Ooh! A graph! Some lines go up and others don't! It's like Al Gore's global warming graph, except that one was a lie and this one isn't! Right? But what about the percent change in total number of students since 1970? The overall population has gone up, I'm sure the number of school-aged children has as well. Any lines on the graph showing the difference between the cost of a blackboard and the cost of a computer (adjusted for inflation, of course)? How about making a nice visual aid which depicts the overall change in variety and complexity of subject matter in the last 40 years? Could the issue possibly be more complicated than simply bad teachers and their evil unions run amok?
How much did your taxes go up? I mean your federal income taxes - that's what everybody's up in arms about, right? LOCAL governments all over the country have been raising taxes and fees to compensate for budget shortfalls brought on by the recession, but the federal income tax is actually LOWER now than it has been for many, many years. BELIEVE what you want, I guess, but REALITY doesn't support your anger. People should be mad at their LOCAL government for raising property taxes, fines, fees, sales taxes, etc. Oh, but wait. Obama doesn't run your state or local government, so it's harder to feel that hatred, isn't it?
Hi everybody! I should let you all know that I'm a smarmy, douchebag, sissy, no-good pond scum of a commie Democrat and Obama supporter, but I hope you won't hold that against me. Just thought I'd drop by your little venom-fest here to wish you and your families a safe and happy holiday weekend.
Oh, and try not to froth at the mouth too much over the next few months as the economy improves and our side scores a few more legislative victories. I know how much you hate it when things get better. Cheers!
Here's a quote for you, from John Adams (with my emphasis added):
"PUBLIC VIRTUE cannot exist in a nation without private, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics. There must be a positive passion for THE PUBLIC GOOD, THE PUBLIC INTEREST, honour, power and glory, established in the minds of the people, or there can be no republican government, nor any real liberty: and this PUBLIC PASSION must be superior to all private passions."
I, like Mr. Adams, don't believe that the central philosophy of our nation is or should be "every man for himself", no matter what kind of "ist" you think that makes me.
But ok, let's take your post at face value. If you don't work or don't work enough to afford something (rather costly) like health insurance then you simply must be lazy, stupid and/or irresponsible. There are no other possible sets of circumstances in which an individual might find themselves in need. Poor = bad person. Rich = good person. Is that really your highly nuanced take on things? What about someone injured on the job? What about the elderly? How about someone laid off and unable to find work? How about those who do work (and very hard) but still exist at or below the poverty line? You're saying, essentially, "Screw them. It's their own fault." Do you not believe that our nation is stronger when everyone in it enjoys a certain standard of living?
Are you kidding me? You know that "He who doeth no work..." line is Lenin's first principle of socialism, right? He was referring not to lazy workers but to the bourgeoisie, the class of managers and capitalists who do no labor but gain wealth by exploiting the production created by the sweat and toil of others. I mean, this line is in the 1936 constitution of the U.S.S.R. for God's sake. Are you some kind of closet Leninist? Maybe you should google your slogans to check their bona fides before you go around spouting them, comrade.
First of all, I never called anyone a racist. Second, you're right - I was settin' 'em up and knockin' 'em down, but I did it for a reason and I think you ignored my point. I'm a liberal and a democrat. I believe the government has a legitimate role in regulating markets and providing some basic protections to everyone regardless of their income level. What irks me about the tea partiers is that this somehow makes me abnormal - not an "everyday" "ordinary" "regular" American. Isn't that just the kind of demonization and marginalization the article is bemoaning?
And seriously, are you saying that taxation is "confiscating" your wealth? There are about 5 million steps between saying people who earn more than x dollars a year pay this much and everybody can see a doctor if they need to and some kind of "collective" that intends on doing away with private property and making us all wear Mao suits. I mean come on. Calm down.
Everyday Americans. Ordinary citizens. Hard-working tax payers. Regular folks. These are the people who make up the Tea Party. If someone believes that government has a legitimate place in, say, regulating the amount of waste a factory can dump in a river, they aren't Americans. If they believe that, in a wealthy country in the 21st century, there's no reason some basic level of health care can't be afforded to everyone, they are not ordinary. If one thinks that women should have some say in their reproductive health decisions and that the bible probably ought not to be taken literally, then there is something abnormal about them.
If your a priori position is that a person who disagrees with your position on an issue is therefore less of a legitimate American citizen than you are, well then, you're the one doing the very demonizing which you claim is so offensive.
I'm not scared of the Tea Party. I'm just sick of it.
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