Reasoned Answers, Please: What Happens If US Defaults?

[∞∞∞]

I understand that constituents voting Tea Party members into office is part of the democratic process. Citizens have an absolute right to vote for whomever they want. But also part of the democratic process is to engage with representatives of other constituencies. No one ideology has precedence over another and that's what the Tea Party doesn't get. Representatives need to do what's best for their constituents at the local level . At the national level, they need do what's best for the country. (That reasoning is also why we should have a limited national government)

It doesn't matter anyways. Columbia's spoken and her sword is aimed right at the Tea Party...

[kalm]

I understand that constituents voting Tea Party members into office is part of the democratic process. Citizens have an absolute right to vote for whomever they want. But also part of the democratic process is to engage with representatives of other constituencies. No one ideology has precedence over another and that's what the Tea Party doesnt get...

My first venture into political activism was to join the Tea Party movement but, after devoting massive amounts of my time, I realized I disagreed with the divisive message and direction some of the leaders were promoting.  What I learned from my time with the Tea Party is that I would rather reach out across the political spectrum and focus on issues and dialogue that unify the country, rather than focusing on things that divide us.

I am not ashamed of my time with the Tea Party.  All I really did was speak from the heart and stand up for what I thought was right.  Admittedly, at times, I was consumed by emotions of anger and true, heartfelt sadness.  Sometimes, it clouded my better judgment and made it more difficult to remain humble. Yes, from time to time I gave in to kneejerk reactions, emotions and my own hypocrisies too.  I'm just like you, I'm human. 

(If you are curious, please read my original, long-winded rant, from back when my blog was called Operation Pitchfork.)

My differences with the Tea Party started when I began to question the leadership and when I began speaking of uniting around a more inclusive and open idea for a real grassroots movement for American unity.  I was banned for "causing problems."  By "causing problems" they meant presenting facts and arguments they couldn't intelligently rebut.

Once I was banned, it started an avalanche of people getting banned and kicked off of their online network.

I've had the opportunity to build several bridges across the political divide. I personally watched influential leadership within other movements, both conservative and liberal; take the easy way out by remaining faithful to the status quo of our corporate ruled and divisive establishment.

http://www.coffeepartyusa.com/brooks-backstory" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[JoltinJoe]

I don't think I'm giving the Tea Party too much credit. I think many of them are zealots. My point is simply that so many of them are in Washington now because the President played politics with the national health care plan at a time when so many people were hurting economically.

A guy I know went to a Tea Party rally just to see what was going down. Many people there, he thought, were no more than curious. A speaker gets up and says, "Raise your hands. How many of you have benefited from our new Obamacare program?" Not a hand went up. He then said, "How many of you are hurting in some way economically because of this anemic recovery?" And every hand went up.

A lot of attention gets paid to those people at the Tea Party rallies holding signs with misspellings; or the dopes spewing hate speech. But very cogent moments like the one above described to me are really the impact moments that get people to the polls.

Fair enough Joe. Agree his timing and priorities may have been ****.

Obama has been unfairly villified by the Tea Party. He was handed a **** mess of a nation.

He's black and he tried to do something admirable for the poor - hence their hatred.

I think you overstate the racial motivations of the Tea Party. Sure, some hate the President for those reasons, but dismissing the Tea Party and the reasons it has become such a phenomenon is a political mistake.

Imagine you're a middle-class husband who has lost his job, can pay for only the basics, own a home which is underwater, and may not be able to make your mortgage payments -- all the while just four years ago, you thought you had achieved financial stability beyond your wildest dreams. And while struggling to keep your head above water, the President you sent to Washington (remember, Pres. Obama trailed McCain in the polls until McCain's dumb statement of 9/15/2008 that the "fundamentals of our economy are sound") rams through a national health care bill while unemployment goes up over 2 points under his watch. And you still have no job, or maybe you have a part-time job, or you are under-employed.

It's not that the Tea Party is right; it is simply that it now has leverage, and it gained that leverage because the administration was not responsive to the immediate needs of the American people. Now it has to deal with the consequences of its political decisions.

[D1B]

Fair enough Joe. Agree his timing and priorities may have been ****.

Obama has been unfairly villified by the Tea Party. He was handed a **** mess of a nation.

He's black and he tried to do something admirable for the poor - hence their hatred.

I think you overstate the racial motivations of the Tea Party. Sure, some hate the President for those reasons, but dismissing the Tea Party and the reasons it has become such a phenomenon is a political mistake.

Imagine you're a middle-class husband who has lost his job, can pay for only the basics, own a home which is underwater, and may not be able to make your mortgage payments -- all the while just four years ago, you thought you had achieved financial stability beyond your wildest dreams. And while struggling to keep your head above water, the President you sent to Washington (remember, Pres. Obama trailed McCain in the polls until McCain's dumb statement of 9/15/2008 that the "fundamentals of our economy are sound") rams through a national health care bill while unemployment goes up over 2 points under his watch. And you still have no job, or maybe you have a part-time job, or you are under-employed.

It's not that the Tea Party is right; it is simply that it now has leverage, and it gained that leverage because the administration was not responsive to the immediate needs of the American people. Now it has to deal with the consequences of its political decisions.

Agree.

[kalm]

Fair enough Joe. Agree his timing and priorities may have been ****.

Obama has been unfairly villified by the Tea Party. He was handed a **** mess of a nation.

He's black and he tried to do something admirable for the poor - hence their hatred.

I think you overstate the racial motivations of the Tea Party. Sure, some hate the President for those reasons, but dismissing the Tea Party and the reasons it has become such a phenomenon is a political mistake.

