Politics
It’s Not Gridlock–It’s Game On! The Tea Party Vs. The Flea Party
Though I don’t agree with either the message or methods of the Occupy Wall Street crowd, I’m glad they’ve taken the field in America’s culture war.
For quite some time the mainstream media have told us that the problem in Washington, D.C. is gridlock–that our politicians just need to listen to one another, and then come up with some bi-partisan solutions to the nation’s problems.
We are told ad nauseam that political gridlock is the problem–that both conservatives and liberals are to blame–and that the answer is to heed the call for civility made by Rodney King in 1992:
“You know, can we all get along?”
But now thanks to Occupy Wall Street, the truth is clear: The game to shape America’s future is on–the teams have taken the field–and only one team can win. It’s a cultural clash that will end in victory for one side and defeat for the other.
For which side will you fight?
I think it’s helpful to compare the 2011-2012 US culture war to the American game of football. Two teams take the field. They go at one another for sixty minutes–there is back and forth, ebb and flow of the contest–bruises aplenty and even some serious injuries. In the end, only one team is the victor. The groups don’t compromise–they don’t work out a plan to make everybody happy.
They fight it out on the field and the best team wins. Real wars work the same way.
With the 2012 election looming, America is engaged in a desperate and serious struggle for its future. I know of a Christian leader who has a book coming out this fall who believes that the next president of the United States will affect history for good or evil for the next one hundred years.
Whether he right or not, this I do know: For the next thirteen months, the game is on.
Here’s my view of the contest.
Team One – The Tea Party
One team in America desires to renew America’s exceptional roots. This team is best symbolized by the Tea Party movement which burst on the scene in 2009 in response to the election of Barack Obama and his desire to take the nation in the direction of socially-democratic Europe. Spontaneous gatherings erupted around the nation of ordinary Americans, many in their middle and latter years, who carried a clear message to their elected officials of the need for reduced spending, lower taxes, and limiting the size and scope of government.
The Tea Party movement, like its revolutionary namesake, lit a fire for traditional Christian values and the type of limited government it produces. The movement got heavily involved in grass roots politics and saw landslide victories in the 2010 elections. In 2012 they hope to win the presidency, gain a majority in the US Senate, and retain the House of Representatives. They also understand the need for small government leadership in our towns, cities, and statehouses.
Tea Party activists–and the people who resonate with them–desire an America that acknowledges God in our public life, supports traditional values including marriage, free market capitalism, and our God-given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Justice is seen as creating a level playing field for all people where some can become successful if they choose–and others can settle for less if they desire.
In this Judeo-Christian worldview, every person is responsible before God for their outcomes in life. Character determines destiny. Government’s job is to protect people’s rights and punish evil both inside and outside our borders.
The Tea Party Team is the “home” team. They are historic America. They are composed of conservatives and independents with at least a memory of biblical ideas and how they made America great. They want to see those ideals flourish in our land again.
Team Two – The Flea Party
This is symbolized by the Occupy Wall Street crowd. The movement was recently nick-named by conservative columnist Ann Coulter. I’ll let her explain the meaning of the Flea Party moniker:
“So far, the only major accomplishment of the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protesters is that they have finally put an end to their previous initiative, ‘Occupy Our Mothers’ Basements.'”
“Oddly enough for such a respectable-looking group — a mixture of adolescents looking for a cause, public sector union members, drug dealers, criminals, teenage runaways, people who have been at every protest since the Berkeley Free Speech Movement… they can’t even explain what they’re protesting.”
“The protesters either treat inquiries about their purpose as a trick question, or — worse — instantly rattle off a series of insane causes: “No. 1, abolish capitalism; No. 2, because 9/11 was an inside job; No. 3, because Mumia is innocent …”
“Curiously, the only point universally agreed upon by the protesters and their admirers in the Democratic Party and the mainstream media is that “Occupy Wall Street” should be compared to the tea party. Yes, that would be the same tea party that has been denounced and slandered by the Democratic Party and the mainstream media for the last three years.”
“As a refresher: The Democratic National Committee called the tea partiers ‘angry mobs’ and ‘rabid right-wing extremists.’ ABC said they were a ‘mob.’ CNN accused them of ‘rabble rousing.’ Harry Reid called them ‘evil mongers.’ Nancy Pelosi said they were ‘un-American.'”
