Tea Party Democrats

[Phatscotty]

Interesting information I found, finally. Many people, many times have called me a liar for simply telling the truth that about 10-15% of the Tea Party are Democrats. Also, Independents make up 30% of the Tea Party.

I've never called you a liar for this. I know it's true.

Many people still believe to this day that the Tea Party is just a far right Republican wing

No, that's the New Tea Republican Party, of which you are solidly a member based on your posts in these fora.

Hmm, lets see. I am against the Iraq war since before it even started (ya know, the ONLY time you could actually be able to do something about it... ) Does that put me far right? oh ok

I am pro-choice. FARRRRRR right again! Woody, you are on a roll buddy.

I am not religious, I'm pretty sure that is a pre-requisite for the far right. 3 for 3 woody.

I spent a lot of time criticizing Bush and Democrats had no problem holding my posts up. I'm so solidly farrrrr right I just might piss myself!

I have voted for Ralph Nader, wrote in Ron Paul, and made my mark helping put Jesse Ventura in office. I almost always vote independent in local elections. Surely those are "Republican at all cost" votes.

I could go on and on, but you will continue to see what you want to see no matter what I say.

It just so happens I am conservative when it comes to currency, debt, deficit, borrowing, growing interest payments, balanced budgets, free markets. Since those issues are where are the problems are today, (just as I have always advocated these these issues are going to be a serious problem in the future and will come back to bite us in the ass!)I can see where a newb might think I was as you say solidly far right wing, but only until they get to know me just a little bit. There is no excuse for you tho.

You have me all built up into the person you love to hate, and it just ain't so.

[Woodruff]

The problem with the Tea Party is twofold. First, there is no real tea party.. just people who latch onto that name because they want lower taxes or "limited government". They are meaningless terms without a plan of action.

People did not "latch onto a name" ... people united based on common principles.

Really? Because Michelle Bachmann's stated and acted-on principles don't align with those espoused by "The Tea Party", and she has assuredly latched onto the name.

Ron Paul is THEE Godfather of the Tea Party. If you know that I love the Tea Party, and you know that I love Ron Paul, then put 1 and 1 together...

I don't believe Ron Paul would at all be in favor of drug testing welfare recipients.

[Phatscotty]

The problem with the Tea Party is twofold. First, there is no real tea party.. just people who latch onto that name because they want lower taxes or "limited government". They are meaningless terms without a plan of action.

People did not "latch onto a name" ... people united based on common principles.

Really? Because Michelle Bachmann's stated and acted-on principles don't align with those espoused by "The Tea Party", and she has assuredly latched onto the name.

Good for that one person. I am talking about the entire Tea Party.

10's of millions of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents have united based on common principles.

Loyalty to our country always. Loyalty to our government when they deserve it.
- Mark Twain

[Woodruff]

The problem with the Tea Party is twofold. First, there is no real tea party.. just people who latch onto that name because they want lower taxes or "limited government". They are meaningless terms without a plan of action.

People did not "latch onto a name" ... people united based on common principles.

Really? Because Michelle Bachmann's stated and acted-on principles don't align with those espoused by "The Tea Party", and she has assuredly latched onto the name.

Good for that one person. I am talking about the entire Tea Party.

You stated that "people did not latch onto a name". That was demonstrably false about that particularly high-profile name. It's not rocket science.

I notice you didn't bother to respond to the second part of my post there, Phatscotty. For someone who so often claims not to dodge subjects, there's a prime example for you.

[Phatscotty]

Technically, the Tea Party started in 2007.

When the bailouts and Tarp came through just before the election in the summer/fall of 08, and all the talk about universal healthcare, comments about "spreading the wealth" and "at a certain point you have made enough money" and "raising taxes for purposes of fairness" and "if someone wants to build a new energy plant they can, but we will bankrupt them" were enough for the American People to rise up and take action.

Don't forget, when Obama was first inaugurated, and for almost a half a year, Obama had approval rating over 70%. Americans gave him a fair chance.

If unemployment did not breach 8%, or the economy started rolling and jobs were being created and tax revenues were up, or any of the other promises he made, Obama would be cruising towards a landslide re-election. If Obama fails, he's a 1 term president.

