Congratulations—the Tea is in the Harbor (again)—Now What!?

In recent weeks, the Tea Party craze has taken the conservative faithful by storm, and it has captivated thousands throughout the nation in an effort to spread what I believe is an important, but ambiguous message.

At first, this movement struck me as a repeat of Republicans’ Contract with America back in 1994. While that strategy was overwhelmingly victorious in 1994, I believe many saw it as just another play out of the old GOP book. Naming Newt Gingrich as the movement’s figurehead only reiterated this symbolism, and it allowed the liberal media to publicly discount the significance.

At the surface, this movement appears to come at the perfect time. We have an overwhelmingly Democrat Congress as well as the Presidency, and together they have passed the largest pork legislation in U.S. History. Our grandchildren’s grandchildren will still be paying on this phenomenal debt, and for a questionable payoff that may not be seen for decades, if at all. As well, it took place on the very day waste in government spending has been rallied against for more than a century.

According to those Keynesian economists out there this might just be the tug that our economy needs to get out of this giant hole. While I bitterly disagree about this questionable suggestion, I am not closed-minded enough rule it out entirely. Perhaps the FDR strategy could somehow work, despite its flawed reliance upon logical and economic fallacies. But whatever the wisdom between these two extremes of possible solutions, the Tea Party Movement doesn’t seem to have a counter proposal. Rather, leaders have managed to fire up conservatives who simply dissent from both liberals as well as “progressive” Republicans without a cohesive message other than “no taxes.”

For the Federalist Paper enthusiasts who regularly read the patriot-fathers of this great nation, the principles of limited government, reduced taxation, and reveling against the tyranny of government swells the chest. Many participants feel as though they are among those who raided the East India Tea Company ships in 1773. We are simply looking for tyrants to tar and feather. One major difference, however, is that those patriots were charged with a specific purpose and were raging mad over specific policies that oppressed them.

Having participated in several of these demonstrations recently, I have found the respective turnouts to be impressive, at least, and highly mobilized. But, for all of this, what have we accomplished? If I were an existing public official swayed by the force of this movement, how would I even go about implementing its demands?

The answer is that it is difficult to determine, at best, what these movements are proposing. Surely by their timing it suggests that these conservative purists are resisting the recent Stimulus Bill proposed by President Obama and a liberal Congress. However, the timing also suggests a general rally against the Federal taxation system as a whole, having staged most of these on or near tax day, April 15. Even if this idea was not a recycled Contract with America idea, it is a play right from the Libertarian playbook. Libertarians have been doing this for decades, without much attention from the media or from mainstream conservatives. I think the Ron Paul mobilization effort over the past election cycle is largely responsible for this, at the expense of “pure” Libertarians who are furious. As I mentioned before, this is not a new idea, and many saw this coming.

Pragmatically, a platform of “no taxes” cannot work. It is precisely why the Articles of Confederation miserably failed. Certain core, Constitutional services must be in place in order to have government at all. Because the reality of “no taxes” is impractical, the Tea Party message lacked clarity and substance. From my observation, many charismatic leaders and speechwriters have effectively rallied the far right base for a cause that has quickly dissipated, and predictably so. If it weren’t for a renewed effort to repeat this event seemingly for its own sake on July 4th, the sheep would have all but completely scattered.

I was fortunate to have heard many noteworthy speakers, some of which sharply departed from old guard Republican leadership. I found this to be much-needed and very refreshing. This grassroots effort has been remarkable to watch, but it is elementary to see why it has not had the effect it intended to. Because the Tea Party movement lacked clarity and because it came across as nothing more than an ambiguous anti-liberal political assassination plot, it has been dismissed by those currently in power. Instead of cutting through the white noise of the Washington press, any message just became another grain in the constant static. The purpose of every movement should be to DO something instead of just BEING something. I just don’t see what this movement seeks to do.