The Tea Party

The Tea Party tail of 30-40 persons is wagging the larger Republican dog in the House.  The Tea Party, a determined, aggressive, passionate and uncompromising wing of the Republican Party, is winning the political battles in Washington.  They are controlling the political agenda; they are setting the terms of the political debate.  Not on the political agenda are three hugely important social problems: comprehensive immigration reform, the unjust mass incarceration of young black and Latino males, and the immoral income/wealth gap, especially the racial wealth gap of 20-1.

The Tea Party won the sequester battle; the Tea Party has succeeded in bringing about a partial shutdown of the government; and the Tea Party would see a federal government default as a good thing.  Anything to shrink the size of the government; anything to make President Obama look bad.  The president is on the defensive.

Unless the Republican leadership has the political courage to marginalize the Tea Party minority, the year ahead looks bad.  The poor will suffer; the rich will prosper.

I would fully support two anti-government policies: cut the military budget in half and eliminate massive corporate tax breaks (subsidies, welfare) and pro-Wall Street policies.