Some say a Second American Revolution has begun. In the first American Revolution, American militiamen at the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts, fired the Shot Heard Round the World at British Redcoats on April 19, 1775.
The Shot Heard Round the World in the Second American Revolution was the surprise election of Scott Brown, again in Massachusetts, on January 19, 2010. The bullets fired were ballots as a Tea Party-backed candidate captured the “Kennedy seat” in the US Senate. The militiamen of 2010, riding pickup trucks rather than horses, call themselves the Tea Party, named after an act of insurrection against the out of touch establishment of King George.
Since January of 2010 the Tea Party has swept Republican establishment politicians from office in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Alaska, Delaware, Utah and Florida. Like King George, the establishment does not plan to go quietly. Governor Crist continues to run as an independent in Florida. Senator Murkowski announced she would run as a write-in candidate in Alaska.
Americans who joined the Tea Party movement believe our government has grown too big. In this they have broad support that extends beyond the 50% coalition that elected George Bush. Part of the key to their successes to date has been steering clear of divisive social issues and concentrating on fiscal ones.
Like a majority of Americans, Tea Parties are alarmed that government spends too much (Chart from Heritage Foundation) and does so with borrowed money. They understand that our children and grandchildren will be forced to pay for today’s reckless spending. As a result they have gone to the polls in record numbers to make their voice heard. They want the spending to stop and if the politicians do not listen, they will throw them out as their forefathers displaced King George. It does not appear that the politicians are listening. Despite the boisterous town hall meetings of 2009 and a string of primary upsets in 2010, politicians discount the public sentiment. Democratic Congressman Tom Perriello of Virginia recently said, "If you don't tie our hands, we'll keep stealing."
Source: Heritage Foundation
What kind of America does the Tea Party want?
The Tea Partiers have watched the federal budget double under Bush and Obama at a time hen they have had to cut back on their own family expenditures. (Chart from the Cato Institute) They want a smaller, less intrusive government and most importantly, a government that lives within its means. The Tea Party wants an end to trillion dollar deficits. Where the two political parties accept trillion dollar deficits, The Tea Party demands draconian change in our system of governance. They recognize the need for the coming Great Deconstruction.
The Cato Institute has offered a website dedicated to downsizing the federal government. Cato outlines clear and concise methods to reduce spending and deconstruct the various departments of government as the Tea Party is demanding. Cato’s author, Chris Edwards, envisions the elimination of entire branches of the federal government by “devolving” various programs to the states.
The annual savings proposed by the Cato Institute study total more than $400 billion per year. Some call the recommendations draconian and outrageous. Yet the savings represent just 11% of current spending – a critical way to adjust to the new realities of the deconstruction.
The Second American Revolution may have begun. If it is so, and America earns its independence from trillion dollar budget deficits and professional politicians, the future of America may look very much like Cato study has proposed. No matter what the outcome of the elections in November of 2010, the future will look very different than today as the Great Deconstruction comes to pass.
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Robert J Cristiano PhD is the Real Estate Professional in Residence at Chapman University in Orange, CA and Head of Real Estate for the international investment firm, L88 Investments LLC. He has been a successful real estate developer in Newport Beach California for twenty-nine years.
Other works in The Great Deconstruction series for New Geography
Other works in The Great Deconstruction series for New Geography
Deconstruction: The Fate of America? – March 2010
The Great Deconstruction – First in a New Series - April 11, 2010
An Awakening: The Beginning of the Great Deconstruction – June 12, 2010
The Great Deconstruction :An American History Post 2010 – June 1, 2010
A Tsunami Approaches - Beginning of the Great Deconstruction - August 2010
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Tea Party in Reality
Much conjecture about the true nature of the Tea Party. It represents five things: (1) Small government, (2) accountability, (3) fiscal responsibility, (4) adherence to the Constitution, and (5) individual freedoms.
The Brown election was symbolic of the Tea Party believes but the first shot, in my view, was the passing of TARP and subsequent bail-out schemes that have so indebted our nation. The first shot, as it were, was the initial wide-scale public declarations by Tea Party members--perhaps your neighbor or uncle--that enough is enough. Most notably, the first protest was April 15, 2009 or Tax Day.
It is far to easy to intermingle a grass roots movement, like the Tea Party, with a major political party but it is not. Many Tea Party members are independents, some are democrats. Furthermore, the swelling of outrage over government bail outs of major industries does not break down neatly along party lines.
TARP, has in fact, not "so
TARP, has in fact, not "so indebted our nation." The most recent CBO estimates say that the total cost of TARP will be about 60 billion dollars (remember, 750 was originally set aside, and about half of that was spent). Newer estimates say something closer to 30 billion. http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/110920/exclusive-trea...
30 billion dollars to save a total financial meltdown.
It's time teabaggers stop equating macroeconomic fundamentals with personal finance and welcome themselves into the 21st century. "Fiscal responsibility" is not the same thing for a family of four and a world super power. But of course the right has always had a hard time understanding the specificities of context of just about everything from institutionalized racism to constitutional interpretation.
nada..
nada...
Why no "Tea PartY" during reign of G. (43) Bush?
Maybe because it appears (at least to me) that 100% of so-called Tea Party types are just Republic Party activists or loyalists, who believe that their party is entitled to hold the White House forever because Ronald Reagan once made his home there.
They certainly had nothing to say about the massive budget deficits that Bush and his crew ran up after he was elected to the Presidency by five Supreme Court justices.
If it appears to you to be
If it appears to you to be that way I think that in this case it may in fact be exactly as it appears. There is no bullsh**ting here: the Tea Party is super right-wing. Outrage over the bailouts is not, I don't think, a right-wing sentiment at all. However, outrage at the Left as the reason for this situation is disturbing. The failure of people on the Right to understand the historical context of the meltdown has directed a non-partisan anger in a partisan direction. Somehow, 'liberal' government and NOT deregulation is the enemy. Somehow, earmarks (<1% of congressional budget) and NOT military spending is the biggest problem. Somehow, cutting taxes will help us create a "balanced budget" which is "responsible" and should look like a personal checking account. Somehow, stimulating the economy, even when it means utilizing the borrowing power we have as world super power, is to fight against the interests of the 'common man,' and to be for the common man would be to let them flail around "freely," let their employers fail, let the banks who loan money to their employers fail, let their bridges and overpasses collapse, and so on.
How did we get here?
Disagree with this
The Tea Party protests began with the Bush 43 sponsored TARP.
It is a grass roots movement that holds both parties accountable. It just so happens that democrats have controlled Congress and the White House as industry bail-outs and national indebtedness had soared. Consequently, the republicans more closely represent a solution at this time.
The answer: tear the country apart for the real estate class!
Yes, this is exactly what we should do--give the country over to the same dolts, clowns and elitists who brought us the housing and financial crisis. I encourage all readers to simply look at the L88 website, and its bragging about its "government partnerships," its former congressman partners, and its connections to "a major political party" to understand incredible hypocrisy typical of tea party, Cato-inebriated phonies.
Anyone who does will say: yes, "professor" now go back to your newport beach marina--and stopp teaching anyone such garbage!