The American people will decide in 2012, and the American people will deal with that decision for at least 4 years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK7B6mAIhU0

[Fircoal]

Interesting information I found, finally. Many people, many times have called me a liar for simply telling the truth that about 10-15% of the Tea Party are Democrats. Also, Independents make up 30% of the Tea Party. Many people still believe to this day that the Tea Party is just a far right Republican wing that only cares about racism and being hateful. Far right wing when 4-4.5 in 10 are either democrat or independent? Bullshit!

In case you have been living under a rock for the last 10 years, the USA has some serious fiscal issues and debt problems that must be addressed, and the Tea Party is the movement that is going dedicated to demand fiscal responsibility. These are the most serious issues of our time, and we should question the motives of the people who are not only spreading hate and lies, but equally devastating is the slight-of-hand to take our eyes off the crucial issue of debts and deficits.

The Winston Group, a GOP polling firm, last year showed that 13 percent of tea partiers were Democrats; Gallup put the number at 15 percent.

On the lower end, the number was 9 percent in a TargetPoint poll and just 4 percent in a CNN-Opinion Research poll.

More recently, a poll for Resurgent Republic, a Republican-aligned conglomerate of pollsters and consultants, showed that 11 percent of those who viewed the tea party favorably were Democrats. (That’s not an ideal measure, of course, since one need not be a tea party member to view it favorably.)

Who are these tea party Democrats?

Republican pollster Dan Hazelwood said that just as some Democrats moved to the GOP because of social issues in recent decades, some are now moving to the tea party because of fiscal issues.

“They have the same populist point of view of the rest of the tea party movement,” Hazelwood said. “Their ideal would be a Dennis Kucinich type who was anti-spending and for budget austerity. So they are people who are adrift on the left because of spending and on the right because of social issues.”

Though there has been some intermingling between the two camps, the country has yet to see a formidable Democrat emerge as a tea party candidate.

In the 2010 election cycle, the Tea Party Express endorsed a “Blue Dog” Democrat, Rep. Walt Minnick of Idaho, in his unsuccessful reelection bid

Former Democratic nominee Jack Davis ran on the “Tea Party” line in the recent New York special election but received just 9 percent of the vote. (Davis had run three times before as a Democrat and seemed to have a flexible ideology.)

There was also a Democratic tea party supporter who ran a meagerly funded primary campaign against Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) in 2010, taking 15 percent of the vote.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ ... story.html

The fact that Democrats are Tea Partiers does not stop it from being a far-right wing party. It just goes to show the 1-party system that exists in the United States.

[Phatscotty]

Yes, people from the left regularly join far right wing movements. It is also regular for a far right wing movement to be 40-45% non right wingers.

Perhaps the truth is that finally there is a group where priorities come first, and political party is secondary?

United we stand, divided we fall. Divide on Fircoal

[Iliad]

Yes, people from the left regularly join far right wing movements. It is also regular for a far right wing movement to be 40-45% non right wingers.

Perhaps the truth is that finally there is a group where priorities come first, and political party is secondary?

United we stand, divided we fall. Divide on Fircoal

Because there's no such thing as a conservative Democrat or independent, right?

[Phatscotty]

Yes, people from the left regularly join far right wing movements. It is also regular for a far right wing movement to be 40-45% non right wingers.

Perhaps the truth is that finally there is a group where priorities come first, and political party is secondary?

United we stand, divided we fall. Divide on Fircoal

Because there's no such thing as a conservative Democrat or independent, right?

Sure there is. But a conservative democrat is not far right wing, and an independent is not far right wing. If they joined a far right wing group, they would cease to be an independent or a democrat......right?

The Tea Party is an American movement.

[Iliad]

Yes, people from the left regularly join far right wing movements. It is also regular for a far right wing movement to be 40-45% non right wingers.

Perhaps the truth is that finally there is a group where priorities come first, and political party is secondary?

United we stand, divided we fall. Divide on Fircoal

Because there's no such thing as a conservative Democrat or independent, right?

Sure there is. But a conservative democrat is not far right wing, and an independent is not far right wing. If they joined a far right wing group, they would cease to be an independent or a democrat......right?

The Tea Party is an American movement.