Imagine you're a middle-class husband who has lost his job, can pay for only the basics, own a home which is underwater, and may not be able to make your mortgage payments -- all the while just four years ago, you thought you had achieved financial stability beyond your wildest dreams. And while struggling to keep your head above water, the President you sent to Washington (remember, Pres. Obama trailed McCain in the polls until McCain's dumb statement of 9/15/2008 that the "fundamentals of our economy are sound") rams through a national health care bill while unemployment goes up over 2 points under his watch. And you still have no job, or maybe you have a part-time job, or you are under-employed.

It's not that the Tea Party is right; it is simply that it now has leverage, and it gained that leverage because the administration was not responsive to the immediate needs of the American people. Now it has to deal with the consequences of its political decisions.

Good post.

Why are all of the tea party candidates/congressman Republican? How many of them publicly recognize the private sector drain on the treasury?

[JoltinJoe]

I think you overstate the racial motivations of the Tea Party. Sure, some hate the President for those reasons, but dismissing the Tea Party and the reasons it has become such a phenomenon is a political mistake.

Imagine you're a middle-class husband who has lost his job, can pay for only the basics, own a home which is underwater, and may not be able to make your mortgage payments -- all the while just four years ago, you thought you had achieved financial stability beyond your wildest dreams. And while struggling to keep your head above water, the President you sent to Washington (remember, Pres. Obama trailed McCain in the polls until McCain's dumb statement of 9/15/2008 that the "fundamentals of our economy are sound") rams through a national health care bill while unemployment goes up over 2 points under his watch. And you still have no job, or maybe you have a part-time job, or you are under-employed.

It's not that the Tea Party is right; it is simply that it now has leverage, and it gained that leverage because the administration was not responsive to the immediate needs of the American people. Now it has to deal with the consequences of its political decisions.

Good post.

Why are all of the tea party candidates/congressman Republican? How many of them publicly recognize the private sector drain on the treasury?

Most of them are Republicans because the Republican party is the party of smaller government -- when it is a minority party or when they are campaigning. Actually, there are many Republicans who are actually committed to the concept of smaller government and that's why the Tea Party finds a base in the Republican party.

Do they know how the private sector drains the treasury? Many of them do and oppose that spending too. Many of the Tea Party roasted the Bush Administration over the TARP legislation, for example.

[AZGrizFan]

Good post.

Why are all of the tea party candidates/congressman Republican? How many of them publicly recognize the private sector drain on the treasury?

Most of them are Republicans because the Republican party is the party of smaller government -- when it is a minority party or when they are campaigning. Actually, there are many Republicans who are actually committed to the concept of smaller government and that's why the Tea Party finds a base in the Republican party.

Do they know how the private sector drains the treasury? Many of them do and oppose that spending too. Many of the Tea Party roasted the Bush Administration over the TARP legislation, for example.

The problem is, now that we have a base again that actually BELIEVES in smaller government, they seem like radicals....neocons have ruled the day for about 30 years.

[death dealer]

Word on the street is that U.S. debt is almost certainly getting downgraded no matter what they do. There is blood in the water.

[kalm]

Most of them are Republicans because the Republican party is the party of smaller government -- when it is a minority party or when they are campaigning. Actually, there are many Republicans who are actually committed to the concept of smaller government and that's why the Tea Party finds a base in the Republican party.
Do they know how the private sector drains the treasury? Many of them do and oppose that spending too. Many of the Tea Party roasted the Bush Administration over the TARP legislation, for example.

The problem is, now that we have a base again that actually BELIEVES in smaller government, they seem like radicals....neocons have ruled the day for about 30 years.

Also a good point, problem being that too many in that base also believe in the magical fairytale pixie dust of objectivism and Reaganomics.

[CID1990]

Most of them are Republicans because the Republican party is the party of smaller government -- when it is a minority party or when they are campaigning. Actually, there are many Republicans who are actually committed to the concept of smaller government and that's why the Tea Party finds a base in the Republican party.

Do they know how the private sector drains the treasury? Many of them do and oppose that spending too. Many of the Tea Party roasted the Bush Administration over the TARP legislation, for example.

The problem is, now that we have a base again that actually BELIEVES in smaller government, they seem like radicals....neocons have ruled the day for about 30 years.

That is the most alarming thing about all this. The Jeffersonians are the new radicals.

Well, I guess things do come full circle.

[D1B]

The problem is, now that we have a base again that actually BELIEVES in smaller government, they seem like radicals....neocons have ruled the day for about 30 years.

Also a good point, problem being that too many in that base also believe in the magical fairytale pixie dust of objectivism and Reaganomics.

They all believe in that shit, including Z.

[Cap'n Cat]

Most of them are Republicans because the Republican party is the party of smaller government -- when it is a minority party or when they are campaigning. Actually, there are many Republicans who are actually committed to the concept of smaller government and that's why the Tea Party finds a base in the Republican party.

Do they know how the private sector drains the treasury? Many of them do and oppose that spending too. Many of the Tea Party roasted the Bush Administration over the TARP legislation, for example.

The problem is, now that we have a base again that actually BELIEVES in smaller government, they seem like radicals....neocons have ruled the day for about 30 years.

They've only won the rhetoric race. If anyone believed their bullsh*t, we'd be overrun by Conks.

[AZGrizFan]

The problem is, now that we have a base again that actually BELIEVES in smaller government, they seem like radicals....neocons have ruled the day for about 30 years.

They've only won the rhetoric race. If anyone believed their bullsh*t, we'd be overrun by Conks.

I'm talking about WITHIN the republican party.

[ODUsmitty]

I'd be very open to just giving the Chinese Washington State and Oregon in return for our debts being forgiven. Would get a bunch of unbathed, foul-smelling, hairy, liberal, non-working tree-huggers out of this wonderful country and the Chinese would inherit a new football stadium that looks like a well-used maxipad.