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The Spectacle Blog
Reihan Salam thinks that the debt-ceiling spending cuts could represent the beginning of a Tea Party-led “right-sizing of government”:
In 1996, President Bill Clinton famously declared, “The era of big government is over.” Yet a close look at the numbers reveals that big government barely noticed…
Despite the profound pessimism of liberals, who will never stop believing that their right-wing opponents are wily and effective, they’ve unknowingly found themselves in a can’t-lose position. The uncompromising stance of tea party conservatives in the debt ceiling debate has been all about changing this dynamic.
While Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell were willing to make significant concessions to avoid a default, an army of first-term Republicans almost seemed to relish the prospect, terrifying millions of voters in the process. The deal carefully crafted by congressional leaders bears their stamp.
Of course, it has to be mentioned that some of those same Republicans voted against the final deal, and that the Tea Party, by and large, hated it.
Also, it’s worth wondering about the future of the Tea Party now that many of its stars have been forced to compromise and take part in a high-profile vote to raise the debt ceiling.
View all comments (21) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Joseph Lawler
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/08/02/beginning-of-the-end-of-the-er
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Conservative Bob| 8.2.11 @ 3:28PM
Not sure I understand your last.... are you saying/hoping that now that the TEA party has seen their reps "... be forced to compromise..." that we will become disillusioned and go home and shut up?????????
My guess is if that is what you are hoping please prepare yourself for significant disappointment.
Is this in line with your post Nov 10 musings about how our candidate selection kept the GOP from wining the senate?
I think Harry, Nancy, Barrack and the entire GOP establishment will find the ongoing irritant that is TEA Party will be in the game and fighting well into the future.
As we the less enlightened ones of fly over country are not as blinded by the fairy dust that is inside the beltway and we know if this country is to be saved the solution will come from our ranks not yours.
If I have mistaken your meaning I apologize. I am weary of the elites of both parties libeling us and praying for our demise. I thought our 1st objective was the defeat of O and the DEM/progressive/Communist/left, but have recently seen the establishment GOP only too eager to marginalize if not outright destroy us.
simon templar| 8.2.11 @ 3:34PM
I would not worry to much about the future of the Tea Party but rather the future of the GOP establishment and the future of the nation. This was never about raising a debt ceiling or default, it was about crushing, insane debt, borrowing, and spending. The fact that even conservative pundits can not stop spinning this ridiculous and dangerous diatribe about debt ceiling and default is an indication of just how out of control, corrupt, and confused this nation has become. We can not even tell the current story of this past two weeks with accuracy, honesty, and humility. There seems to be very few men or women who have any respect for the truth or any desire for objectivity and honesty. Other than Mr. Lord and a few others, this publication has fallen short of its mandate.
darcy| 8.3.11 @ 10:23AM
Well stated, simon templar. I would add Mr. Vadum to the list of those here who have been straightforward in reporting on the insanity in Washington, highlighted by this latest ruse to rape the taxpayer and shackle our children to crippling debt.
The criminals in congress who are stealing from my children and grandchildren will regret this week's cowardly and treacherous act.
Jeff| 8.2.11 @ 3:59PM
since nobody ran on not raising the debt ceiling I have to conclude you don't have a clue about what you are talking about vis a vi the Tea Party ...
Derek Leaberry| 8.2.11 @ 4:23PM
Neither political party nor the vast majority of the American people are ready to cut big government. So what is happening now is a blip on the pathway to economic ruin.
Oldefarte| 8.2.11 @ 4:24PM
It ain't over by a mile, but its a good start....THANK YOU TEA PARTY. The next battle is preventing Democrats from letting Bush's tax cuts expire and the 2012 elections!!!!
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 8.2.11 @ 4:33PM
Hey Oldefarte: If we win the 2012 Election, by as much as I expect us to win it by, we don't have to worry about the Bush Tax Cuts expiring, because the next Republican President will gladly make them permanent (hopefully better permanent too?).
Oldefarte| 8.2.11 @ 7:12PM
Plus if we elect enough R to take control of the Senate, the R congress can budget a substantial extraction of the wasteful spending now on the books and possibly head toward a balanced budget. I hope Obama/Democrats try to expire the Bush tax cuts, since it will make the Republican majorities from the election even easier!!!!!!!!!
Oldefarte| 8.2.11 @ 7:14PM
One thing I'd gladly vote/support to spend money upon would be to provide a house/residence to each/every military member returning from service in the middle east as a THANK YOU from the American people[I'd gladly pay taxes for that]!!!!
Conservative View| 8.2.11 @ 4:30PM
NOW WE ARE TERRORISTS
I suppose we are. To the professional politician the Tea Party and its' members rank right up there with the Talaban Or is that right down there? I'm not sure.
The Tea Party represents American Citizens who cling to the belief that the size, strength and cost of the Government are too great. There is some justice in this thought. There is no justice to the thought that this latest debt deal will kill off the Tea Party. It is far more likely to strengthen it.
The goals of the Tea Party remain untouched by this latest madness in Congress. The size of government has not shrunk one little bit. The NEA, the funding for NPR, the rough shod tactics of the LRB and EPA continue unabated. Nothing in this battle so far has touched them.
These governmental agencies have become all but all powerful. I say all but because every once in a long while even a judge can't stand what is going on, and says no. These agencies can take a farm from a farmer, promote paintings that should offend anyone with a brain and a set of morals, and broadcast lies and distortions continually. Nothing in this latest madness has so far touched them one little bit.
