Annoyed? Hell, yeah!Could someone please explain to me where all these Tea Party protesters were for the past 8 years as the previous administration ran the deficit up to record numbers? I have no problem with people objecting to gov't spending. None whatsoever. I do have a problem with people keeping their mouths shut and waving their flags for 8 years as the deficit went up and up and up, but suddenly having a problem with it when a Democratic president takes office. Hello? These numbers didn't appear overnight and they won't go away overnight either. This angry populism seems just a tad hypocritical, if not downright partisan.
Because the financial sector of our country operated without regulation and oversight for at least the past 8 years and essentially plundered our economy, we happen to have significant numbers of people out of work. Because our government ignored the need to address the health care issue, we happen to have significant numbers of people unable to afford health insurance. Because our government started an unnecessary war, we have incurred certain obligations overseas that will continue to drain our treasury for years to come.
In other words, all you tea party protesters? Are a little late. It takes more than 12 weeks to clean up the mess that's been accumulating for years. And it might even cost us a little money. Believe me, I'm way more pissed off than you are. And for way longer, too...
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Typical lighthearted family humor returns tomorrow, folks...and fridge pictures!
Amen sister!
ReplyDeleteI will merely echo the comment from Natasha: Amen sister!!
ReplyDeleteI think the tea parties are great--if iI had found out in time I would have gone to one.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I am a Democrat (listen to all the boos from the other mormons). This mess is NOT all Obama's fault. I agree with you. But, still, when I hear trillions of dollars being tossed around, and the deficit growing, I think that I am either stupid or uninformed. When I don't have money, I STOP spending. Should the government also?? I just want to know that this is necessary to have the economy recover. And BOO!! to bonuses from MY money.
Did you get that?? I agree mostly, Bush was a travesty. But I disagree also. I want the government to know that I'm paying attention.
I'll throw out an "amen" to that too! You see, government spending with no oversight, and no way to pay for it, that seems to be ok. But when government spending is actually going to have to be accounted for and paid for, well then, now people are upset. If I hear the phrase "tax and spend" democrats one more time, I think I might kill someone. Because what's better, you see, is the "spend and spend" Republicans, and then "someone else" will pay for it. The Bush administration spent 8 years spending money like drunken sailors on shore leave, with no plan on how to balance all that spending. Where was the rightous indignation then? I guess it's ok for the government to spend and spend and spend (on stupid wars that we never should have been in in the first place), as long as no one has their taxes raised, right? The stupidity and hypocrisy of some people is just really astounding to me.
ReplyDeletemmm... Sam Adams....
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, this post wasn't about beer? ;)
You just cleared up a very confusing blog post I read elsewhere today. I was all "Wha? Tea party? In Texas? Isn't Texas Tea oil? And why Ted Nugent?" And my head started to hurt.
ReplyDeleteBut now, after reading your post, I'm adding my AMEN. And now I'm off to read the headlines at least on yahoo.com instead of yahoo.fr, which is what I read to practice my french but I'm really behind on American news now. Maybe you could just guide me in the right direction.
Standing up and CLAPPING!!!!!
ReplyDeletei could not agree more.
ReplyDeleteSing it sister!
ReplyDeleteAs to where they were? My theory is they were at the counting table counting all their money. Taxes are okay when it's just poor people paying the bulk of them.
annahannah - I think it is great for people to make sure the government knows we are paying attention. I just find it hypocritical of those people who weren't angry about the deficit until Obama took office.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, I am not unaware that it was a Democratic Congress in tandem with a Republican Treasury Secretary which handed out billions of dollars to Wall Street without any meaningful oversight or strings attached. And I sent e-mails then expressing my displeasure. Because, you see, I pay attention no matter who is stealing my money. I'm an equal-opportunity complainer.
I wholeheartedly agree, and I've also got another point about the topic...
ReplyDeleteCalling them tea parties, in reference to the Boston Tea Party which was formed to protest taxation without representation is just plain stupid. Americans HAVE representation. If you voted for the other guy, and the incumbent happens to be doing things you don't like? Um, sorry. You are still represented. That is the way it works. And if you didn't vote? Just shut up. Seriously. So, if you want to say its taxation without representation you either
a) disagree with the form of government established after the revolutionary war...which is fine, but then maybe we shouldn't be instilling it in other countries...ahem.
or
b) you are whining about not getting your way and trying to pretend that it is legitimate protesting. Sorry. I don't buy it.
Oh, and for the record? This political scientist sees nothing the least bit socialist about Obama. Or Hillary, or any one else who ran. So just stop with the pinko quips.
Wow..sorry to hijack your comments, its just such a relief to see that other people aren't being swept away by this!