So you do believe that self described Democrats cannot partake in a reactionary movement. The Tea Party is a textbook case of such a movement.

[gimli1990]

as a man from Wisconsin the tea party is a party that has united the people more then anything curretly. and they started by people agreeing on their ideals that is how it started.

and they are standing firm on their ideals and they are getting stronger especcially where i am from. and that is central WI.

however completely seperate Scott Walker has balls of steel and i say Scott Walker for president 2016

[Woodruff]

Hey Scotty...just going to continue to ignore that second question? Is this what you're always referring to when you claim that you never dodge anything?

[PLAYER57832]

The problem with the Tea Party is twofold. First, there is no real tea party.. just people who latch onto that name because they want lower taxes or "limited government". They are meaningless terms without a plan of action.

People did not "latch onto a name" ... people united based on common principles. What qualifies you to define/judge the Tea Party?

Find THE "Tea Party". There IS NONE. It is a group of people who all claim the name. What each thinks it means differs highly .. you and greekdog both seem to claim that name, just as an example, but disagree on a lot! You both disagree from a lot of local folks here who claim the Tea Party name.

I am as qualified as anyone else.. and I can absolutely see how the term is being used. When and if it ever forms into some official group (note, I did not even say "party", because political party has a different meaning), lead by someone you elect or otherwise designate as a leader, etc.. then you can begin to make statements about what the tea party really is, beyond the "let's cut taxes and government" rhetoric that is plain meaningless without details.

Second, they make a pretense of "reducing government" and cutting taxes as if their policies would help everyday Americans. Its not YOUR taxes that are going to be cut! In fact, most of us will see our STATE or LOCAL taxes increased to make up for federal shortfalls. NO, the "debate" is over taxing BIG corporations and the wealthy. (note, a few others might get caught up in it... and I would say that is mostly so these tea partiers can trot out a few examples of how terrible the changes were, not becuase they need to be included). Reducing government.. just code for "don't force business' to clean up their own messes"

Not my state, and not in many other states. Speak for yourself player. My state is shut down because the Tea Party republicans won a lot of seats here(Republicans control the house and the senate) will not raise taxes and are committed to reducing government spending, as well as not budging on a principled stance that we not spend more that we take in on a state level, which also means they are committed to a balanced budget. The Tea Party is more real than it has ever been before, and if Tom Emmer were elected/Mark Dayton did not find a bunch of votes in the trunk of a car, Minnesota would be joining Wisconsin with a projected budget surplus in 2 years, all without raising a single tax.
That is a plan of Action

MY state is PA.. with Tom Corbett, elected largely thanks to all you "wonderful" tea partiers. His platform? NO severance taxes on Marsallas shale..but let's go ahead and cut the budget for Penn State by 50%, cut all other education, etc,.. etc.. etc.

MEANWHILE... our property taxes are temporarily OK, because our school budgeted well, expected this when Corbett was elected. Also, they were already increased. However, that is only temporary. If money doesn't come in, schools across the state will be losing their kindergartens. Road projects that need funding are not getting it.. etc. AND... no one is paying for the damage being done to our water supplies or even preparing for the potential for real disasters.

Ream em and weep


You are simply wrong

No, you are being stupid. You look only at the very short term. If you want the REAL truth, google dangerous roads, infrastructure in your state.... etc.

Besides, none of that takes into account all the ADDITIONAL cuts that are coming from the federal government. The state has not felt the impacts yet.

[PLAYER57832]

United we stand, divided we fall.

Except you seem perfect happy to divide.. in fact, you seem to relish it.

[Night Strike]

MEANWHILE... our property taxes are temporarily OK, because our school budgeted well, expected this when Corbett was elected. Also, they were already increased. However, that is only temporary. If money doesn't come in, schools across the state will be losing their kindergartens. Road projects that need funding are not getting it.. etc. AND... no one is paying for the damage being done to our water supplies or even preparing for the potential for real disasters.


No, you are being stupid. You look only at the very short term. If you want the REAL truth, google dangerous roads, infrastructure in your state.... etc.

Besides, none of that takes into account all the ADDITIONAL cuts that are coming from the federal government. The state has not felt the impacts yet.

