If Chuck Todd is questioning the president, then he must be doing something wrong.

I'll be the first to admit that not all of the Tea Party candidates are the fine tuned political professionals that we are all used to. But isn't that the point of our democracy? The founding fathers wanted the people to be governed by the people. They wouldn't be very happy with life long politicians holding senate and house seats for 20-30 years. The Tea Party is sending the message to our politicians that you either listen to the people or your career will end.

That is why you are seeing Tea Party candidates winning primaries against well established politicians and that is why you will see Tea Party candidates win in two weeks. Many Americans, including myself, want some new blood in Washington. (That wasn't to be taken literal, I meant new members of congress.)

LouisJ, you've spent so much time finding reasons to hate the tea party and everything associated with it, that you failed to realize that these people are real and concerned for their future and their kids future.

The man in this story is not being paid. He is a conservative and an American. Plain and simple. No conspiracy here my friend.

There is a difference between being a diamond in the rough and being a piece of petrified manure. One can be polished to add value. The other, well, it just remains a piece of crap. Many of these "so-called conservative candidates are the later and only fools would let them run anything. Generally they are self serving egotistic would-bees. They are not true conservatives and their lives don't reflect it.

Which ones are you talking about and what is your proof?

Would you call Pres. Obama in 2007 up to the election a diamond in the rough or a polished turd?

The vitriolic attack and name-calling from the left and groups that use the race agenda and divide our country is shamefull. I'm a tea party suporter and member of the latino minority , let me tell you this, do not take our vote for granted. Most latinos are conservatives, Christians and family oriented, do not support socialism or liberal agenda, the only reason Latinos vote Democrat is for immigration.

Iceman25-835270 that's just it when Obama ran in 07, non-supporters SCREAMED that he didn't have enough experience, now you're putting up candidates with ZERO experience! You don't see how hypocritical that is??

You know Iceman, hate is something I don't practice. I may dislike the TEA Party movement based on the negative things they do and say especially about the president, but I find it to be a stretch to hate anything especially since we have accomplished so much in the past 18 months.

But equating President Obama to a "polished turd" as you said above is very disrespectful and racist.

You all go out of the way to say that black people are racist for pointing out the obvious of certain people from the TEA Party being racist and yet you say things that are bitterly distasteful.

It's an injustice to LIBERTY and the pursuit therein. TEA Partiers need to grow up. Stop acting and speaking childishly. Intellectualism is a good thing. Snooky is baddd.

I called Pres. Obama no such thing. Read the comment before mine. I was asking if elithian thought Pres. Obama was a diamond in the rough or a polished turd. Asking a question is not name calling. By your logic I also compared him to a diamond in the rough.

My word, you can find racism in anything and everything.

I am very impressed with Pres Obama as a person. He made a great life for himself. I just don't agree with him.

Every time we complain about Oboma's inability to "get the job done" we hear people raise the race issue and are told we are racist. When a black person speaks up they are refered to as an "uncle Tom" or something worse. We are all Americans and we are tired of promises that are not kept. Maybe Oboma can't keep his promises and should quit or be retired. I thought Jimmy Carter was bad! He has been out gunned by a new man! America is finally waking up to a government out of control! The Tea Party might not be perfect but it seems it is all the hope we have to fight back poor leadership!

Anyone who vilifies the Tea Party Movement and says that they are threatening our Freedoms in the country, is showing their own bias and wants to squelch ANY opposing views. That is the whole point of OUR democracy. It is yours AND mine. When you grow up, you will understand that we have to compromise for the good of all of us, not just you and your lazy butt that want everything handed to you. The point of the Tea Party is clear and it is only unclear to you because you choose not to. One thing that I have been finding, from the Libs mostly, is that Lying is OKAY! FLAT OUT LAYING is acceptable to you. When Christine Gregiore was asked at the last election if we wer running a defect, she said NO, only to find out that WE ARE! Ethics and morality are lacking everywhere and that is why it is the INCUMBANTs that have to go.

You know all the tea bag folks are silly & selfish. It isn't Obamacare, it is the difference between the haves and the havenots. They have their health care, so damn anyone else who don't. Because the gentleman is Black, is irrelevant. He is a have, who wants to make sure the havenots will never have. Obama's election was the saddest day for him, only because he is a jealous, petty, self serving fool, who has become the "correct face" of the tea party. He is just being used to show how inclusive they supposedly are. Well we can see how inclusive they really are. They need to deal with the demon spawn that speaks for them.

