Politicians Must Listen to – We the People

Democracy and Power 107:  Counting votes

In a democracy, the politician must favorably influence the majority of their voting constituents.  In all political decisions, the politician calculates how many votes are gained by voting-money spent on interest groups versus how many votes are lost.

Politicians Must Listen to – We the People

For many years, elected politicians – Republicans and Democrats –have recklessly created an enormous debt. Knowingly and dangerously, Bush II and Obama have accelerated our debt crisis.  Alarmed, many Americans spontaneously met and screamed for politicians to “stop this insanity.”  Arrogantly, political elites ignored the people. 

“What could the masses know?  This too will pass.”  Concerned by the indifference of our political elites, the Tea Party rebellion expanded.  In return, our politicians attempted to brand the Tea Party as a form of vermin – extremists, racists and thugs.

For over three years, most political elites have ignored our debt and have refused to listen to the concerns of the Tea Party.  Fortunately, and as I wrote a year ago, the Tea Party citizens are changing America:  

Dramatically, the Tea Party has changed politics in America.  Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen wrote in Mad as Hell that the Tea Party rebellion was as strong as either the Democrat or Republican parties.  Additionally, Rasmussen finds Americans want personal freedom: “voters don’t want to be governed from the left, the right, or even the center. They want someone in Washington who understands that the American people want to govern themselves.”

Immorally and dishonorably, most politicians refused to concentrate on the debt in 2011.  Obama’s budgets increased spending tremendously, the Senate Democrats have not produced a budget in over 1000 days, and the so-called Super Committee was not able to agree on any budget cuts. 

To remedy this political malfeasance, FreedomWorks and thousands of concerned citizens produced the Tea Party Budget, which boldly reduces spending: [Read: http://blogs.freedomworks.org/files/TeaPartyBudget.pdf]

  • “Cuts, caps, and balances” federal spending.
  • Balances the budget in four years, and keeps it balanced, without tax hikes.
  • Reduces federal spending by $9.7 trillion over the next 10 years, as opposed to the President’s plan to increase spending by $2.3 trillion.
  • Shrinks the federal government from 24 percent of GDP — a level exceeded only in World War II — to about 16 percent, in line with the postwar norm.

 To achieve these goals, the following is the Tea Party’s plan:

  • Repeal ObamaCare in toto.
  • Eliminate four Cabinet agencies — Energy, Education, Commerce, and HUD — and reduce or privatize many others, including EPA, TSA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac.
  • Savs Social Security and greatly improve future benefits by shifting ownership and control from government to individuals, through new SMART Accounts.
  • Give Medicare seniors the right to opt into the Congressional health care plan.
  • Suspend pension contributions and COLAs for Members of Congress, whenever the budget is in deficit.

Again, the political elites attempted to ignore We the People. Even the Republican presidential candidates ignored theTea Party Budget.  However, of the remaining presidential candidates, there is one illustrious exception…Ron Paul.

Over the years, Paul has courageously and consistently supported the Constitution, a balanced budget and limited government.  Before the Tea Party Budget, Paul advocated its principles and is a major reason for the Tea Party’s awakening.

Recently, the remaining Republican contenders have been accepting important portions of the Tea Party Budget.   No doubt a ploy to gain votes and momentum.

Early in the campaign, Newt Gingrich endorsed allowing young people to opt-out of Social Security and to own their IRA retirement accounts.

Recently, Mitt Romney has endorsed many Tea Party Budget planks; a balanced budget, devolution of Medicaid to the states, and reduction of the federal workforce, as reported by the Walls Street Journal:  

“For me, the highest priority is to get America on track to have a balanced budget,” Mr. Romney told the rally, organized by eight Southeast Michigan tea-party groups. The nation’s mounting debt “is immoral,” he said.

Programs for the poor, such as Medicaid, should be run by the states, “as the Constitution intended,” he said. Federal workers? Mr. Romney won applause by saying he would cut their pay by 10%.

Rick Santorum has also many parts of the Tea Party Budget, particularly its large spending cuts and a balanced-budget amendment:

Rein in spending. I’ll propose spending cuts of $5 trillion over five years, including cuts for the remainder of fiscal year 2013. I’ll propose budgets that spend less money each year than prior years, and I’ll reduce the nondefense-related federal work force by at least 10%, without replacing them with private contractors.

Balance the budget. I’ll submit to Congress a budget that will balance within four years and call on Congress to pass a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution which limits federal spending to 18% of GDP.

Additionally, all the Republican candidates support the Repeal ObamaCare in toto.

We the People of the Tea Party rebellion have changed the debate in the Republican primaries.  The planks of the Tea Party Budget are being discussed and endorsed.  This is enormously important.  After the election, the Tea Party Budget will hopefully be a big part of the political agenda.

Obviously, We the People, have an enormous amount of work to do.  We have made progress in educating the Republican candidates.  Now, we must teach the independent voter and as many Democrats as possible.  The next few months are crucial for the future of freedom in American and the world. 

Thankfully, members of the Tea Party remain devoted.  If we can double our efforts over the next few months, freedom will prevail.