One More Reason There’s a Tea Party Movement

The Tea Party Convention is happening this weekend.  I’m not entirely sure I’m thrilled about it, given the entry fee is more than most Tea Party types could pay.  On the flip side, the speech summaries I’ve read have been pretty good, but discussing the convention isn’t my point today.

My point today is that the need for the Tea Party Movement isn’t remotely over despite current Republican noises and unity.  Today’s example is Son of Stimulus, the Non-Stimulus Mini-Me they’ve renamed as a jobs bill.  Another few hundred billion of money we don’t have to burn to accomplish absolutely nothing just like the last non-stimulus stimulus did.  But now, we have the Republicans to worry about again.

The Democrats are reaching across the aisle on this bill, and we’re all wondering if the RINOs are going to blow it and help pass this disaster.  It’s the same worry we have with everything else about them, and no, it’s not just generic dislike.  They’ve given us good reason to believe they’ll force the Republicans to drop the ball at the 11th hour like they’ve done repeatedly in the past.  If they do get them on the hook for a “bipartisan” spendfest, they’ll likely end the electoral chances of the Republicans in 2010.

This is one of the reasons why I haven’t softened my position on RINOs in the least, and I’m not alone.  The Tea Parties exist because most Republicans were too scared, inept, and/or unwilling to do anything but be the Other Democrats, so they stepped up.  Yes, there were noteworthy Republican exceptions like DeMint, but for the most part, they weren’t providing the leadership through last year.  They were driven to act by the Tea Parties, and things would have been far worse without them.

So forget the fervor the Republicans are trying to generate about electing any and all of them running.  Rebuilding the Republicans isn’t an end unto itself.  They’re nothing more than a premade, name-recognized home for a conservative resurgence so that a third party doesn’t have to be constructed from scratch.  A RINO will NOT do for whatever the stated reason du jour happens to be, or you’ll get to worry on one big issue after another as they blow it again and again.

Filed under: Maverick Commentary on February 6th, 2010