Calculations by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and other independent fiscal experts show that the $1.1 trillion cost over the next 10 years of the Medicare prescription drug program, which the Republican-controlled Congress adopted in 2003, by itself would add more to the deficit than the combined costs of the bailout, the stimulus and the health care law.

Now, why isn't the Tea Party all up in arms over Bush's drug program? Never heard even one of them mention it.

You are clearly not interested in an unbiased interpretation of fact, you are politcally biased and therefore color your facts as you please. How could anyone have an intelligent conversation with you given that reality. It is wasting time.

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!!

1. Term Limits.

12 years only, one of the possible options below..

A. Two Six-year Senate terms

B. Six Two-year House terms

C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

For all that they scream about it, the Tea Baggers don't even know what's IN the Constitution. Did you see Christine O'Donnell's debate on Tuesday with Chris Coons? She literally said "It's a good thing Senators don't have to memorize the Constitution." That was after she couldn't remember what was in the various amendments and expressed AMAZEMENT that the First Amendment says anything about the government not establishing religion.

The really sad part was that when the audience burst out in laughter at her, she thought s

Julkie,

Because the economy was doing well when that was passed. We all thought we'd be able to manage it. Then the economy collapsed, but we kept spending.

So why isn't the Tea Party screaming for the repeal of Bush's drug plan? It's still tacking billions onto the deficit every year. Isn't that "spending"???

Actually... the founding fathers didn't quite want the people to be governed by the people... hence the electoral college...

Numerous founding fathers also held their places in government for quite a long time... while pursuing other careers simultaneously. They generally all represent the middle class or above at the time.

Well I am a tea party supporter and I am White, but guess what I willbe voting for Charles Lollar in Nov to out the POS Demonut we currently have in Congress for Maryland, perhaps you have heard of him Steny Hoyer. It is NOT about race we are SICK AND TIRED of the BS going on and if dont stand up and speck out then things remain the same. Look how intimidation works out I.E. Mexico!!!!!!

Julkie,

Don't you see the Tea Party is a repudiation of the policies of Bush's version of conservatism as much as it is of liberalism? The Tea Party helped Republicans vote out Bob Bennett, Arlen Specter and several other RINO's. The idea that voting Republican is handing the keys back to the people who got us in this mess is not factual. The Republicans are not the same as they were 8 years go...thanks to the Tea Party. And, btw, if you can find "the separation of church and state" in the First Ammendment, please post it. The feds cannot establish a state religion (i.e. Anglican) but it says nothing about abolishment of religion from public life. That was O'Donnell's point. Guess you missed that?

Oops, just remembered Arlen Specter defected, but the result was the same.

What a lot of you people don't understand, mainly because of media outlets like MSNBC and CNN, is that the Tea Party movement really is a grassroots movement by everyday Americans. We don't have a political leader. Don't try to assign us one. We don't have candidates, although there are some who receive the support of many Tea Party members. That is a misnomer as well. There is no membership involved. you just have to be a patriot who loves and believes in America and the principals set forth by George Washinton, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and the rest of our forefathers who set out to make America great.

I am a union electrician. I am a conservative. I am college educated. I live in California. Its no more your business what color I am than its my business what color you are. That's not relevant to me or any other Tea Party member I know. It doesn't matter what color our presidnet is, or what religion he is, as long as he takes good care of our country. He's not doing that.

Most everyone I know do not support the indiscriminate spending by the Bush administration. This continuation and expansion of Bush's spending policies are just the final straws. We don't want America to be a "nanny state". We don't want Socialism. We dont want the government in our back yard, telling us what kind of lawnmower to use. We don't want them in our kitchen, telling us what to eat. We don't want them telling us what to drive.

"Social" programs do nothing more than make us more dependent on the government. More dependence on the government gives the government more power over the people. We control the government. We are supposed to. Its what the founding fathers envisioned in our constitution. the constitution of the greatest nation in the world.

People used to come to America to become American because of that. Now, too many are coming to America to take advantge of our system and take there money home with them. We are not racists. We hate racism in all of its forms, including those imposed on us by the government. Do some research. I higher percentage of Republicans backed the civil rights act of 1964 than Democrats. Had it not been for overwhelming support by Republicans, it might not have passed at all. We are not anti-immigration. We ARE anti-illegal immigration. WE WANT OUR DAMN COUNTRY BACK!