That's what happens when the government decides to spend its money on unconstitutional entitlements instead of the roll it's supposed to do: build and maintain a workable infrastructure.

[PLAYER57832]

MEANWHILE... our property taxes are temporarily OK, because our school budgeted well, expected this when Corbett was elected. Also, they were already increased. However, that is only temporary. If money doesn't come in, schools across the state will be losing their kindergartens. Road projects that need funding are not getting it.. etc. AND... no one is paying for the damage being done to our water supplies or even preparing for the potential for real disasters.


No, you are being stupid. You look only at the very short term. If you want the REAL truth, google dangerous roads, infrastructure in your state.... etc.

Besides, none of that takes into account all the ADDITIONAL cuts that are coming from the federal government. The state has not felt the impacts yet.

That's what happens when the government decides to spend its money on unconstitutional entitlements instead of the roll it's supposed to do: build and maintain a workable infrastructure.

NO. That;s what happens when the TEA PARTY GETS WHAT IT WANTS!

The TEA PARTY IS WHY CORBETT WAS ELECTED!

[Night Strike]

MEANWHILE... our property taxes are temporarily OK, because our school budgeted well, expected this when Corbett was elected. Also, they were already increased. However, that is only temporary. If money doesn't come in, schools across the state will be losing their kindergartens. Road projects that need funding are not getting it.. etc. AND... no one is paying for the damage being done to our water supplies or even preparing for the potential for real disasters.


No, you are being stupid. You look only at the very short term. If you want the REAL truth, google dangerous roads, infrastructure in your state.... etc.

Besides, none of that takes into account all the ADDITIONAL cuts that are coming from the federal government. The state has not felt the impacts yet.

That's what happens when the government decides to spend its money on unconstitutional entitlements instead of the roll it's supposed to do: build and maintain a workable infrastructure.

NO. That;s what happens when the TEA PARTY GETS WHAT IT WANTS!

The TEA PARTY IS WHY CORBETT WAS ELECTED!

I bet that if you cut all of the entitlement spending in your state, you could afford to fix your infrastructure.

[Fircoal]

Yes, people from the left regularly join far right wing movements. It is also regular for a far right wing movement to be 40-45% non right wingers.

Perhaps the truth is that finally there is a group where priorities come first, and political party is secondary?

United we stand, divided we fall. Divide on Fircoal

The key word is the use of the word left. When you look at things from a different perspective Democrats and Republicans are not very different from each other. I'd personally label the parties as Right, and Far-Right.

[thegreekdog]

MEANWHILE... our property taxes are temporarily OK, because our school budgeted well, expected this when Corbett was elected. Also, they were already increased. However, that is only temporary. If money doesn't come in, schools across the state will be losing their kindergartens. Road projects that need funding are not getting it.. etc. AND... no one is paying for the damage being done to our water supplies or even preparing for the potential for real disasters.


No, you are being stupid. You look only at the very short term. If you want the REAL truth, google dangerous roads, infrastructure in your state.... etc.

Besides, none of that takes into account all the ADDITIONAL cuts that are coming from the federal government. The state has not felt the impacts yet.

That's what happens when the government decides to spend its money on unconstitutional entitlements instead of the roll it's supposed to do: build and maintain a workable infrastructure.

NO. That;s what happens when the TEA PARTY GETS WHAT IT WANTS!

The TEA PARTY IS WHY CORBETT WAS ELECTED!

Oh my...

The Republicans elected Tom Corbett. He cut spending but refused to end corporatism by his refusal to impose a severance tax. He could have done this, but he's in the pocket of big gas.

[PLAYER57832]

Yes, people from the left regularly join far right wing movements. It is also regular for a far right wing movement to be 40-45% non right wingers.

Perhaps the truth is that finally there is a group where priorities come first, and political party is secondary?

More like you can see any continuum as a circle. Go far enough to the right and you become essentially the same as the far left.

That's one reason why your constant attack of the "far left" is rather humerous.. in a macabre way. You are not very far from them.

[PLAYER57832]

MEANWHILE... our property taxes are temporarily OK, because our school budgeted well, expected this when Corbett was elected. Also, they were already increased. However, that is only temporary. If money doesn't come in, schools across the state will be losing their kindergartens. Road projects that need funding are not getting it.. etc. AND... no one is paying for the damage being done to our water supplies or even preparing for the potential for real disasters.