Um, most conservatives ARE angry about the way government was spending money during the Bush administration. I am! And notice I used the word conservative, not Republican.
ReplyDeleteWhy they chose to protest now and not then, I don't know. But thank God conservatives are finally speaking out.
No sh..! My husband was just bragging this up to me this morning--all in a tizzy because NPR wasn't covering it like Fox was..."A quarter million people" he said to me. Nothing like belated and misappropriated outrage.
ReplyDeleteKathryn - But we do know why conservatives didn't speak up then - because there wasn't an avowedly liberal President in office. Also, because many of them were too busy riding the gravy train that was powered by the overspending. Now that the party is over, they are suddenly anti-deficit. That's why they are hypocrites.
ReplyDeleteI heard it on NPR. Obviously too late, but that is where I got it.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that conservatives should have done something like this sooner, during the Bush administration. But I'm just glad it's happening, finally. Even if it takes a liberal president to get them fired up.
ReplyDeleteConservatives are not suddenly anti-deficit, they've always been, but I don't think I can say the same for Republicans. The two are not the same thing anymore.
I have no idea where the "gravy train" was when I needed it. Oh wait... I forgot, I'm just a regular, hard-working American and managed to make a good living for myself. I don't deserve any government handouts. The people at these rallies were people like me.
Don't get me wrong, suburbancorrespondent, I really do enjoy your blog, . And I agree with most of what you say.
Sooo....how are things???
ReplyDeleteGod I love it when I agree with people but they do all the ranting FOR me so I don't have to actually do my own work!
PS I tagged you on my blog, but its not my fault. I don't make the rules, the previous administration (Jane) did it.
Kathryn, let me rephrase that. The people spearheading these tea parties and whipping up their version of populist anger are the hypocrites. You can't tell me that the people at Fox News were unaware all these years of what was being done to this country. But they didn't care, so long as they had their tax cuts and their gutting of social programs. Now, suddenly, they are appalled at the size of the federal deficit?
ReplyDeleteThat's really hard for me to swallow. While I can believe that younger adults such as yourself may not have been aware of all that was going on and are truly shocked at the profligate mess our gov't has gotten into, I cannot believe the same of the people sponsoring the Tea Parties, is all.
Do you really believe yourselves???
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh today. I was listening to someone gripe about sending his money to "other people". In the next breath, he was talking about his daughter who may be laid off and is the sole support of her family. The next phrase was, "Well, there IS unemployment -- at least she won't starve." Oh, how I hope that was said with irony, but tragically... no.
ReplyDeleteYou get what you pay for. If you want to behave like Hoover and let the banks "realign" themselves, you really are going to plunge this country into a depression. SOMEONE has to read history and learn from it. Thank God someone was paying attention.
Tea Party? I thought this was all about the beer!! ;)
ReplyDeleteMy husband has been reading and thoroughly enjoying a book by Edward Chancellor called, Devil Take the Hindmost - A History of Financial Speculation.
It is eye-opening.
I've also learned that there was a Tulip Mania in the 1630's. It mirrors our own housing bubble that has been popped. Perhaps the writer of Ecclesiastes was right; there is nothing new under the sun.
We're used to more constructive comments around here, Anonymous, be they in agreement with what I write or not. One of our country's current problems is the partisanship and divisiveness of our political discourse. As I've stated before, I'm neither blue nor red, but solid purple.
ReplyDeleteNext time be more specific in your comment and we might be able to have an interesting discussion!
I'm giving you a standing ovation for this one. Really, I found the whole timing to be very suspect.
ReplyDeleteare you having a grumpy day? Reminds me of that line from the movie Network, "I'm mad as H*** and I'm not going to take it anymore." (didn't see the movie, but know the line. go figure.)
ReplyDeleteSmiles.
It is funny I just read about this on another blog but from a different point of view. Their point was just because the tea parties seem reactionary, hypocritical, etc doesn't mean they don't have a valid reason to be alarmed. Sorta like just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that no one's out to get you!
ReplyDeleteThe couple of people I know involved with the Tea Parties are Ron Paul followers who didn't like Bush's policies. They tend to be Libertarian-minded and didn't care for the neocons anyway.
Okay, I'll go back to putting my head in the sand. I hate politics!
Um, the new budget TRIPLES any previous deficit.
ReplyDeleteObama submitted it. A Democrat majority congress, and some never to be elected again, Republicans approved it.
I wasn't any happier with Bush when he did it. And I hardly think NOW is the time to TRIPLE it.
Am I supposed to throw my hands up just because a different party is in the white house?