When you vote, remember what JFK said. "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." Do some research away from the "mainstream media" sites. Get some real facts. 80% or so, of the Washington bureau chiefs are Democrats and there is no bias in the media? Give me a break.

No, Bobby, I don't see that the teabaggers are a "repudiation of the policies of Bush's version of conservatism." They're just Bush on steroids. (with lots of 'roid rage)

I personally can not stand the Tea Party . . . however, I do not think they are racist or the KKK. I simply find them to lack logic and common sense. I have seen blatant hypocrisy run rampant through the Tea Party, and none of their supporters seem to care. I have seen a complete lack of knowledge, and their supporters simply ignore it. They have lost all credibility in my eyes.

First, the Tea Party constantly screams "socialism" every time anyone tries to have a reasonable discussion with them. When I ask what type of socialism they are referring to, be it market socialism, planned economies, nationalization, marxism, utopian, scientific, reform, revolution, etc . . . the Tea Party members never know. They stumble over their words and eventually default to yelling "communism". This makes it abundantly clear that they are just rehashing what their favorite talk show host said, and they are incapable of thinking for themselves. If you truly believe we moving towards a destructive form of socialism, like the Soviet model of planned economies, please explain your reasoning and thought process. Or maybe you believe we are moving towards the Chinese communist version which uses some aspects of market socialism . . . again, explain your reasoning.

Second, the Tea Party continues to talk about holding politicians accountable for their actions. Fair enough. However, they fail to hold their own candidates accountable, and this shows blatant hypocrisy. Their own candidate was unaware that the idea of "separation of church and state" was not in the constitution. Where is the accountability? Granted the word-for-word, literal translation, is not in the first amendment. But both Thomas Jefferson AND the supreme court have used the term "separation of church and state" to summarize the religious section of the first amendment. If a candidate is unable to understand this, where is the accountability? When will the Tea Party stand up and say, we will show you what it means to hold candidates accountable? Either this is pure hypocrisy, or they need to change their platform from "accountability" to "It's better than the current group."

Finally, the Tea Party has displayed a complete lack of understanding for the current tax situation. When asked about the Obama tax cuts, very few are even aware of them. Even more shocking is that many Tea Party members believe their taxes increased, until someone showed them evidence that they actually decreased. Instead of being an adult and admitting that they jumped to conclusions, the Tea Party switches gears to health care premiums. STOP. Are we talking about taxes or health care? If we are talking about taxes, the fact is that they went down. Look it up on the IRS website. If you did not see a decrease, you messed up on your withholding's . . . thus, you are to blame, not the government. 95% of Americans actually experienced a tax cut from Obama, yet most of them fail to notice. And no, you do not pay it back in April . . . again, read the IRS website.

You do realize that two of the powers behind the Tea Party are Dick Armey and Karl Rove, right? Not exactly "new blood". Just a continuation of where they left off with Bush.

What we are seeing with the rise against the tea party is the same thing we have seen that causes the problem we are having. (Who cares what the people of this country think there stupid.) Pretty much the same thing congress said when the people told them they wanted the healthcare bill stopped.

Everybody is under some strange form of mind control to not want the same thing there told they should want by the people in power now. We all believe in God so were stupid and must be controlled by some super powered mind controlling force. lol

The biggest differents between the repub's and the dem's are the repub's no when to shut up and listen to the people. The dems want to still say were stupid and no one should listen to us. Well if you are following any party then your mind is controlled by the party you follow. Make your choice for what you think is right not because the party that owns you tells you it's right.

Thoughts from Cali....Are you talking about the average of $8.00 a week less in FICA taxes ??...That just means there is even LESS money going into the Social Security system. What does that really accomplish except for Obama to claim ....." Hey....I gave you a tax break " ???

Mike - That comes to $400 a year, per person, which is similar to the Bush stimulus check. The only difference is that this is spread out, instead of one lump sum. Regardless, the point is that taxes went down, even if by a small amount, and the MAJORITY of Tea Party members claim they went up. This proves they are lying in a desperate effort to promote their own party. Where is the accountability for these liars? Where is the accountability that the Tea Party preaches? Or maybe they just didn't know about the tax cut, which proves they are incompetent. Which would you prefer?

