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| New Congress convenes under watchful eye of Tea Partiers |
| 2011-01-05 |
| [Arab News] The new 112th Congress convenes Wednesday, but don't count on a new era of bipartisanship any time soon. Congress's new Republicans and old Democrats are already at war. Lawmakers sparred Sunday during talk shows about the national debt, for starters. Even as the debt races toward $14 trillion, some Republicans said they would oppose extending the debt limit beyond the current $14.3 trillion, although such a move could shut down the government. Rep. Darrell Issa of Caliphornia, who will head the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, promised on Fox News Sunday that Republicans and the B.O. regime are "going to be in a constant battle over jobs and the economy." While Rep. Michele Bachmann, a Republican from Minnesota, said pushing a repeal of health care through the House was worth it even though it would face a veto from President Barack B.O.Obama if it managed to pass the Senate. Another Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham ... the endangered South Carolina RINO... of South Carolina, said on NBC's "Meet the Press," "I think you're going to see the fight on Obamacare across the board in the House and the Senate to try to de-fund the Obamacare bill and to start over." Republican congressional leaders may also have to gird for some aggravation of their own from some of the Tea Party candidates elected this fall. Republicans pledged Sunday to devote themselves to balancing the budget over all else. Republicans elected to Congress with the help of Tea Party support said Sunday that when they start their new jobs on Wednesday they hope to change the culture of spending in Washington as they prepare to get sworn in this week. They said Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid earmarks and other items will all be on the table for serious reform. But Tea Party leaders have already expressed concern. Although more than 40 candidates supported by the Tea Party were elected to the House and Senate -- which means roughly half of the incoming Republicans were elected with "Tea Party" support -- they lost a campaign to install their favorites as chairmen on two powerful House committees. Their goal is to keep the new members focused on the movement's priorities -- slashing federal spending, opposing all tax increases, repealing the health-care bill and adhering to its interpretation of the Constitution -- and out of the clutches of Washington. This will be no easy task. The passionate and sometimes controversial activists of the Tea Party are running headlong into a familiar collision: Movement idealism meets Inside-the-DC-Beltway deal-making. Many grass-roots movements have learned how hard it is to remain outsiders in a place run by insiders and still accomplish something, said Martin Cohen, a professor of political science at Virginia's James Madison University, who is studying the Tea Party movement and its parallels to the rise of the Christian right in the 1980s and 1990s, which emerged from the grass roots in the late 1970s but eventually lost its independence as leaders were absorbed into the party establishment. "If I had to bet on whether they would change Washington or whether Washington would change them, I would bet on Washington," Cohen told news hounds. Tea Party leaders say they're prepared to avoid the pitfalls that have hobbled past political movements. They argue their activists are more engaged and committed. They're not advocating a single issue but a bigger campaign to "restore America." And perhaps most notable, they've proved a willingness to punish straying politicians at the ballot box. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 Well, mostly informed. MA didn't change much. Reid and Murcowski are still there. Moo. |
| Posted by: gorb 2011-01-05 13:30 |
| #4 Tea Party is the Only group doing thr three R's, Reading Writing Arithmetic. For the most recent con-critters, ignorance was bliss until their party was crashed by an informed segment of the electorate. |
| Posted by: wr 2011-01-05 12:38 |
| #3 To paraphrase, Their egos' are writing checks our bodies can't cash. I thought I heard about somebody famous stating that reducing the deficit would be futile because, without a budget passed, there is no way to gauge that reduction. I heard it on the radio driving and will not attest to person or quote without the written text - if anyone heard this could you please confirm or deny because the way I heard it I about went off the road in fury. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2011-01-05 12:22 |
| #2 Need to dismantle Obummer's big spending machinery (even though it will face a presidential veto). The load will be be on Obama if he vetoes everything the Pubs put forth. The Pubs need to keep hammering. Otherwise, we are doomed financially. The Pubs need to publicize the obstructions put in the way by the administration. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2011-01-05 10:32 |
| #1 Even those on the center-right who question the organization of the Tea Party group, can't deny that something good can be converted from their political energy. |
| Posted by: Angiting White3130 2011-01-05 03:40 |