“But apparently liberals couldn’t even convince themselves that tea partiers were an extremist group unworthy of emulation. At least they’re embarrassed about what the OWS protesters really are: wingless, bloodsucking and parasitic. This is the flea party, not the tea party.”
Ann’s not far off. Just look at the current protests. They’re made up of primarily young people and older hippie-types who seem to enjoy slamming the system. They were joined–and many even paid to protest– by some labor organizations and communist/socialist groups backed by the progressive pockets of George Soros.
The Flea Party wants to destroy America as we know it. They are the “visiting” team who do not believe in our history. Though their message might be jaded by too much marijuana inhalation, they want bigger government, taking money from the rich and giving it to others, cradle-to grace entitlements, and I guess–a socialist utopia like, say, the Soviet Union! (Whoops–wrong example. That didn’t end well… How about Venezuela, Cuba, or North Korea?).
Interestingly, our current Democratic leaders are embracing the Flea Party. President Obama might have launched the movement himself with his incessant class warfare rhetoric over the past few months. It could be a re-election strategy: Take attention off the dismal moral and financial problems facing our nation–he can’t run on his record–and blame the greedy fat cats on Wall Street! (Whoops again–Wall Street gave historic amounts of money to Barack Obama in 2008…Oh well, people might not remember.)
The Flea Party is a cultural team devoted to secular values. They want God and his prudish morals out of America and demand a Bigger Uncle Same to play Robin Hood–to take from the rich and give to the poor. They’re willing to start a violent revolution if necessary (a la Europe?) to bring about transformative change. This team is mostly made up of liberal progressives and left-leaning independents. They want Big Government to level and control the playing field.
But Erick Erickson of redstate.com has a better solution:
“The point is not that we now need to punish those big businesses. The point is that we need to re-level the playing field and make it a fair competition between entrepreneur and corporation again. We need big business to stop living off the taxpayer dole. We need a new age of corporate welfare reform like the welfare reform of the 1990s.”
“The playing field has been tilted toward the big businesses because they are the only ones who had the capital to stay ahead of government regulations and new government burdens, and the influence to bend new laws in their direction. The playing field does not need to be tipped back in favor of others. Just level it. An upright tower build on a slope will topple the moment the slope is laid flat.”
The Referees
Every football games has its refs, and our present titanic clash is no exception. At the present time, the majority of the referees are the liberal mainstream media who demean the Tea Party and sympathize with the Flea Party. They support Barack Obama and want to see America permanently changed. They’re similar to the referees of the 2006 Super Bowl between the Steelers and the Seahawks who said they were neutral but really favored Pittsburgh on a number of controversial calls.
Seattle coach Mike Holgren said at that time that he expected to play the Steelers–not the men in black and white stripes. I feel the same today. Media bias makes it very difficult for the Tea Party traditionalists to win.
However, the emergence of Fox News and conservative radio has placed a few other refs on the field that could influence the outcome.
But it’s still an uphill battle.
For the next thirteen months these two teams and their philosophical allies will be fighting it out on the gridiron of the American destiny. Only one team will win. The wild card of this contest is which side will God’s people join. Will they pray and get involved to bring the United States back to its godly roots? Or will the Church unwittingly support the dissolving of our godly heritage?
It’s time to think clearly. This is not about gridlock. The game is on. One team will win and the other will lose.
It’s that simple and that profound.
I hope we choose wisely. Our future hangs in the balance.
Rick Perry—GameChanger–and a Fascinating Flashback
Texas Governor Rick Perry’s Saturday announcement to seek the Republican nomination for president of the United States had been expected for some time–but is still a game changer in the 2012 race.
It came on a politically loaded day that saw Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann win the Iowa Straw Poll 29% to 28% over Rep. Ron Paul. Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty came in fourth and had the “class” and wisdom to withdraw from the race a day later.
With Perry’s announcement, Bachmann’s win, and Mitt Romney’s top tier status, I’m having an unusual flashback to a previous era.
Perry is the key to it–but the other comparisons are very interesting…
First of all, Rick Perry.