Dick Armey, maybe. Karl Rove, absolutely NOT!!! Rove is exactly the type of conservative we are trying to rid the Republicans of. He thinks if we are hawkish and vote for just enough federal nanny state to take the issue away from Dems, people will vote Republican. That's the reason I'm behind the Tea Party. I want to elect people who believe the feds should be limited to those powers granted in the Constitution and let the states decide taxation vs. entitlements. It's about property rights. California, NY and MA cannot devalue the money in my bank account. Congress can.

FYI, Karl Rove supported O'Donnell's opponent. That kinda shoots a big ol' hole in that theory.

There is no accountability. They're like geese that fly in formation, just not as graceful or nice to look at.

Thoughts from Cali.... Credits for Social Security are determined by yearly contributions to the fund, so in effect that $400.00 a year is not credited to that persons SS determinations and will in the end lower their Social Security Payments.....so it's pay now and get more later or pay less now and get less later. Again I ask...who wins ?? Obama wins by claiming he gave a tax cut. It's pretty much in the same vein as the Homebuyers Credit.....it wasn't a real credit, it was a loan made to sound like a credit. It has to be paid back. Smoke and Mirrors strikes again.

Mike - But that is still not what they are saying . . . the Tea Party claims their taxes went up. They are lying. Regardless of where the money comes out of, if you pay it later, etc. They are still wrong in their claims. And that was just one of my many issues with the Tea Party.

They also talk about personal responsibility. Well if that is the case, they should be personally responsible for their own retirement, and not rely on SS. Thus, they will not care if the money is taken out of SS, because they have all been "personally responsible" with their retirement . . . right?

HI Oskar.

I hope you also vote democratic because you want your elderly to have medicare and social security and because you believe in social justice and not a nation of privileged billionaires stepping on the throats of the working people and denying them their rights. Immigration is important for sure, but it certainly isnt' the only reason for a Latino to vote Democratic. Or for an Anglo either. You must be aware that many tea party candidates want to abolish public education. I think this deserves some thought.

Louis,

It's clear you've never been to a tea party.

...and since you're so fond of throwing around the word, "failure," -- why not apply it where it really

belongs.....with your idol, Brack Hussein Obama Soetoro Alinsky......a PROVEN failure.

You shouldn't write about things you're incapable of understanding. Don't worry, once we become a

"Tea Party Nation" we'll still let you live in Mom n Dad's basement.

GianniPiz,

Don't worry, once we become a "Tea Party Nation" we'll still let you live in Mom n Dad's basement.

I'd rather America stay AMERICA than be a theocratic, dominionist, corporatist "Tea Party Fascist Nation"

Dumb Thoughts from Cali,

Your statment that the Tea Party members should not rely on social security is flat out idiotic. Every year the government takes 7.65% of my income and my employer has to match this amount. I have already paid some $150K into the system and my employers have matched it. My wife has contributed about half of that, with an additional employer match. If the government pays us back with interest at the average 10 year treasury rate and no longer takes a nickel out of my paycheck for SS, then I will happily forego collecting my SS and be responsible for my own retirement. As long as I have to pay into the system, then my support for a smaller, more responsible government has nothing to do with my intention of getting the money that I and my employers have paid for SS to date. To refuse have my money returned to me because I think that the government should curtail wasteful spending would not be hypocritical in the least. It would be hypocritical for me to say that I want less government, but keep this extra money to waste on your special interests. Do you now see the stupidity of that 'Tea Baggers should refuse their social security' nonsense.

No, the highest offices in the land have become careers for many in congress. Careers I might add that have made many of them very wealthy in the process. Both Republicans and Democrats are guilty of this and many of them need to go.

"clouded messages, incoherent dialogue, strange candidates, tactless organizing, ineffective answers, clueless voices, arbitrary answers and "NO" leadership."

Are you sure you are not talking about this administrations campaign promises and the first 21 months in office? This administration is very good at all the things you just accused the Republicans of.

Don't bring up Christine O'Donnell. I think even the Tea Party now knows that she is a lost cause. They can't all be winners.

