question mark at the end of my last sentence at 9:11.
@@
August 17th, 2010
9:22 pm
Bruno:
Endearing quality? He’s human.
jay’s columns are redundant. I find Kyle’s a bit more thought provoking. There are even conservatives that don’t find him hardcore enough.
I seldom find myself at jay’s anymore. Chatrooms ain’t my thang.
There used to be a blogger named Political Foreskin who warned that once a blog turns into a chatroom, it’s done. He and I didn’t always get along, but for me, at least, turns out he was right.
Linda:
I know their history. In their heyday they sought to bypass the legislative process and replace it with a mechanism that would permit the executive branch to take shortcuts around the give and take because the process was messy, and an inconvenience to their overall goal.
Gifts from the progressive era? Prohibition, The Federal Reserve, Eugenics, Progressive Tax. They believed they knew what was best for ALL…a Kingdom of God on earth. That’s scary considering the messianic qualities they attribute to Obama.
RW:
That’s the way I’m seeing it too. Hoping people will forget about it. There’s always that opportunity for clarification later.
Bruno
August 17th, 2010
9:23 pm
“Because when the AJC shuts down a blog where several people had interacted for years they moved to a new blog and stayed in touch.”
Which accounts for the presence of myself, USinUK, NIF, and Matti. We all used to blog on the former Woman to Woman blog until it was closed.
“I hope Kyle’s readership continues to grow. We need to see things from different sides.”
The big draw on W2W was the presentation of each issue from both the conservative and liberal sides, though the bloggers tended to be overwhelmingly liberal. I wonder if Jay and Kyle would agree to go toe-to-toe on the same blog??
@@
August 17th, 2010
9:24 pm
DANG! Hillbilly and I see Kyle in the same light.
Whodathunkit?
(ISH)