Confessions of a Tea Party Casualty

vidro3 wrote: I always thought that by electing Obama King we all became subjects of the Republic of Kenya.

you gotta consider the source.

BG, maybe he is confusing you with me.

I make fun of media sources all the time, and will admit, Fox presents an easy target.

And I'm lazy.

But when I last checked, Fox had more viewers of its "news" programs that the other networks had combined.

...which, among other things, makes me not believe a group could be a victim of a "liberal media".

(it also makes me mourn the profession of journalism and worry about the intelligence of those watching, as well as the future of our country, but that's a tangent)

Boygabriel wrote: It's easy for Fox News watcher,s like some of our favorite Brooklynian users, to ignore specific examples (like the Breitbart scam) and write it off as liberal whining.

Scam? Prove it.

But with less charts.

Ross Perot was too short. We like our presidents tall.

But let's stop the sillyness, and get to the issues that we should be focusing on.

My national debt worries are noted above, and I remain concerned that they are unable to engage the services of a good PR firm, but I would like to think I remain open minded.

I desperately seek a political party that will be a good, permanent fit. I'll be honest, this business about "having to evaluate the canditates each election, to see which I like best" is really getting old. I want to be able to vote straight ticket like everyone else seems to.

I have to admit, I have a lot of fiscal policy questions about the Tea Party but even when I do watch Fox (admittedly rarely) the questions go unanswered.

I'm pretty fiscally conservative, and will focus on those issues first.

[I don't think the Tea Party would be a good match for my social values, so I'll only ask those questions if I feel they answer these in a satisfactory manner. If there isn't a match fiscally, why bother with the little social stuff, right?]

....so, here goes. I've tried to be fair and create questions that are fair. I promise to ask the Democrats and Republicans similar questions should they grant me an interview.

1. What are some key ideological differences between the Tea Party and the Republicans, especially as they relate to fiscal policy?

2. If there are no ideological differences, is this just an attempt to break from the Republican party because they see it as a disorganized mess?

3. As we move toward "the smaller, freer, society" will national defense spending be among the things cut?

4. In many states, the federal government actually contributes more cash than it takes in. Is the Tea Party going to organize in those areas, or just the areas where there is a net loss? For example, the areas of Tea Party strength tend to be those with a lot of federal money flowing into them as a result of military bases. Many of those bases the military would close, but are kept open as result of pressure from local representatives who "bring home the pork".

5. Is the Tea Party for free trade or protectionism?

6. Are they able to see corporations as world citizens, who are able to operate anywhere they chose? (this relates to question 5)

7. In which instances do they believe that capitalism creates externalities that must be mitigated thru regulation? How would they go about this?

8. What do they feel is the proper role for the Fed Reserve in defining and implementing monetary policy?

modsquad2.0 wrote: whynot, is this due at midterm?

if you are sypathetic to the plight of students, the answer is "yes, and my midterm is tomorrow"

if you are not, the answer is "my days as a student are over"