The Tea Party Movement is Our Fight

The “Tea Party” movement in America represents a broad segment of Americans who have finally had enough with politicians who say one thing and do another, who try to solve problems by spending more instead of spending more intelligently, and who seem more interested in their own agenda than representing the best interests and earnest wishes of people like you and me.

That this group of liberty-minded Americans has rallied around the Boston Tea Party of 1773 as their symbol tells a lot about their goals and perspectives. The Tea Party happened in Boston so many years ago because the government had imposed a tax to bailout- yes really! to bailout- the East India Trading Company, which was suffering under the English Parliament’s regulations and a shaky post-war economy. Any of that sound familiar?

Today’s Tea Party is likewise a movement of outrage against the bailout of corporate interests with money from hardworking and often struggling American families and households. In late 2008, when the government bailed out Wall Street, Americans finally had enough. Before winter had ended the following March, the Tea Party was starting to form and plan a nationwide day of protest on “Tax Day” (April 15th) and Independence Day (July 4th).

While the media often portrays the Tea Parties as a group of extreme right wing partisans, the foremost issue that galvanized these protests is one that can unite all Americans, Republicans and Democrats, Independents and Third Parties alike. That issue is the exploitation and marginalization of the working population, by an out-of-touch government, for the sake of corporate special interests.

While the images, words, and ideas of the Tea Party resonate strongly with Republicans, what Democrat doesn’t share the Tea Party’s disdain for corporate cronyism, demands for more transparency and accountability, and even their audacity to hope that our government might change for the better? As partisan and polarized as Americans may think we are, if we started really listening and trying to understand each other, we might be surprised to find that we share many interests and beliefs in common!

So what can people with sympathies for the Tea Party movement do to improve and reform our great nation? In the electoral arena we have to keep the lines of communication with our elected representatives open. Write, call, fax, and e-mail your elected officials to politely let them know what you think about issues that matter to you. They were elected to represent you! In an election year like this, we also have a responsibility to know what we think about important issues and why, but also to know what our elected representatives think about (but even more importantly how they have acted on) those same issues.

Every politician says great things on the campaign trail. Their words might really stir your soul and their promises may give you lots of hope, but as we have learned year after year for our whole lives, the promises are seldom kept. The best measure we can possibly use to predict a politician’s likelihood of delivering on their promises, is to examine their track record and see if they’ve kept their promises in the past. If you want to elect someone who will downsize government instead of growing it, don’t vote for someone who has a record of growing government. If we want a politician who pays attention to us, we had better pay attention to the politician’s record before casting our ballot.

The Tea Party could be a game-changer in the history of this great country. As a bold and growing movement of Americans who have finally had enough with business as usual in Washington, they have the spirit America needs to move forward and leave the corruption, reckless spending, and special interests behind us. But this will only happen if Americans are responsible enough to check and double check the histories of the people they elect before putting them in office. As Gary Johnson said in his campaign slogan when running for Governor of New Mexico, it is time to “put people before  politics”.