Is the Tea Party Losing Steam?
Whatever Happened to Plan A?
by Terrell Aronspeer - April 29, 2011
Is the Tea Party Dead? |
Radius Engineering of Terrell, Texas builds and installs “bunkers.” These are precast concrete modules which are buried deep on your “hard to find” East Texas property (and anywhere else in the US) and are connected together by firm but flexible tunnels not unlike the “Habitrail” your child’s or grandchild’s hamster enjoyed. Buried deep enough and given minimal distance, these will allow you to laugh maniacally at the nuclear blasts predictably coming soon to a neighborhood near you. I am sure you will be surprised to find out, these are not cheap. Apparently, a lot of people have gone straight to plan B.
Really? Are we done with plan A? You know; the one where you present pithy arguments to your neighbors and convince them to vote for candidates so conservative they make Reagan look like Carter. Have we given up because we think our neighbors are too stupid to understand the argument, have we come to the conclusion that we are too stupid to make the argument or have we decided that no such candidate exists? The task seems daunting. Most Americans can tell you what drugs Charlie Sheen has entered rehab to shake but cannot name two Supreme Court Justices. This is not some “happy kitten” article which tries to make the case that this is a good thing. It’s not. The solutions are a lot more obvious to me than the candidates which can bring them to fruition.
We have a national debt of 14 trillion dollars ($45,700 for every American citizen, even little babies) and a 1.4 trillion dollar deficit. Republican leaders settled for a 38 billion dollar reduction to this year’s deficit. Practically it was a lot less. I can’t tell you how insignificant and depressing this is. Yet our leadership struggles to achieve this small reduction. I doubt meaningful reductions can be achieved by putting smaller numbers next to line items. Line items, and I mean a lot of them, have to go away. This is huge and large reductions can be achieved this way.
If the president wants some czars, let him pay for them from his pocket. But even then they have no constitutional authority. Eliminate all these positions and the bureaucracy which attends them, even the ones you might like. Eliminate all regulatory agencies which are not specifically authorized by the US Constitution. “Specifically authorized” is intended to exclude any which are justified by some tortured interpretation of the “Commerce Clause,” and this clause should be specifically constrained, either by legislation or constitutional amendment. Those regulatory agencies which are constitutionally allowed have no taxing authority. All fines, fees and mandates must be approved by the congress which is responsible for all oversight of their activities. All entitlement programs must be phased out as expeditiously as possible. Those who have paid for decades with the expectation of some benefit must be provided for appropriately. But future generations must be relieved of this burden. As a compassionate society we may wish to establish some low floor through which no one is allowed to sink. This must, however, be maintained as the lowest possible standard. Private charity should always be more attractive. Returning to Constitutional limitations will automatically restore the prosperity of the nation and her citizens.
The question for us as Americans is who is capable of such desperately needed bold moves? More are capable than may be willing. Newt is to date the only one I have heard talking of such bold moves, but he is not the only one capable. He also has baggage as all humans and all other prospective candidates do. Chris Christie is everyone’s current favorite and why not? But he says he is not ready which by itself lets us know he is more ready than most. Governors both past and present; Daniels, Huckabee, Palin, Pawlenty, and Romney to name a few, have impressive records and skill sets. Old standards like Haley Barber and new upstarts like Republican Governor of Main (can that be right?) Paul LePage have all been mentioned. Congress, not always the best place to mine for presidential ore, also offers strong candidates like Michele Bachmann and Marco Rubio. In spite of what you hear on late night TV or read in such beacons of objectivity like the Huffington Post, there is a lot of fire power here.
Plan B
Illustration provided by: Sass Greetings
http://www.sassgreetings.com |
As we go into this fight we must be careful that we do not so damage a good candidate that they cannot run. In our own minds we must not so vilify a Republican candidate that we will sit home rather than vote for them. The press and other left wing organizations are already hard at work trying to create a wedge between traditional Republicans and our Tea Party activists. Truly the only difference I see is a metabolic rate. The Tea Party activists represent a badly needed infusion of energy. I look to their energy to ensure we get the best candidate and that the candidate we get is kept at his/her best. We should enjoy this debate and go into it with the expectation that we come out of it united.
Here is what I am looking for, competence over charisma. Way too much emphasis is placed on charisma in our celebrity driven culture. The light of charisma can be blinding. Charisma, blatantly obvious in the world’s most vile dictators has been conspicuously absent in some of our best Presidents. I am looking for profound understanding of the Founders values. Without understanding the exceptional nature of this country and the Founder’s vision, one is unfit to lead this great country. My candidate will have a capability and preferably a history of making bold moves. We are not at a place where 60 or even 100 billion dollar cuts will be sufficient. Our government has been reformed so many times I am getting mental fatigue (if you took metal shop there is a pun in there for you). We must restore, not reform our government. Finally, I am looking for someone who can evoke in the minds of voters the image of America as our Founders intended. What illustrates freedom better than the picture of West Berlin surrounded by barbed wire, a high wall complete with machine gun infested guard towers and a mine field. West Berlin looked like a model maximum security prison and yet, freedom loving people risked their lives to break into this prison. What better illustrates the prosperity freedom brings than a night time satellite picture of the Korean Peninsula, the South lit up like Broadway or the Vegas Strip while the North is consigned to a darkness so deep one does not expect it to go away in the sun light. Our candidate must be able to articulate the message of liberty. West Berlin and South Korea have both been protectorates of the US and would not have existed without us.
So who is this candidate? Well it is probably not my favorite or yours. However, it is my hope, if we chose well and properly support the right candidate, they will rise to the occasion and become this person. We know this person does not exist on the other side and they would reject him if he did. This may be plan A’s last chance and it has to be big. Even those who are properly prepared for Plan B will not be happy with it. No one knows what Plan B will bring. I have illustrated one possible scenario for plan B above. We owe it to ourselves, future generations and the world to give Plan A our best shot one last time. Prepare for Plan B all you want. I assure you, you will not like it. Plan A deserves your best effort. If not now, when?
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