Budget/Smudget? The tipping point has been hit. I'm not going to throw my hands up now, "late" or not. I'm going to every tea party I can from here on out.
Another year or two, I'm sure there will be a LOT more faces in the crowd.
Crazy, constitution loving terrorists.
thank you for bringing me back to reality. I'm sitting in my office in DC too buried in meaningless work to be clued in to the outside world (ok except for a quick blogging break)
ReplyDeleteFor real? they're complaining NOW? Kidding, right?
Besides, now I really want a beer....
Well helloooo, brave lady.
ReplyDeleteI expected anon to show up somewhere in here, and OH! there was anon...only anon left me a little bored.
But anyway.
Is it lame at this stage in the game for me to say AMEN? (to the post, not to anon)
Just checking. I'm always amazed at how views can be solely based on what party you side with. Really? that's it? I wish it were that simple for me. Hate Obama if I'm conservative. Love Bush if I'm conservative. Hate liberals and their views, end of story, if I'm conservative...
I don't know, I just can't do it.
I'm rambling incoherently now...that's what happens with me and politics.
Actually, I believe that it started a lot earlier than 8 years ago----the deficit has been getting worse and worse since the Reagan administration. So---I think that we shouldn't be spending any more---to pay for bail-outs or anything. Maybe we need a depression to wake us up and slap us up side of the head!
ReplyDeleteHandcart pioneers, anyone? I've got some camping equipment...
Shawn, actually the Reagan-era deficit was pretty much gone by the end of the Clinton era (admittedly, that administration was helped greatly by the tech bubble). Considering how people felt back in 1991 that that deficit would never be paid back, I find that bit of info quite reassuring.
ReplyDeleteHallelujah. This is why i love you.
ReplyDeleteI know!!! It's infuriating!! I live in Texas and since we were once our own Republic, there's crapulous talk about secession once again. Ted Nugent's talking nonsense by the Alamo and playing music and our idiot governor is egging him on. I'm so ashamed! I've even got family members wearing red, white and blue and going to one of these shindigs! WTF, Indeed!!!
ReplyDeleteAlso...um...didn't Bush supply some handouts while he was in office? I believe he called them Stimulus Packages. How come none of my Republican friends/family were up in arms about it then??? Talk about your selective memories.
ReplyDeleteComing late to the rant...I am also appalled by the protesters. Does anyone really think we are going to get out of our current crisis without spending money (on something other than the military)?
ReplyDeleteObama said it would be hard, and it would hurt, to solve our problems. But at least someone is attempting to solve our problems, for a change.
Pssst.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you.
If you truly pay attention and study history - Obama is not our solution, he is a big problem! We are selling our country little by little away. This is not a black white issue and I am sick of it. He is no more black than I am - dark skinned yes, African American - NO! I think it is an insult to the African Americans who fought so hard to get out of slavery. His family did not!
ReplyDeleteI am glad Americans are standing up for their freedoms. Annoyed - how stupid is that! Anooyed that people have opinions. If I said I was annoyed over gay issues someone would have my head! Obamam is one man and this is a country of many people - he is not king. If you want a king - go to another ccountry. Allow people to have thir opinions and get over your precious annoyance.
I am not annoyed by people protesting. I am annoyed by people being disingenuous/hypocritical about what they are protesting exactly. If the issue is the deficit, where were these protesters the past 4/6/8 years?
ReplyDeleteAll I am asking is for people to be honest with themselves. It's all right when a Republican president runs up a huge deficit and starts an unneeded war that is costing us billions of dollars, apparently. Because the people who are TeaPartying are many of the same ones who decried the antiwar protesters as unAmerican. Is dissent only American when they do it?
I'm saying that this is just politics as usual, and no one is addressing the real issues. It's easy to say, "I don't want to pay taxes." What's hard is stating how exactly we can address some important issues facing our country on the amount of taxes you do want to pay.
No, Obama is not king. Neither is he Hitler (a popular sentiment expressed in the protests). Last I checked, you can vote him out of office in less than 4 years from now. But it might be easier for the dissenters to get votes from centrists like myself if they at least portray some awareness of the real issues facing this country, rather than pretending these issues aren't there.
I've said it for years (you remember) that Democrats are KNOWN as the party who bungles money. This has been going on for 50 years and has been inculcated into the USA people's head.
ReplyDeleteThere are too many people and not enough time to change their minds but you have to admit, things are getting worse. Why is he Twittering and making us look even more stupid?
My stockbroker advised me to clean out my portfolio now, while there's time. I did. God if you didn't see 60 mintes and the 401K this last Sunday, YIKES.
You said what I've been thinking, too.
ReplyDelete