More indications that Tea Parties are not a GOP “thing”.
But disorganization has its benefits. This was not a partisan political event. The national GOP, and even most Republican members of Congress kept their distance. One elected representative who was there, State Rep. Joe Carr of Murfreesboro, was careful to draw a distinction that this Tea Party protest was a “conservative” movement, and not a Republican one. And by conservative, he meant not all Republicans, along with quite a few fiscally-responsible Democrats, Libertarians, and Independents. There were perhaps another dozen representatives who popped up from time to time to see what was happening–one legislative aide told me that the size of the rally astonished many of his fellow staffers on Capitol Hill. But for the most part, Tennessee’s representatives stayed on the sidelines like their national counterparts. Even when one of the speakers was nearby Congressman Marsha Blackburn, the event still kept its distance from the GOP, just as the GOP did from it. A sign near the center of the crowd summed up the sentiment succinctly: Above side-by-side pictures of President Bush and President Obama were the words “Dumb & Dumber”.
One source of the disorganization was that the event’s genesis was virtually all virtual. It was organized in the ether of the blogosphere and on social networks like Facebook. There were no paid community organizers there to organize things. Instead, it was several Tennessee bloggers who witnessed what they had a large hand in creating. Ben Cunningham, Kay Brooks, Jane Whitson, Blake Wylie (along with his lovely new bride) were all there recording the event, volunteers all.
Of course many, especially around “you know where”, will find the word “conservative” as or more distasteful than “GOP”. Keep in mind that there isn’t a “Conservative” party.
Also, take note of this…
There were no paid community organizers there to organize things.
I find that very refreshing, unlike ACORN and their ilk.
If Marsha Blackburn in a conservative, then call me something else.
Economic Stimulus. H.R. 5140, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, passed 385-35 on January 29, 2008 (Roll Call 25). It would provide about $150 billion in economic stimulus, including $101.1 billion in direct payments of rebate checks (typically $600) to most taxpayers in 2008 and temporary tax breaks for businesses. Creating money out of thin air and then spending the newly created money cannot improve the economy, at least not in the long term. (If it could, why not create even more money for rebates and make every American a millionaire?) The stimulus has no offset and thus increases the federal deficit by the amount of the stimulus because the government must borrow the rebate money. A realistic long-term stimulus can only be achieved by lowering taxes through less government and by reducing regulatory burdens. Marsha Blackburn voted FOR this bill.(Source: The New American – July 21, 2008)
Marsha Blackburn is my Congressman.
She is no conservative.
See her unconstitutional votes at :
http://bluecollarrepublican.com/blog/?p=614
Mickey