No, you are being stupid. You look only at the very short term. If you want the REAL truth, google dangerous roads, infrastructure in your state.... etc.

Besides, none of that takes into account all the ADDITIONAL cuts that are coming from the federal government. The state has not felt the impacts yet.

That's what happens when the government decides to spend its money on unconstitutional entitlements instead of the roll it's supposed to do: build and maintain a workable infrastructure.

NO. That;s what happens when the TEA PARTY GETS WHAT IT WANTS!

The TEA PARTY IS WHY CORBETT WAS ELECTED!

Oh my...

The Republicans elected Tom Corbett. He cut spending but refused to end corporatism by his refusal to impose a severance tax. He could have done this, but he's in the pocket of big gas.

No. The Tea Party folks rallied heavily in formerly Democratic districts like mine, very clearly talking about reducing taxes, being anti-abortion, etc.

NOW, many of those same exact people are fighting for the severance tax, once they began to realize that it is we taxpayers, not the gas drilling companies paying to maintain the roads, having to deal with spills (our fire departments are getting very little training, almost no equipment, etc.-- our fully volunteer fire departments. Now, the companies have come forward with some money, but nothing to cover a real problem), finding out the impact on people's water supplies (municipal water supplies!), etc.

Sure, he ran as a Republican, but without the Tea Party, he would never have won.

[GreecePwns]

More like you can see any continuum as a circle. Go far enough to the right and you become essentially the same as the far left.

Show your work.

[PLAYER57832]

More like you can see any continuum as a circle. Go far enough to the right and you become essentially the same as the far left.

Show your work.

far right = fanatic, stop listening to reason, want their will imposed.
far left = fanatic, stop l istening to reason, want their will imposed.

The "details" might shift a tad, but ironically enough not always.

[BigBallinStalin]

So, under what authority are Palinites (I didn't make that up, it was in Foreign Affairs) not Tea Partiers? They certainly think they are. Also, I raise a questioning eyebrow (not very high, I'm bad at that) that even Paulites are not totally pro-corporation, look at Rand Paul admonishing the president for "demonizing" BP after they dumped millions (billions?) of barrels of oil into the Gulf.

Because BP didn't just go and dump barrels of oil into the Gulf. An accident happened because the only places they're allowed to drill are in extremely deep and dangerous areas. There is absolutely no reason a company would just dump out their primary source of income simply to destroy some ocean-life and beaches. It is expensive to get an oil well set up, especially one that hast to go that deep, so the company is not going to waste that money to then waste the asset they're trying to collect to sell.

You are naive. They gambled, with OUR gulf, OUR fish, and the lives of the people on the coast.

In return, they got billions. Even now, after the penalties and so forth, they are still making huge profits.... and the potential for even more damage has not been mitigated or halted one real iota.

And... the reaon they are only allowed in deep water is directly due to the damage so many oil companies have caused in nearer and onshore areas. The far off regions were less regulated, even if the potential for damage there was far greater.

BPs going to take a huge loss from that incident. If it was truly profitable to have oil spills near American coastlines, then we would have an oil spill once every year.

[BigBallinStalin]

Yes, people from the left regularly join far right wing movements. It is also regular for a far right wing movement to be 40-45% non right wingers.

Perhaps the truth is that finally there is a group where priorities come first, and political party is secondary?

United we stand, divided we fall. Divide on Fircoal

Because there's no such thing as a conservative Democrat or independent, right?

Sure there is. But a conservative democrat is not far right wing, and an independent is not far right wing. If they joined a far right wing group, they would cease to be an independent or a democrat......right?

The Tea Party is an American movement.

So you do believe that self described Democrats cannot partake in a reactionary movement. The Tea Party is a textbook case of such a movement.

Don't you two realize that one's political stance varies on the particular issue?

It is meangingless to say that "Phatscotty is conservative" or the "Tea Party is far right-wing" without first clarifying the context of our discussion.

In short, an entire political movement can have various stances (left and right-wing) on various issues because the individuals within that group are not all the same. This logic also applies to the individual, who of course has varying political stances on certain issues...