Article: The Tea Party Movement: what is it? July 14, 2010

It’s been a crazy day, but this article will assist me in my exploration into the world of the tea party.

http://biggovernment.com/oftheeising/2010/04/26/the-tea-party-movement-what-is-it/:

An Excerpt: “The common philosophical thread which does seem to run all through Tea Party adherents who speak out appears to be a sense that government has become too large, too overbearing, too much in debt and that it is muscling into our private lives as never before.”

– Sounds okay to me….

But I feel the need to compliment this more theoretical look at the Tea Party with a quote from a major Tea Partier at their National Convention this past February:

“Former Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo at the Tea Party convention in Nashville stated to applause, “People who could not even spell the word ‘vote’ or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House..his name is Barack Hussein Obama.”^[65]

This task would be much less daunting if I read more things like the first article and less things like this quote when trying to learn more about the Tea Party.

More later. Good night.

Understanding the Tea Party Movement [an attempt] July 13, 2010

The Tea Party has been around for about a year and a half now and I’ve never really understood it. My initial reaction was that it just doesn’t make sense that politicians, who are paid through tax dollars, are fighting against taxes. It also didn’t make much sense that people were being charged over $500 to attend a Tea Party convention. That didn’t seem very inclusive to me, I mean even if I wanted to attend, I couldn’t afford it, not because of the taxes I pay, but because of the student loan debt I’ve accrued, but that’s another rant.

So I plan on doing some analysis of the Tea Party movement and its values for my own understanding. Maybe it will help others understand it as well, I am open to any feedback and assistance in this venture.

———————————-

Brainstorming:

1. The basics

2. Bred from mistrust?

3. Socialism vs Obama’s policies

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The Basics: A compilation of information found on the Tea Party movement.

The Tea Party’s ‘Constitution’ if you will….. [from Wikipedia]

Contract From America:

The Contract lists 10 agenda items that it encourages congressional candidates to follow:^[72][73]

1. Identify constitutionality of every new law: Require each bill to identify the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does (82.03%).
2. Reject emissions trading: Stop the “cap and trade” administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants. (72.20%).
3. Demand a balanced federal budget: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax modification. (69.69%)
4. Simplify the tax system: Adopt a simple and fair single-rate tax system by scrapping the internal revenue code and replacing it with one that is no longer than 4,543 words — the length of the original Constitution.(64.9%).
5. Audit federal government agencies for constitutionality: Create a Blue Ribbon taskforce that engages in an audit of federal agencies and programs, assessing their Constitutionality, and identifying duplication, waste, ineffectiveness, and agencies and programs better left for the states or local authorities. (63.37%)
6. Limit annual growth in federal spending: Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of the inflation rate plus the percentage of population growth. (56.57%).
7. Repeal the health care legislation passed on March 23, 2010: Defund, repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (56.39%).
8. Pass an ‘All-of-the-Above’ Energy Policy: Authorize the exploration of additional energy reserves to reduce American dependence on foreign energy sources and reduce regulatory barriers to all other forms of energy creation. (55.5%).
9. Reduce Earmarks: Place a moratorium on all earmarks until the budget is balanced, and then require a 2/3 majority to pass any earmark. (55.47%).
10. Reduce Taxes: Permanently repeal all recent tax increases, and extend permanently the George W. Bush temporary reductions in income tax, capital gains tax and estate taxes, currently scheduled to end in 2011. (53.38%).

Now for my OPINION on these 10 items…

1. Sounds great but is unrealistic… the constitution is our foundation, like the foundation of a house, that doesn’t mean that you can’t add a room to that house, or knock down a wall in that house… Things have changed since 1787 and we need to have a government that adapts to those changes.

2. Reject Emissions Trading? Really? That’s #2? So 72% of the Tea Party supporters [who chose their name based on the Boston Tea Party which fought against taxation without representation from England] think Rejecting Emissions Trading is most important and 53% think Reducing Taxes is most important?? Something is strange there.

—> more tomorrow…..

lyrics and quotes July 9, 2009

Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

“We are here on Earth to fart around. Don’t let anybody tell you any different.”

“What you can become is the miracle you were born to be through the work that you do”

“What is life all about?… We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is”

“Power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get drunk on power”

Humanists try to behave as decently, as fairly, an das honorably as we can without any expectation of rewards or punishments in an afterlife”

The Beatles:

“Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see. It’s getting hard ot be someone but it all works out, it doesn’t matter much to me” – Strawberry Fields Forever

“And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer… Let it be”

“Freedom to Choose”?? April 11, 2009

So there is a documentary called “The Obama Deception”~ I haven’t actually watched the whole thing but apparently it is revealing the truth about how Obama is fulfilling “The New World Order” and how he’s really exactly the same as George W. Bush was and how they all just want to own us and other such ideas. 

