Five Things the Tea Party Should Know

Part three of three.

1. Impact- The Tea Party can certainly have one. Americans want an outlet for their frustration with Washington D.C. that will have an effect on the establishment. The country needs a third party (and probably a fourth).
   
2. Wall St. Bailout- The Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, was necessary but distasteful. It may be popular to rant against the government bailing out large banks that had made terrible decisions about investing in credit default swaps but if the banks had failed, the government would have had to bail out their customers and no one would be available to loan money to businesses. It would hampered the recovery because business needs capital to expand and maintain current operation. It's important to recognize this mess was caused by the revocation of the Glass-Steagll act which allowed banks to invest in the first place. Ask Phil Gramm why he thought doing away with this important Depression era legislation was important. Ask Bill Clinton why he signed the bill revoking it. And remember, The Mahoning Valley dies without TARP. Without TARP, GM goes belly up, Lordstown folds and all the businesses supporting GM Lordstown lay off workers. Let's not pretend fat cat bankers were the only one's helped by this legislation.
   
3. A Smaller Budget- It's one thing to want it but it's another to say how. Which programs will be cut? Defense? The social safety net? Do we leave ourselves vulnerable or not house and feed those impacted by the recession? If these programs are truly necessary, should we raise taxes to pay for them? Ranting about them at a rally may relieve frustration but it's not the hard choices a leader needs to make.
4. Smaller Government- It's bloated and slow moving, that's for sure. But where will cuts be made in services offered? We've heard the arguments for minimal government but does that mean hungry kids stay hungry through no fault of their own? Do we let older Americans freeze because they can't pay their heating bill? Any movement needs to be mature enough to recognize real people are affected when services are slashed.
5. Nutters- The Tea Party attracts them. If some loon shows up at a rally with a picture of President Obama and a Swastika on the same sign, that's the guy who will be on the news at 11. The Tea Party has to make their movement unattractive to these types of individuals. Also, anyone who thinks Socialism and Fascism are the same political ideology. Pull up Wikipedia and read for ten minutes before using these terms. This means Sarah Palin and Jim Traficant should stop being invited to the rallies.