His entrance into the race is truly a game changer because he is the clearest alternative to Barack Obama for a number of reasons:
Executive experience
He’s the longest serving governor in America at eleven years and counting. Barack Obama entered the White House with zero years of executive experience under his belt–and it has showed in a very inept presidency including his lack of leadership in the recent debt-ceiling debate. If it weren’t for what Sean Hannity calls the “Obamamania Media,” Barack Obama would be compared to Jimmy Carter–one of the most ineffective presidents in history.
Not Perry. He’s a skilled leader and manager whose administrative team has been together a long time and brings rave reviews everywhere they go.
Job-creating expertise
Though jobs can be counted in a variety of ways, a clear consensus says that the state of Texas, under Rick Perry’s leadership, has created 30-50 percent of all the jobs created in the United States in the past ten years. That amounts to nearly one million jobs in just one of the fifty states. Very impressive. This stands in stark contrast to the abysmal loss of jobs and rising unemployment under the Obama administration.
The simple truth is that Governor Rick Perry and the state of Texas understand that balanced budgets, lower debt and taxes, less government regulations, greater freedoms for entrepreneurs–i.e. smaller government–is the engine of job growth.
On the other hand the Obama Administration is stuck in the failed philosophy of Keynesian economic ideas–that government stimulus and controls are the key to economic prosperity.
It didn’t work in FDR’s New Deal and it’s not working now.
The experts keep saying that Obama has “run out of options.” Really? No, he’s just run out of the wrong options of government interventionism that are cursing our economic recovery. He could easily pivot to many of the right actions of shrinking deficits, modifying entitlements, getting rid of onerous federal regulations, and reforming the tax code.
But Barack Obama is deeply committed to the European socialist model of wealth re-distribution. He doesn’t appear willing to change.
Commitment to constitutional, limited government.
Perry is known for his commitment to smaller, leaner, Constitution-based government. Texas is famous for this equation and it shows in their robust economy. This is really the choice being offered to Americans in 2012: Do you want the Big Government policies of Barack Obama to guide into the 21st century, or are you willing to return to the time-tested formula of the US Constitution and its principles which brought America into greatness?
All of the Republican candidates believe in cutting the size or growth of government–but Rick Perry has actually done it in America’s second largest state. He is a clear alternative to Barack Obama’s faith in the ever-growing nannny state and its immense restraints on freedom.
Evangelical faith
A number of the Republican candidates are strong evangelicals (such as Rick Santorum, Michelle Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty), but Rick Perry’s faith also produces action. He was the recent visionary for The Response which drew scores of thousands of people to Texans Stadium for a day of fasting and prayer for America. Many others joined them from around the nation.
Rick Perry understands the fundamental equation for liberty: Faith in God in individual lives and familes–producing morality and stability in society–creating freedom, opportunity, inventiveness and prosperity.
Governor Perry had the guts to call the nation–and its 49 other governors–to a 2 Chronicles 7:14 day of repentance before God on August 6. He personally led the gathering in prayer. He understand that economic tweaks or reforms won’t get us anywhere if we are not right with God as a people. Talk about inspiring hope and change!
That leads me to my first flashback: Rick Perry reminds me an awful lot of Ronald Reagan–who, in my book, was the greatest president of the 20th century. Perry has Reagan’s faith, worldview, executive experience in a large state, charisma, humility, and potential.
Rick Perry is a game-changer for the 2012 elections.
Then there is the rising star of Michelle Bachmann. She is one of the most principled voices of the current GOP candidates. She is also a strong evangelical, a mother who has raised 26 foster children, an attorney, an effective legislator–and in her words–a woman with a “titanium spine” who will stop the disease of runaway spending and over dependence on government.
She’s not only articulate on the stump–but she’s fearless in her positions and the causes that she believes in. This is the reason that America appears to be falling in love with her: They know that she is an uncompromising leader who could also bring us some true hope for the future.
Michelle Bachmann reminds me of another flashback–Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain. Mrs. Thatcher was known for her strong faith and conservative principles. During her tenure as English PM from 1979-1990, she earned the nickname of “The Iron Lady.”
Michelle Bachmann fits the same bill. And God knows we need some leaders with spine to take us through the difficult days ahead.
Then there is Mitt Mitt Romney, a leading contender for the Republican nomination. Mitt is a Mormon with good principles and strong executive experience as governor of Massachusetts. Probably his greatest asset is his business acumen and experience which is definitely needed in the government sphere.