This is fine, I am totally cool with people criticizing our government and questioning authority.. That is absolutely necessary and respected. But what I’m boggled about is a comment that some other reader left at the end, ya know on You Tube where you can leave comments about stuff if you give them your information and sign your life away to Google? (haha j/k)…

This person wrote, “I want the freedom to CHOOSE if I volunteer. He is FORCING our kids into community service. He’s destroying the nation and taking away our freedom. If you’re too stupid to see that, it doesn’t matter because you’ll experience it soon enough.
DUMBASSES”

This got me thinking about the phrase “freedom to choose”—-

I really want to understand this “freedom to choose” idea. It seems to me, that people, specifically American people, have discovered a way to turn a relatively positive phrase, “freedom to choose”, into a justification for living completely self-centered, destructive, almost evil, lives. I mean, how does a person write the words “He is FORCING our kids into community service” and really feel good about themselves afterwards? 

Granted, I respect that some people aren’t as gung ho as I am about serving people who are less fortunate or the planet that we live on. But I don’t know who can honestly find something wrong with doing it. 

It may be a sacrifice and it may not be fun, but I think that is where our “American culture” has gone wrong. We have been brought up on expecting everything to be fun or exciting or pleasurable… and if it’s not we disregard or even destroy it (i.e spraying DDT all over our farms and gardens…. oooops)

Also, this “freedom to choose” thing bugs me when I think about the fact that what we’re really saying is that you have the freedom to choose, as long as you choose what we say is right. Such as our entire war dedicated to bringing democracy to Iraq. So for some reason Iraqi people can’t successfully carry on a democracy unless they abandon their Muslim religion… because why exactly?? Has it been determined in some economic equation that Muslims simply can’t be democratic, only Christianity-based religions can uphold democracy… so you have the freedom to choose, as long as you choose to stop doing things that we don’t like or understand.

So whoever this person that wrote the comment on You Tube is, they think that they have the “freedom to choose” because when they drive down the street they have more fast food options than they can keep track of… but honestly, choosing between trans fat infested chicken from one place or trans fat infested beef from another is not really a “choice”.

So they pride themselves on having the freedom to choose… but mostly the freedom to not have to make any real decisions at all. 

—-> Or am I just way too liberal and missing the part of their comment that provided a realistic/respectable point of view?? Please enlighten me if you can shine some like on this…

An Admirable Leader November 7, 2008

          “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things” (Peter F. Drucker). This statement clearly expresses how I view leadership. I do not want to portray a cliché, emotional explanation of the leader I admire, even though a good leader should spark emotion and passion in people. The contrast between management and leadership is important because all too often, people reach a managerial position and suddenly develop an ego. These people are often undeserving of the honor, as Lee G. Bolman explains in his book, Reframing Organizations, “the most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage- management” (p. 8). I believe any person can be an admirable leader as long as they possess empathy, dedication, humility, and charisma.

            I graduated from DePaul University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences this past June. I almost did not attend the commencement ceremony because I dreaded the 3-hour ordeal. I was completely relieved to be done with school. I was thrilled to never have to write anymore 15-page papers or work in a group project ever again and I was ready for a full-time job. I attended the ceremony, remained uninterested during the first couple of speeches, and then Mae Jemison came onto the stage as our keynote speaker. She promised to be brief, she had a sense of humor, and her speech was about to completely change my mind about my life plans.

            She began her speech with praise for the city of Chicago, where she grew up. She talked about how the civil rights protests and activism that took place in the city affected her life and motivated her to be successful despite the racism and discouragement that surrounded her. She talked about her experiences as a student in medical school, serving in the Peace Corps, volunteering in Cambodia, and training in NASA to be the first African American woman in space. What struck me during this speech was not her ability to list her accomplishments in front of a crowd, but that she could do it with such humility. I sat in the audience, listening to this doctor, volunteer, astronaut woman express gratitude for the things we, the graduates, might go out into the world and accomplish. She managed to speak about her life and use those words to motivate me to want to do more than simply graduate and get a full time job.

            I left that ceremony, celebrated with my family, and went to sleep that night thinking about how much I did not want to fall into the first job that would hire me and remain stuck there for the rest of my life. I realized that Dr. Jemison’s speech had really changed my outlook on life. I honestly felt like if I did not pursue my larger life goals, I would be letting her down! She had such an impact on me, and I never even shook her hand. During the next few days I searched the Internet for jobs, graduate schools, the Peace Corps, and whatever other interesting opportunities I came across. I believe that I would not be pursuing a master’s degree right now if I had not attended graduation and saw Dr. Jemison speak.

            Dr. Jemison’s accomplishments are unquestionably the result of her empathy and dedication. She knew early in life that she wanted to work to help those in need via science and medicine. She could have pursued the moneymaking path that many other people who have her level of education do, but she dedicated years to serving in situations that were essentially unpaid. These are vital characteristics for an admirable leader because they reveal the selflessness of the person; they ensure that the person will always have their followers’ best interest at heart. Although empathy and dedication are essential to make a good leader, they are not enough. Plenty of people can accomplish amazing things, but if they are socially inept, they will not make good leaders. Humility and charisma are things I admire in a leader. People like Dr. Jemison, who can connect with their audience, who can make them realize they are on a team, and who accept criticism make the best kinds of leaders.