I am all for people staging protests. In fact, it’s actually kind of cute when these people are mostly folks who’ve decided what their reality is, generally don’t have solutions to current problems and specifically didn’t have much to say when the basis of our current havoc starting floating around many years ago. It’s almost starting to get cliche - our politics. Democrats/Liberals/all around non rich people who have a certain entitlement issue about them are usually pummeled for voicing their opinions about trickle down theories, budget favors for major corporations, going to war when we’re broke over reasons that aren’t transparent. I mean the list could go on but I’d really sound like Michael from Archie Bunker. Nobody ever won that argument. It just ended in offensive yuk yuks. Hey, wait. I think we have something here. Maybe that’s what the tea parties are. Offensive yuk yuks. Me and every other person who feels like our current President is really trying to make a difference here (what happened to all those conservatives who didn’t criticize George Bush because they were taught to respect their current President - was that hogwash?) have wondered when the solutions instead of the “nos” from the other sides will come in. Is tea going to help the economy? I wasn’t a genius in high school but I do remember some Econ 101 (with my orange crazy curly haired Magnum PI wannabe teacher). The money has got to come from somewhere or else that lovely “super power” title that we all hold so dear is going to get crowned to some other country. How would you like them apples? Like Obama said, “no money, no customers, no customers, no business.” Instead of pouring tea in the water, why don’t you go buy some more tea? And cake. And a vacation. And a car. And a house or something. Pull that dough out of your mattress and give it to a local sign maker instead of being cheap and putting your magic markers to poster board and holding it up at Veteran sites (see Kansas Vet Memorial sites).
Here’s a little ditty pulled from the Cato Institute:
President Bush has presided over the largest overall increase in inflation-adjusted federal spending since Lyndon B. Johnson. Even after excluding spending on defense and homeland security, Bush is still the biggest-spending president in 30 years. His 2006 budget doesn’t cut enough spending to change his place in history, either.
Total government spending grew by 33 percent during Bush’s first term. The federal budget as a share of the economy grew from 18.5 percent of GDP on Clinton’s last day in office to 20.3 percent by the end of Bush’s first term.
The Republican Congress has enthusiastically assisted the budget bloat. Inflation-adjusted spending on the combined budgets of the 101 largest programs they vowed to eliminate in 1995 has grown by 27 percent.
Wait, I thought you Republicans wanted less government. How did your boy get to grow it more? Confused? Me too. Here’s a listing of the past 8 years of debt from the Bureau of Public Debt (we have some folks tracking this stuff, kids):
09/30/2008 $10,024,724,896,912.49
09/30/2007 $9,007,653,372,262.48
09/30/2006 $8,506,973,899,215.23
09/30/2005 $7,932,709,661,723.50
09/30/2004 $7,379,052,696,330.32
09/30/2003 $6,783,231,062,743.62
09/30/2002 $6,228,235,965,597.16
09/30/2001 $5,807,463,412,200.06
09/30/2000 $5,674,178,209,886.86
What exactly is your protest about? Is it about keeping your business as usual at a time when there is no such thing as usual or are you throwing party tantrums? If it’s party thing, drink your tea and buy some cake so you can stimulate the economy and stop running your mouth about stuff you don’t want to understand.