Tea Power Forces Hatch To Be Conservative

Democracy and Power 107:  Counting votes

Successful … politicians are insecure and intimidated men. They advance politically only as they placate, appease, bribe, seduce, bamboozle or otherwise manage to manipulate the demanding and threatening elements in their constituencies.
– Walter Lippmann (1889-1974), American Journalist and Author

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 with the money spent on an interest-group versus how many votes are lost.

Tea Power Forces Hatch To Be Conservative

Senator Hatch recognizes the power of the Tea Party, which he loathes.  Having spent 36 years in the Senate, Hatch is a “good old boy” – actually he’s the ultimate “good old boy,”   and the Tea Party knows the “good old boys” have created Big Government and Big Debt at the expense of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of all Americans.  This week in Utah, the Tea Party is attempting to retire another “good old boy.”

Recently, Hatch’s Republican challenger asked a fundamental question about the debt – a moral question:

“Do you feel at all personally responsible for the debt crisis in Washington?

When responding to Mr. Liljenquist, Senator Hatch exposed his contempt for We the People, as reported by Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal:

The usually mild-mannered Mr. Hatch called the charge “B.S.” and said, “I’m offended that you would ask that.”

The offending “B.S.” is Hatch’s multiple votes for big government programs and crushing debt.  One of the most egregious votes was Hatch’s support of the children’s healthcare legislation, S-Chip. Again, Steve Moore reports:

What many conservatives view as Mr. Hatch’s worst fiscal sin was co-sponsoring the 1997 children’s health-care plan (S-Chip) with the late Ted Kennedy. I remember a few days after that bill passed, when an exuberant Mr. Hatch boasted to a conservative gathering that “I rolled Ted Kennedy” because “it’s not an entitlement” and the bill didn’t have the panoply of health benefits liberals wanted.

One skeptic asked Mr. Hatch, “Don’t you think that’s what Mr. Kennedy is telling his liberal allies right now about you?” As feared, the law has ballooned in cost and the episode has reinforced the view among conservatives that Orrin Hatch is an unreliable deal-cutter.

Moore goes on to observe that Hatch has voted for small and limited government over the past two years, which is “pristinely conservative.”  Hatch voted against the debt-ceiling extension, the auto bailouts and sugar subsidies.

In every political decision, politicians calculate how many votes are gained with the money spent on an interest group versus how many votes are lost. Over the past two years, Hatch has conformed because he fears the Tea Party.  This is the power of the Tea Party! 

Losing an election is what every politician fears. Hatch the “good old boy” from Utah was described by Walter Lippmann long before he was a Senator:

Successful … politicians are insecure and intimidated men. They advance politically only as they placate, appease, bribe, seduce, bamboozle or otherwise manage to manipulate the demanding and threatening elements in their constituencies.

The Tea Party Rebellion is the most important political force in American politics…today.  We the People must continuously demand and force politicians to vote for small and limited government.  Just as Hatch conformed, so will every politician, especially when they fear losing an election.