Areas of agreement with the Tea Party

In the interests of our burgeoning movement to devolve power from  corrupt bankers, politicians and other power-elite, I would like to remind the fervent and honest members of the Tea Party that we are all the 99%.  To that end, let’s explore our common ground.  I didn’t know much about what the current incarnation of the Tea Party supports, so I sought out their platform.  If I am mis-informed about the platform, please educate me.  I’ll be happy to issue any corrections that are needed.

^[1]

Before I get into the list, let me say that I was excited to see the new Tea Party’s birth.  Watching the corruption of our government become more and more brazen, it was only a matter of time before counter-movements began to spread.  Both the Tea Party and the #Occupy movements were born of this impulse.  The original patriots of the Tea Party movement formed in opposition to the bank bailouts ^[2].  I think it became apparent rather quickly, however, that their admirable movement had been co-opted into another arm of the Republican machine.   I don’t say this to cast aspersions though, as I do want to keep this post exploring our common ground rather than emphasizing our differences. The #Occupy/99% movement is actively resisting attempts to co-opt its message ^[3] by the Democratic party and other left-leaning organizations, so let’s keep exploring our similarities.

Here then, is the 15-point “non-negotiable core beliefs” ^[4] which I found on teaparty.org:

NON-NEGOTIABLE CORE BELIEFS OF THE TEA PARTY
1. Illegal Aliens Are Here Illegally.
2. Pro-Domestic Employment Is Indispensable.
3. Stronger Military Is Essential.
4. Special Interests Eliminated.
5. Gun Ownership Is Sacred.
6. Government Must Be Downsized.
7. National Budget Must Be Balanced.
8. Deficit Spending Will End.
9. Bail-Out And Stimulus Plans Are Illegal.
10. Reduce Personal Income Taxes A Must.
11. Reduce Business Income Taxes Are Mandatory.
12. Political Offices Available To Average Citizens.
13. Intrusive Government Stopped.
14. English As Core Language Is Required.
15. Traditional Family Values Are Encouraged.

I see a huge amount of overlap between the goals of the Tea Party as set out here and those being expressed by members of the 99% movement. Let’s run through the list:

1. Illegal Aliens Are Here Illegally.

OK, a little bit of tautology never hurt anyone.  I think we can stipulate that illegal aliens are, by definition, here illegally.  What to do about that fact is another matter, but let’s not get bogged down in policy right now.  By the way, some of the very same giant corporations we are protesting encourage illegal immigration to reduce their labor costs, and it’s their failing neoliberal globalization policies which provide much of the impetus for immigration in the first place.

2. Pro-Domestic Employment Is Indispensable.

Agreed.  Tea Party/Occupy movement share the goal of putting our people back to work.  With 14 million unemployed in this country, it’s a moral and economic imperative.

3. Stronger Military Is Essential.

Stronger than what?  Stronger than currently exists or stronger than anyone else’s military?  Because I’d disagree with the former and say that we already have the latter.

4. Special Interests Eliminated.

Agreed.

5. Gun Ownership Is Sacred.

Can we agree on constitutionally protected? I get where you’re coming from, and I’ve got no problem with it.

6. Government Must Be Downsized.

Agreed.

7. National Budget Must Be Balanced.

Possible agreement here.  Budgets have two sides: revenue and expenses.  Let’s put both sides on the table and see where we come out.

8. Deficit Spending Will End.

Agreed.

9. Bail-Out And Stimulus Plans Are Illegal.

Agreed.  And if they’re not technically illegal, they sure should be.

10. Reduce Personal Income Taxes A Must.

OK, I’m with it.

11. Reduce Business Income Taxes Are Mandatory.

I’ll agree if we’re talking about small business.  Giant multinational conglomerates, however, should pay reasonable taxes.  As in, up from the zero that they mostly pay now ^[5].

12. Political Offices Available To Average Citizens.

This demand, in particular, is perfectly aligned between the Tea Party and Occupy movements.

13. Intrusive Government Stopped.

Again, total agreement.

14. English As Core Language Is Required.

Hmm.  We probably disagree here.  Can we agree to disagree on this one?  We’ve never “required” a language in our history, and I see little reason to start now.

15. Traditional Family Values Are Encouraged.

This might be another area where we have to agree to disagree.  I know what you mean when you say “traditional family values”, and I suspect that neither one of us is going to be able to change the other’s mind.

