It's no secret that there's a civil war brewing in the Republican Party. Experts agree that there is about a 50/50 split between those leaning toward the Tea Party and those supporting the Old Guard. The result of this discourse is that conservatives lose whether they side with the Tea Party or not. Liberals have a real chance to strike gold in the next few years taking advantage of internal warring within the GOP.
Many of the Old Guard are calling for the Tea Party to hush up, sit down and play along because they see that infighting will only weaken their chances in the midterm and 2016 elections. While silencing the Tea Party and promoting unity sounds like a good plan, the problem the Tea Party argues is that status quo will continue: big government will flourish, and the conservative and Libertarian views will be watered down within Capitol Hill power plays. The winners will the Old Guard, keeping their positions and padding their pockets.
The Democrats are giddy with anticipation of more showdowns between the Republican establishment and Tea Party activists. Any familial bickering within the GOP only fuels nasty primary races and divides a voting block, allowing Dems to slip in with a secure base and win elections.
Many don't understand why the Tea Party would fight the status quo to the detriment of the party. It's actually an easy answer. The veterans of the Republican Party are adept at playing Washington politics. They know how to secure backroom deals and compromise their beliefs, not to push their agendas, but to secure their reelections with earmarks and pet projects that benefit their home states. They have cleverly mastered the game (that the Democrats play, too) that ensures money continues to flow in a steady stream to their personal accounts. All politicians understand that a few terms in office is all they need to become millionaires.
It's sad that I don't have enough time or space to pick apart each politician for scrutiny or even to detail each politician's trickery, so I'll give just one example; one politician/one issue as a template for what happens in Washington.
Ever wonder why Speaker of the House John Boehner actively pushes for the Keystone pipeline? He has personal money tied into companies that would benefit greatly from construction of it. The companies also are huge campaign donors of Boehner.
Do other politicians do this? Of course! It's prevalent on BOTH sides of the aisle for multiple issues.
These shenanigans by the Republican establishment are the Tea Party's beef. The Tea Party wants smaller government, less powerful politicians, and they want to separate the private interests of politicians from their public duty. No small feat in a town that lusts only for money and power.
The Democrats are also scared of the Tea Party because of their appeal to independents for a less-intrusive Nanny State. That's why Dems liken the Tea Party to Nazis, call them racists, and even recently tried to link them to the KKK. Any horrendous lie is fair game when you want to bring someone down who threatens your goose laying the golden eggs.
If the Tea Party continues their fight, the Republican Party will have to change. The change will be arduous, and will leave the party unsettled for years. Will it come together again as a force? Maybe. Maybe not. It could emerge as something else or split up completely. My personal hope is that will morph into a better representation of conservative political values and eschew the social dogma that separates the Libertarians from the social conservatives and excludes the independents.
As the Republican Party undergoes these changes, the Democrats will secure their stronghold and thus their liberal agenda of inflated social programs for America. For Liberals, their utopia is at hand. For Conservatives, the sun will set on the era of free enterprise and a truly representative government.
No comments:
Post a Comment