The thing that bewilders me is this president just cut taxes for 95 percent of the American people. So I think the tea bags should be directed elsewhere because he certainly understands the burden that people face," David Axelrod said Sunday.
...
I think any time that you have severe economic conditions, there is always an element of disaffection that can mutate into something that's unhealthy."
Now if this "analysis" sounds familiar, that's because it is similar to the way that CNN reporter, Susan Roesgen, described the tea parties. When she famously confronted a protestor, Roesgen also pointed out that most people receive a tax cut under the Obama plan.
The Obama administration should fear the movement because, in reality, it is a grassroots and populist uprising. Now, whether it will be viewed as such is still up for debate. The Obama administration has taken great pains to portray itself as a populist administration. He has taken great pains to portray himself as a "man of the people". As such, for the "people" to rise up against him is something he simply can't be viewed as having happened.
Now, it has been asserted by both Axelrod, Roesgen and others that in fact the tea parties need not direct their anger at the administration because most folks will get a tax cuts. Here is why the folks at the tea parties aren't buying it. First, these so called tax cuts amount to $13 weekly until a total of $500 is given back. That's it. That's the tax cut. Second, the folks at the tea parties perfectly understand that you can't just spend with reckless abandon without raising taxes on everyone in one way or another. Either taxes will go up, or inflation will go up (which is just another form of taxation)
Furthermore, the tea parties are much more about reckless spending, bloated government, and more government control, than they are about taxes per se. The folks at the tea parties know that inherently that more government spending is a bad thing, whether there are new taxes yet or not. This is something that the other side, Axelrod and Roesgen included, either don't get or won't acknowledge. Yet, those at the tea parties will not be deterred in their battle against reckelss and bloated government, no matter how much they are mocked by establishment like Roesgen and Axelrod.
4 comments:
I'm not really sure what to believe. However many people showed up to your rallies, we may never know the real answer because protesters always claim government and a biased media under-report the true total.
I'm assuming most Democratic officials have enough sense to realize they can't win any votes from this crowd, because they're always going to be part of the problem, no matter how many times they vote against EFCA or whatever. So I don't think they're going to respond very much. I'm sure there are some Republicans who will get the message and try turning up the heat on Obama, but not all of them.
Ultimately, the only real way to know whether these protests are what you say they are will probably come down to the 2010 Election. State government elections aside, the main question in 2010 will probably be whether the Democrats can win a fillibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Considering there are more Republican than Democratic seats in play, and there are a number of Republicans retiring, I think they just might do it. This will probably hinge on your ability to either win over Obama supporters or get more conservatives back to the polls (allegedly many just stayed home rather than vote for McCain).
However, I don't think you're giving enough credit to your opponents. You've mentioned in prior posts that you not only believe your movement is growing like wildfire, but your opponents have become stagnant as well. Thing is, Obama's supporters might have cooled to him lately, but a lot of that is attacking him from the left over things like the torture memos and whatnot.
In short, you might be angry at Obama in particular and American Liberalism in general, but you shouldn't assume that liberals just stopped being angry at conservatives once Obama won.
I would like to see a poll of those protesting in the Tea party movement as to the number of self-described "independents".
Not a trumped up number by the organizers, but an actual real poll.
I like to know the percentage of "independents" protesting in the tea parties
Or alternatively, the percentage that voted for Obama.
Anyone have independent data on this?
Unfortunately, there was no polling of the people particapating and frankly, given the number of locations, such a poll would be very difficult to make accurate.
The only poll regarding the tea parties is from Rasmussen.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics2/51_view_tea_parties_favorably_political_class_strongly_disagrees
In that poll, a plurality of Independents hold a favorable view of the parties.
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