So how did we end up?  I count 9 areas of total or near-complete agreement, 4 areas for further discussion, and only 2 areas where we will probably never see eye-t0-eye.  If we can focus on fixing the areas in which we have broad agreement, all of our lives will be vastly improved.

But in the interests of extending an olive branch between us, I’ll do you better.  Here’s some other areas where I’m sure we can agree:

1. Obama has been a disaster for this country.  Hope and change was just a silly slogan. Like most other politicians, he’s completely out-of-touch with the common man or woman.  Skilled at political rhetoric, his actions have been destructive to our great nation.

2. Electoral politics are completely corrupt at this point.  The average person’s voice is not heard. There’s too much money in the system.

3. Government is doing too much these days.  Its intrusive fingers are pushing into every pie, and we are all the worse for it.  We need to have a national discussion about what the proper role of government should be.  I happen to think we ought to be doing more to invest in domestic infrastructure and education, rather than investing in wars and nation-building around the world, but it’s a discussion we ought to have.

4. Big money deals behind the scenes illustrate just how corrupt the system is.  Deals like Obama’s Solyndra scandal ^[6] go on far too often, and by members of both parties.  We can all agree that crony capitalist deals like this are not in the interests of any of us (except the 1%).

5. The original Boston Tea-Partiers would be joining this movement.  Remember, the Boston Tea Party ^[7] was a reaction against a monopoly corporation (The British East India Company) and its corrupt crony-capitalist relationship with the British government.  No taxation without representation was the catch-phrase, and we’re in a similar situation today.  Our “representatives” are really representing big money interests, not the interests of the people.  We, the honest, hard-working American people, pay our taxes, only to see them wasted to fraud, corruption, and graft of all kinds.

So Tea Party, how about it?  We are all the 99%.   Can we agree to cooperate in the areas in which we have agreement?  I want to help you take our country back.  Join us.  Let’s put an end to the false left/right dichotomy by which the corrupt politicians have been keeping us separated from each other.  We agree about far more than we disagree.

Lastly, something to think about.  Do you, as a Tea-Party adherent, feel that the Tea Party has been fairly portrayed in the media?  I’m willing to bet that your answer is “no”.  I’m sure you can think of several ways in which your honest and sincere attempts to encourage change have been belittled, hijacked, or unfairly maligned in the mainstream media.  The media is doing the same to us.  They’re saying that we’re secretly funded and controlled by George Soros, or Moveon.org, or whatever liberal bogeymen scare you the most.  They’re saying that we’re just a bunch of jobless, smelly hippies, probably playing bongo drums and smoking dope ^[8].  They’re saying that it’s a communist or socialist plot to take over America ^[9].  They’re saying that we’re going to “come for you and drag you into the streets and kill you ^[10].” It’s not true.  We’re your fellow Americans, trying to save America in the only way we know how.  Please, join us.  Make your voice heard within the 99% movement.

Matt Taibbi explains ^[11]:

What nobody is comfortable with is a movement in which virtually the entire spectrum of middle class and poor Americans is on the same page, railing against incestuous political and financial corruption on Wall Street and in Washington. The reality is that Occupy Wall Street and the millions of middle Americans who make up the Tea Party are natural allies and should be on the same page about most of the key issues, and that’s a story our media won’t want to or know how to handle.

…

All of which is a roundabout way of saying one thing: beware of provocateurs on both sides of the aisle. This movement is going to attract many Breitbarts, of both the left and right variety. They’re going to try to identify fake leaders, draw phony battle lines, and then herd everybody back into the same left-right cage matches of old. Whenever that happens, we just have to remember not to fall for the trap. When someone says this or that person speaks for OWS, don’t believe it. This thing is bigger than one or two or a few people, and it isn’t part of the same old story.

And, Sally Kohn from FoxNews.com, making a similar point ^[12]:

Most of the Occupy Wall Street protesters aren’t opposed to free market capitalism. In fact, what they want is an end to the crony capitalist system now in place, that makes it easier for the rich and powerful to get even more rich and powerful while making it increasingly hard for the rest of us to get by. The protesters are not anti-American radicals. They are the defenders of the American Dream, the decision from the birth of our nation that success should be determined by hard work not royal bloodlines.

And if you’ve got a half-hour or so, watch these videos ^[13] of a group of Tea-Party libertarians interacting with those occupying Wall Street, and discovering a great deal of common ground.

Print this post ^[14]