1. During the Clinton Administration in the 90s, a number of key tax loopholes were closed. The idea, it seems, was to share the load a little; folks making more off the shared American economy would pay a greater share. TOWARD THE COMMON GOOD. (I know: Glenn Beck hates that kind of talk. But tough. The America I love is all about the common good.)
2. During the Bush Administration, right off the bat in fact, in 2001, those same loopholes were re-opened. They believed, as we know, that the very rich were oppressed and mistreated and deserved better. (And more.) Let's be honest: all these Neo-Tea-Partiers were there. That was their government. And this was their doing.
3. As a result of the Bush repeal, in the ten years since, the US government's lost 1.3 trillion dollars in income. I believe, in the old days of the 20th century, we used to call this "STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT". A calculated and under-reported redistribution of wealth. Out of the schools and into the gated communities. Out of the hands of the working poor and into the accounts of the very rich. Out of the futures of our kids and into the bizarre fantasies of Bush-Cheney-Delay-and the rest. What was a pretty healthy surplus (and economy) in 2001...well, we know how that went...
4. And - as if we need reminding - we've taken on all kinds of additional debt with two costly (and, let's face it, un-winnable) wars. The Neo-Tea-Partiers were big on these too. Ka-ching. Ka-ching. Yay, Halliburton!
5. So no wonder Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich and the Tea Party Warriors want to focus on Obama's religion and the location of a mosque in Manhattan. They've got NOTHING. Their people have gutted our country, spent irrationally, plunged our entire economy into a horrific recession. Our schools are paying for it. Our cities are paying for it. Our kids will be paying for the Right Wing's insanity for generations.
6. So no, I'm not buying the Tea Party's 'moral high ground.' It costs too much.
7. The idea that we will solve our deep-seated national ills by voting in these guys as 'agents of change'...Well, it's enough to make me cry. They are nothing more than an old regime in a new hat. And there's very little underneath. No new ideas. No courage. No compassion. Just old, tired, angry economics.
