Tea Parties Benefit the Conservative Movement

On January 16, 1773, Bostonians took part in one of the biggest tax protests in written history. The tag-phrase of this movement: “no taxation, without representation.” Today, Americans are witnessing another “tea party,” but while many people seem reluctant to accept it, conservatives around the country should be embracing this movement.

The Tea Party movement is characterized by its approval of smaller government and its members, who, as our president so wisely put it, are “clinging to their guns and religion.” It represents Middle America, an always forgotten group. It seems (wrongfully so) that most Americans associate Republicans with the wealthy and Democrats with the poor. What people tend to forget is that most Americans are neither rich nor poor, but somewhere in the middle.

It is true that the Tea Party movement is opposed to Obama’s liberal agenda which involves turning the U.S. into a nanny state, like all of the countries in Europe, but there is much more to the Tea Party than anti-Obama protests.

 Just as participants in the Boston Tea Party thought they were unfairly represented in England’s Parliament, people involved in the Tea Party feel as if they are not represented well enough by either party, Democratic or Republican. In their biggest protest to date in Washington D.C. last year, tea partiers made it clear that they wanted all incumbents in Congress out. There have been too many back-room deals and scandals going on lately, particularly regarding the passage of a health care bill. Republican politicians have been bought off to vote for the bill and unions have been made exempt so that they will not voice their opposition. Besides healthcare, Republicans have become almost as bad as Democrats when it comes to spending (for example, the first stimulus package which was supposed to jump-start the economy). Politicians seem to think they know what’s best for Americans; the Tea Party Movement is showing that Americans know what they want, and they know what’s bad for the country.

Liberals try to downplay the impact the movement is having one the country, but no one can argue with the facts. The movement is one of the main reasons why health care has still not been passed. How else could the most liberal president in the history of the US, with a supermajority of democrats in Congress fail to pass their agenda? No one can deny that the movement has power.

Recently, opposition to the Tea Party has said that it is becoming too political, that it is just an extension of the Republican Party. But if the Republican Party wants to jump on the bandwagon, why should that be a problem? They are trying to make themselves part of this revolution because they see how big it has gotten and how much of an impact it is making. Politicians want to be reelected, if the trend of incumbent, politics-as-usual, representatives being voted out continues, they will start representing Americans.

The Tea Party movement is something anyone who considers themselves unrepresented by the government can support. Even though the Tea Parties have been characterized by conservative values, everyone should be embracing the movement because it is not about politics. It’s about forcing representatives to do what their supposed to—representing the people who voted for them. The Tea Party is not a welcoming place for Democrats or Republicans. It is an organization dedicated to the values which the founding fathers thought were so important: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

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1 comments

rjr

Fri Feb 26 2010 14:04

I agree with Ms. Wang one hundred percent. We should all support the movement and we should, whenever possible, vote against any incumbent

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