Mitt Romney brings me a flashback of businessman Ross Perot. He also ran for president to bring good business sense back into the public domain.
Watch for the “Impalinization” for all three of these candidates in the coming months. That’s a made-up word. It’s a combination of “impale” which means to: a. To pierce with a sharp stake or point.b. To torture or kill by impaling.” And it refers to the unfair but successful media destruction of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential campaign and years following.
The secular press, which wants the United States to continue heading in a secular/socialist direction, will use every tactic of “Impalinization” to destroy these three leaders between now and November 2012.
Let’s pray against the bias, and ask God for his truth to prevail.
I’m having a flashback of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Ross Perot in Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann, and Mitt Romney–all in one party and election. Call it a Dream Team.
I don’t know if the comparisons fit, but time will tell. The other conservative candidates are also very attractive and deserve a chance to compete.
May God guide us in our choice of leaders, forgive us as a people for turning from Him and His ways, and bring blessing and renewal to these United States of America.
The Compromise: The Tea Party Erects a Speed Bump
The battle over increasing the debt ceiling for the United States government ended today when Congress approved and the president signed a bill that would raise the current debt limit by 400 billion dollars. The House vote was 269-161 and Senate approved the measure 74-26. It was a hard fought battle that kept the nation and world on edge for days.
I’m greatly disappointed in the compromise–though pleased with some details–and have been thinking about a phrase that describes the ordeal we have just experienced:
You can’t see the forest for the trees.
Here are a few of the trees: The mainstream media is calling the debt ceiling compromise a huge victory for the Tea Party movement. They say that Barack Obama’s showed strong leadership, politics as usual was demonstrated by both parties, and that the “compromise” was a good thing in the end.
They are wrong.
These are just trees–not the bigger picture.
What’s really happened is that the Tea Party managed to erect a temporary speed bump in front of runaway government spending and begin to re-frame the debate. The “forest” of financial disaster still looms in front of us–dark and foreboding.
We must continue to fight to save our Republic.
Before we discuss the bigger war and battles that lie ahead, let’s look at the “speed bump” that was erected this week.
Here’s how the Family Research Council saw it:
“The framework…would raise the debt limit by at least $2.4 trillion and get Obama and congressional Democrats past their target date: Election Day 2012. In return for this generous political cover, Democrats would agree to a modest $1 trillion in supposed cuts spread out over 10 years; $350 billion of those “upfront” savings come from gutting national security resources.”
“A trillion dollars over 10 years is not sufficient to impress credit rating agencies, which have threatened to downgrade America’s credit status. In fact, Moody’s announced that: “Reductions of the magnitude now being proposed, if adopted, would likely lead Moody’s to adopt a negative outlook on the AAA rating.” The current plan does not improve upon either of those earlier plans.”
“In addition to the $1 trillion, the framework sets up a ‘special’ congressional committee that would seek $1.4 trillion in ‘deficit reduction’ by the end of 2011. Of course, for liberals, ‘deficit reduction’ is synonymous with ‘higher taxes.'”
“If the commission’s recommendations are not enacted, across-the-board spending cuts would be triggered, half of which (nearly $500 billion) would come from national security spending. Every honest observer knows the problem is entitlement spending, not the defense budget or a lack of revenue. Defense spending has been on the decline for decades, as a percentage of GDP. It is currently below its historical average of 5.2 percent of GDP. Meanwhile, entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid) grew from 2.5 percent of GDP in 1965 to over 10 percent today and represent 60 percent of the total federal budget.”
The Heritage Foundation saw the debt ceiling compromise in these terms:
“Unfortunately for taxpayers, most of these cuts are to what the country would have spent, not what we are spending. In other words, the government will keep growing, just at a slower rate. The Left will have the satisfaction of raising our credit limit for six months but spreading the pain of cuts over 10 years. Obviously, we have no way to estimate what inflation will be in 2021, but we can look back on the cost of living over the last 10 years and see that the value of the dollar diminished by about 24% since 2001. If the next decade is similar to the last, then $1 trillion in cuts today will be more like $800 million in cuts tomorrow. “
“To help hold Congress’s feet to the fire on deficit reduction, the deal does asks for a second wave of spending cuts this year. The only hitch is, those cuts would be determined by a select number of congressmen. It’s been dubbed the Super Committee, and judging by the description, there’s a lot to dislike. Twelve members (six from each chamber and six from each party) will have to find ways to slash the deficit by another $1.6 trillion before the end of the year. If they don’t, a surge of cuts to the defense and Medicare budgets would automatically go into effect.”