There there is the cost. The cost of government continues to rise. The promises are in the bank, locked tightly behind the vault door. And as any politician will tell you, they are locked just as tightly and securely as the social security funds held in exactly the same bank.
Nothing has changed for the better, only for the worse. The Tea Party continues to exist, and will continue to exist. Come the elections of 2012, you can expect even more "Talaban" in Congress as the American people wake up to the cost of Obama Care, and the underhanded, dispicable, vile conduct of the PP's (Professional Politicians) this time around. Don't count the Tea Party out, look for it to get even stronger.
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 8.2.11 @ 5:34PM
Vote For The Tea Party Hobbit Terrorists in 2012!!
Oldefarte| 8.2.11 @ 7:19PM
Yeah, Biden calling tea partiers TERRORISTS, what a croc. Everybody better don a good pair of wading boots, cause the BS is getting thick and deep!!!!!!!!
JimH| 8.2.11 @ 4:37PM
As Churchill said, its not the beginning of the end. It's the end of the beginning.
Dixie Pixie| 8.2.11 @ 6:10PM
If this is the end of the beginning of the End Of Big Government, I beg to differ.
Big Government went into Ludicrous Speed with this deal.
And Yes, the next President will be screaming “What Have I Done” at the first budget meeting.
Ludicrous Speed GO:::
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk7VWcuVOf0
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 8.2.11 @ 6:06PM
2012 will see a huge turnover in both the Senate and the House. The public can't stand much more of Stupidville.
Don Carlson| 8.3.11 @ 7:10AM
The Debt Ceiling debate looked like a name-calling contest, and it accomplished about as much. Over the last twenty years Republican efforts to effect a change of direction in American politics has been very like trying to stop a run-away car by dragging one 's foot out the door. The dynamics of our socialist shift will not change until the dismantling begins---the elimination of the Dept. o f Education, the repeal of ObamaCare, and the privatization of Social Security. It may be that there are too many go-along-to-get-along Republicans, and far too many dole-addicted Democrats, for our second American Revolution to succeed. If the resenter-in-chief is re-elected, we might be counted out.
Tenn Slim| 8.3.11 @ 8:06AM
Understand clearly, the T Partyfolks in DC per se are not the folks that overturned the 2010 election. They are the Reps of folks that finally woke up from their apathy of 60 odd years of neglect. The T Party folks are, by and large,the old geezers, who rose up from thier recliners, took part in LOCAL town halls, realised the USA was going to H.. in a hand basket,and took action.
The T Party folks, those fly over land owners, the ones that run the local cafes, the SBO telecomms of the rurual areas. The land owners, property owners that suffer mightly under the boot heel of EPA, DOE, and other alphabet do gooders, are the heart and soul of the T Party. Not ones to constantly run to and fro, fighting meaningless Tactical battles, with no pundits, with no far seeing pols who run meaningless failed campaigns for a living, these folks fight when and where it means something.
IE the Debt and Cap and Balance act, the various caping of funds for noxious Leftist Agencies budgets, local elections that control and effectively use tax revenues. These are the T Party folks. Akin to the Lone Ranger of Yesteryear, with his faithful companion Rush Limbaugh.
We the T Partiers Will Prevail
Semper Fi
PCC| 8.3.11 @ 8:19AM
Mr. Lawler,
Thank you for your article.
I'm not a Tea Party member although I'm very sympathetic to their views as I understand them.
One may "wonder" about the Tea Party's future, but it seems to me that the debt ceiling debate and outcome was a clear victory for tea partiers and they emerge from this skirmish stronger than ever.
It would be deeply irresponsible to roll the dice on a government default and I, for one, am glad the Tea Party didn't inflict that upon the country.
Now it's on to the upcoming budget debate and debt commission, two more opportunities for the Tea Party to move our country in the right direction.
PCC| 8.3.11 @ 8:19AM
Mr. Lawler,
Thank you for your article.
I'm not a Tea Party member although I'm very sympathetic to their views as I understand them.
One may "wonder" about the Tea Party's future, but it seems to me that the debt ceiling debate and outcome was a clear victory for tea partiers and they emerge from this skirmish stronger than ever.
It would be deeply irresponsible to roll the dice on a government default and I, for one, am glad the Tea Party didn't inflict that upon the country.
Now it's on to the upcoming budget debate and debt commission, two more opportunities for the Tea Party to move our country in the right direction.
bluecollarbytes| 8.3.11 @ 9:33AM
How does one change a govt culture which is girded by so many interests feeding at the trough?
First comes opposition, Then compromise. Given that Republicans were handed power last Nov by self-motivated tea partiers rather than winning it through their own records, who expected a 'progressive' transformation back to sanity in such a short time?
Democrats fight these battles consistently from an ideological basis. What we lack is the same level of commitment from the right. Over the next few years there will be much compromise, if we're lucky, if the Right fully commits.
martin j smith| 8.3.11 @ 10:23AM
Putting the disastrous " so called agreement" aside, I would agree with ST and the Republican Party ( the Main Line ) and our nation are at severe risk. Ironically, while a lot of the "Tea Party" bruhahas have been made to either insult or to inflate their egos insincerely the Tea Party actually got a lot of publicity that could be positive in the near future. This is because many Americans will feel the disastrous results of disastrous policies. And, anyone with even a tenth of a brain knows that the Tea Party are terrorist thing is full of crap. Yes, there are those with no brains and those are ones who I fear.