"Boston Tea Party"

By Richard L. Wolfe

“By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmers stood,

And fired the shot heard round the world.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Concord Hymn,” 1836

On Jan. 19, Massachusetts elected a Republican, Scott Brown, to fill the seat left open by the death of Democratic U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy. While no shots were fired, the sound of this election was heard all across America, if not the world. Simply put, Republicans don't often win Senate elections in the Bay State and Republicans didn't make it happen this time either. The Independents who make up 51% of the state's electorate had enough of the wasteful spending and corrupt back door-deals that were being done by Congress, so they sent a message, one that will be repeated in state after state in November. The message was, and will be, “If you (Congress) do not listen to the will of the people, we will vote you out!”

Speaking about Brown's victory, President Obama said, “The anger that swept Brown into office is the same anger that swept me into office. People are not just angry about the last two years, but they are also angry about the last eight years.” Many pundits on the right derided him for the statement, but many of us on the right side of liberty agree with his statement as far as it went. It wasn't just the left that was upset by the Bush Administration's war in Iraq, as well as the Republicans' outrageous spending, sex scandals, bridges to nowhere, and sorry oversight of the nation's financial institutions.

The common theme you will hear this year as we go into the mid-term elections will be common sense solutions to collective problems. Senator-elect Brown said it during his victory address: “We can do better”. We must do better! The days when a politician can expect to stay in office for life just because there is a “D” or “R” behind his or her name are rapidly coming to an end. We are living in a new era and a new age. The Information Age will change not only the way Congress must do business, but also everyone else. With the invention of the internet, information that once took hours, days, or weeks to obtain is now just a mouse click away. This is why we should demand that Congress and the President's czars keep their hands off this vital tool in the ongoing fight for freedom.

The anger and the house-cleaning required to quell it began for this administration with the last administration's TARP program. The public was against it and appalled by the whole “too big to fail” mantra. The financial experts said that we had no choice, so the public swallowed it, but it still left a bitter taste in the mouths of most of us. Then along came the Obama Administration's stimulus package that was going to curb unemployment, create jobs, and shorten the recession. This $787 billion boondoggle did none of the above. All it did was add to an already escalating deficit as unemployment continued to grow. This was followed by a government take-over of G.M. and Chrysler, “Cash for Clunkers,” the mortgage fix, and caps on executive salaries for banks receiving TARP funds. None of these programs did anything for a great majority of American citizens mired in a protracted recession.

With the nation bogged down by economic woes, the Obama Administration and the Democrats in Congress decided this would be a great time to try to pass health-care reform and cap-and-tax legislation. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. The people took to the streets and “Tea Parties” were protesting from coast to coast. The government and the media's reactions to these warranted protests were to try to discredit the protesters. When Congress went home for the August recess, they heard a loud repudiation to the way they were governing. This should have been a wake-up call, but arrogance is a hard habit to break. They were told then that they either had to change course or lose their jobs. Instead of getting the message, they seemed more determined than ever to jam the health care legislation down our throats. The final insult was the back-door deals to senators and special interests that resulted in what I like to call the “Boston Tea Party”.

With the election of Brown, the Obama administration and the Congress seemed to have sobered up somewhat. But it is too late. Nothing but a thorough house-cleaning in November will teach them a lesson that they won't forget.

 

Speaking about Brown's victory, President Obama said, “The anger that swept Brown into office is the same anger that swept me into office. People are not just angry about the last two years, but they are also angry about the last eight years.” Many pundits on the right derided him for the statement, but many of us on the right side of liberty agree with his statement as far as it went. It wasn't just the left that was upset by the Bush Administration's war in Iraq, as well as the Republicans' outrageous spending, sex scandals, bridges to nowhere, and sorry oversight of the nation's financial institutions.

The common theme you will hear this year as we go into the mid-term elections will be common sense solutions to collective problems. Senator-elect Brown said it during his victory address: “We can do better”. We must do better! The days when a politician can expect to stay in office for life just because there is a “D” or “R” behind his or her name are rapidly coming to an end. We are living in a new era and a new age. The Information Age will change not only the way Congress must do business, but also everyone else. With the invention of the internet, information that once took hours, days, or weeks to obtain is now just a mouse click away. This is why we should demand that Congress and the President's czars keep their hands off this vital tool in the ongoing fight for freedom.

The anger and the house-cleaning required to quell it began for this administration with the last administration's TARP program. The public was against it and appalled by the whole “too big to fail” mantra. The financial experts said that we had no choice, so the public swallowed it, but it still left a bitter taste in the mouths of most of us. Then along came the Obama Administration's stimulus package that was going to curb unemployment, create jobs, and shorten the recession. This $787 billion boondoggle did none of the above. All it did was add to an already escalating deficit as unemployment continued to grow. This was followed by a government take-over of G.M. and Chrysler, “Cash for Clunkers,” the mortgage fix, and caps on executive salaries for banks receiving TARP funds. None of these programs did anything for a great majority of American citizens mired in a protracted recession.

With the nation bogged down by economic woes, the Obama Administration and the Democrats in Congress decided this would be a great time to try to pass health-care reform and cap-and-tax legislation. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. The people took to the streets and “Tea Parties” were protesting from coast to coast. The government and the media's reactions to these warranted protests were to try to discredit the protesters. When Congress went home for the August recess, they heard a loud repudiation to the way they were governing. This should have been a wake-up call, but arrogance is a hard habit to break. They were told then that they either had to change course or lose their jobs. Instead of getting the message, they seemed more determined than ever to jam the health care legislation down our throats. The final insult was the back-door deals to senators and special interests that resulted in what I like to call the “Boston Tea Party”.

With the election of Brown, the Obama administration and the Congress seemed to have sobered up somewhat. But it is too late. Nothing but a thorough house-cleaning in November will teach them a lesson that they won't forget.