“On the bright side, the agreement does make a vote on the Balanced Budget Amendment a condition of the final deal. Any victories the GOP can claim in this debate are owed to hard-core conservatives like Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio), Michele Bachmann (Minn.), Steve King (Iowa), and Louie Gohmert (Texas), who held firm in the face of enormous political pressure. Without their resolve, there would have been little to negotiate.”
So here’s what it all means–to get back to the “forest” analogy. I want to lay this out in stark terms so that you don’t miss the big picture:
Today, the United States government is 14.5 trillion dollars in debt. In less than two years we will be over 17 trillion dollars in debt–and gobbling up 25% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Our historic average is 18%. We are currently running deficits of over 1.5 trillion dollars a year–for as far as the eye can see. We borrow forty- three cents of every dollar that we spend. Next year, the so-called “cuts” will be a measly 22 billion dollars.
That’s six days of federal spending.
A dirty little secret–the true “Satan Sandwich”of our current deficit binge–is that none of the “cuts” that are mentioned above are actual reductions in spending. Federal entitlement programs–currently 60% of the US Budget–increase 7-8% each year. All so-called “cuts” are really cuts in the growth rate of Big Government–nothing more.
Imagine your family bringing in $60,000 a year in income, but spending $100,000. You are $1,000,000 in debt and it’s begun to grow exponentially. To stop the bleeding, you decide to spend $107,000 next year instead of $108,000. And on and on.
If you did that in the real world, you would crash and burn.
Sound crazy?
Well, that’s the Federal Government “dealing with the problem.” There’s no real reckoning with reality–just a slight retarding of a nasty habit that will have devastating consequences in this nation and the world economy if we allow it to continue.
Yes, we do need to give the Tea Party legislators credit. Without 120 courageous members in the House of Representatives, the debt ceiling would have been raised with a yawn–and there would be no discussion of “cuts” of any type. During the first two years of the Obama administration, when the liberals controlled all branches of government, we spent four trillion dollars inflating our National-Debt-and-Government Monster.
Thanks to the Tea Party, a speed bump has been erected. It doesn’t stop the runaway car–it just slows it slightly. It’s a small victory in a big war, but unless we win the war, the United States is finished as a nation.
A black, ugly, destructive forest of financial disaster still looms in front of us. The liberal elements still control the White House and half of Congress. If we do not stop them, the United States as we know it will be added to the ash heap of history.
We will be Greece–times one thousand–and fade into obscurity.
As people of faith and courage, our marching orders remain clear.
1. We must decisively win back control of the United States Senate in the 2012 elections to stop the progressive spending insanity. We must increase our majority in the House of Representatives.
2. We must defeat Barack Obama in 2012 with a conservative candidate with spine and vision to make the hard choices to pare down entitlements.
3. We must pass a responsible balanced budget amendment and have it ratified by the states. Our leaders in Washington will never have the guts to do it.
4. We must change our current tax code from a job-squelching progressive income tax to a fair tax or a flat tax. This would make the United States the investment haven on the world.
5. Over time we need to pay-off our 14.5 trillion dollar debt.
To accomplish the above legislative goals, we need to change ourselves first. As individuals and families, we need to reject irresponsible debt and live within our means. We need give up our entitlement mentality and take more responsibility for our own lives.
The government does not owe us a certain standard of living. It owes us an “honest money–just society” that gives equal opportunity to all people and protects us from our enemies.
And to accomplish that, we need more of God in our hearts and practices.
This coming Saturday, August 6, “The Response” is taking place in Houston, Texas, and many cities around our nation. I encourage you to participate. It’s a national call, led by Texas Governor Rick Perry, for America to return to its God-fearing roots.
The Tea Party erected a speed bump–a warning.
But only a prayerful, repentant response to God can get us completely turned around and moving in the right direction as a nation.