The Debt Debate has finally ended. The crisis began with a request for a blank check by the White House, a request to raise the debt ceiling by trillions in exchange for nothing at all, and ended with the Republican Party completely turning the debate on its head.
When President Obama took office the debate was never about how much we were going to cut, it was only about how much or how little we were going to spend in the name of faux stimulus. Fast forward today, and now we have a discussion about how much we are going to cut from the deficit that has and will continue to balloon through the rest of this administration.
Other than Speaker Boehner, I credit only one thing with this tremendous turn around: The Tea Party…
You have to hand it to them. They kept on the Speaker, who only has a handle on one half of one third of the federal government, and helped to prop up his backbone and get a deal that actually changed the trajectory of American fiscal policy. Was it the best deal in the world? No. Was it the worst deal in the world? Not by a long shot. Even with only that little piece of government, the Republicans are effectively driving policy in Washington, and the Tea Party has given them the fuel necessary to keep it moving.
However, this whole made up crisis has also taught me some things about the Tea Party. They seem to have little understanding of process, or the ability to reconcile their goals with the reality of our situation in the conservative movement. The prime exhibit? The balanced budget amendment. Scores of new freshman congressmen were pressed hard by the activist groups (who by the way I believe cause more damage to the Tea Party/Conservative movement than help, yeah Im talking about you, Tea Party Nation, but thats for a future post…) to not support any deal that did not include a balanced budget amendment in it. Even a deal that included a mandatory future up or down vote on the amendment was not good enough. These groups were so insane about this idea, that they were even threatening to find a primary challenger to take on great representatives like Allen West (R-FL) in the next election over his support of the Boehner Plan!
The fact is that a balanced budget amendment is not getting through the Congress, much less getting past the President’s veto pen. That is the end goal, we are on our way there, but its not happening right now. Maybe if we didn’t run awful candidates for Senate last year like Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell, it would be more of a possibility. But for now, in 2011, its nothing but a fiscal hawk’s dream. Don’t blow everything based on some unattainable goal!
Liberals in this country did not build up the welfare state to where it is today, with ObamaCare being the feather in its cap, in one day, one term, or even one decade. It took them nearly eighty years to slowly drag our country down piece by piece, taking on little side issues while the adults had to deal with real problems of the day. It took a long, long time to get to where we are, and its going to take a long time to set everything straight. We cannot do it this year, we cannot do it with one half of Congress, and we cannot do it alone.
Despite what I would love to believe, there was not a mass conservative resurgence in 2010. It was a resurgence of sorts, don’t get me wrong, but 2010 was a low turnout federal year. 2012 is the test. To come out and defeat Obama and take control of the Senate, we need more than to just convince the 35% of registered voters who happen to show up in midterm elections.
The independents are finally turning on the President, and its time to give them a new home. The Tea Party needs to go back to doing what it does best. Stop trying to take over the entire country at one
time, rather than piece by piece. Instead of giving Speaker Boehner headaches by turning members on him for not including a balanced budget amendment in the final deal, fight for more spending cuts, or something else more attainable. Instead of just being the loudest voice in the room screaming for the biggest changes, be the hardest working and take every little victory that comes. Bring back that drive that sent shockwaves through Washington last year.
Look reasonable, but still firm, and voters will respond. This is what can separate our side from theirs in 2012. President Obama has failed his base at least twice now in these deals. In at attempt to sway independents and make them consider him a moderate, he simply looks spineless. Independents know the President is a liberal, just as they know the Tea Party is conservative. They aren’t looking for either side to change to earn their support, they just want a side that can reconcile it’s ideology with reality and get something done. President Obama has made it clear that he is incapable of doing that, it is time we seize on that fact, and allow the movement to keep moving.
Why not broaden the Tea Party's appeal and work to get the Government out of our bedrooms?