Why the Tea Party is Stupid

The Tea Party is mostly upset with one thing. The deficit and by extension, that national debt. Now that sounds pretty reasonable. We all want responsible government spending. And isn't the deficit insanely high lately? The national debt (and by extension the interest on the debt) is astronomical. So isn't the Tea Party something we can all get on board with.

Maybe. But this is the reason that looking at things without context is dangerous. So lets put some context around this issue.

In 2000, prior to the Gore vs Bush election, the current prediction was that the ENTIRE National Debt would be ELIMINATED in 2012 due to the surplus the Clinton Administration was running. But the 2000 election took the country in a very different direction, a turn back to supply side economics and deregulation (also a lack of enforcing or enacting new regulations). In 2000 we elected George "W" Bush and many of the people who helped get "W" elected are now Tea Party Members.

Huh? Aren't Tea Party people for low deficits and low debt? Wasn't Clinton/Gore delivering on that front? Wouldn't they support a continuation of those polices..... Sigh. If only. Instead we elected W who immediately lowered taxes (with reductions tilted toward the wealthy, what supply side economics calls for) and increased military spending. To be fair, "W" also had economic headwinds and 911 to deal with. But he fundamentally supported trickle down economics and low regulation. At the end of his 8 years, we were in the midst of a financial melt down that looked like it would plunge the US into a depression. And a housing bubble collapse caused mostly by a lack of regulatory oversight. Obama has indeed embarked on a track of borrowing and spending to keep the economy from imploding. And suddenly we have the Tea Party criticizing this borrowing and spending. OK, but where were these guys from 2000-2008? And are they so clueless as to not realize the precarious situation we now find ourselves in thanks to Bush's policies?

Apparently not as who does the Tea Party support in the 2012 elections? You guessed it, Mitt Romney who whats to return to the same Bush policies of Trickle Down (Supply Side) economics and a low regulatory environment.

Call it what you want, but I call that pretty stupid.