Iceman,

It appears you prefer chaos to organized process. First of all, the first 21 months of Obama's administration has been highly successful and fulfilling regarding his campaign promises. He has accomplished the passing of major legislation that was not only greatly needed but truly historical in terms of legacy. You and your Tea Party nuts are unrealistic to think that any of the recent changes should have turned around eight years of bad governance in 21 months. You are too busy trying to sabotage the efforts as opposed to trying to fix things. And why not bring up O'donnell? She is the standard. All complaint and no solutions and no real foundation upon which to build solutions. This "neo-conservatism" is more about tearing apart the best country in the world as opposed to saving it.

Iceman prefers the same tired narrative that the MSM, Karl Roves, Sarah Palins and Newt Ging'riches' sell him, a vote against Democrats is a vote for Republican TEA Party wallets. That's the whole Republican TEA Party for you, the blind leading the blind on a plank the size of a football field and yet still end up falling into the maelstrom filled with sharks.

There is no reasoning with unreasonable people.

That's great, you calling me unreasonable. Laughable. I guess I could call people who disagree with me names and make all kinds of assumptions based on shreds of information. Its really easy and keep it up if it makes you feel better. Its a great conversation starter.

elithian - It depends on how you look at it. Pres. Obama promised transparency and bi-partisanship in passing major reforms. We didn't get any of that. Yeah, he said he was going to pass a health care reform and he did. However it was without any Republican support and it was against the will of the majority of Americans. The Democrats that voted for the bill didn't read it, Pelosi said "we need to pass the bill in order to see what is in it." The health care bill continues to become less and less popular everyday as more and more of the details are exposed.

You are correct, he has passed allot of big legislation that will expand the size of the government. One argument many on here make is that the Tea Party uses allot of the public infrastructure that the government created, so how can the complain about the government. That is a terrible argument. The Tea Party and most conservatives understand that the government has certain responsibilities. Infrastructure is a necessity for any modern nation to succeed and all Americans will agree with that. However, the government has to have limits and the Tea Party and many conservatives think this administration is over stepping those limits.

We want this country to succeed as well. We just have a different map than you.

Louis listen to yourself and tell me who is unreasonable. You sit there bashing Repubs and yet your President supports all things Bush. Bail outs, extending the Patriot Act, expanding wiretaps, 50,000 troops still in Iraq,30,000 new troops in Afghanistan,Bush tax cuts. Before you start calling me names, I don't belong to the Tea Party nor am I a Repub.

I don't belong to the Tea Party nor am I a Repub.

Sure.

It is you, the supposive intellects that find no problem with spending what we DO NOT HAVE and doing what the MAJORITY of the country does not want done. It is you that is on the wrong side of the debate. You keep lying about the Reps. to deter from your failings. This country has lost jobs, lost income, lost homes and we are suppose to point to the Reps as the cause. As long as you keep talking, I am sure that you will be all happy in your government job but in the meantime, we have to keep working to pay for your lazy intellectual butt. I have morality and integrity, you certainly cannot say the same. You can state false facts all day long and call us names all day long, it simply shows us your maturaty level. You have some growing up to do because NO REASONABLE person would say that we are doing just fine and THIS administration is steering us in the right direction.Do you really want to loose your Freedom, I don't! That is why I consider my self a Tea Party person even though I have not gone to a single rally. I have a job and MUST keep supporting my family.

2inspire2 - Did you ever hear of a principle called "cause and effect"? Bush's policies are the direct CAUSE of our economic collapse. You're like the guy who disconnects the brakes on his friend's car and then says "Who, me?" when he runs off a cliff. "But he could have pushed harder - it's not my fault!"

You do realize that Bush's wars, tax cuts and drug program are responsible for the vast majority of the deficit, right? And those are the people you want to put back in power?

At least the TARP bill looks like it's going to turn a profit (thanks to Democrats who made sure it had a repayment requirement included):

The U.S. government's bailout of financial firms through the Troubled Asset Relief Program provided taxpayers with higher returns than they could have made buying 30-year Treasury bonds -- enough money to fund the Securities and Exchange Commission for the next two decades.

The government has earned $25.2 billion on its investment of $309 billion in banks and insurance companies, an 8.2 percent return over two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That beat U.S. Treasuries, high-yield savings accounts, money- market funds and certificates of deposit. Investing in the stock market or gold would have paid off better.

If you don't understand the cause, you can't prescribe a cure. The Tea Party is plain barking up the wrong tree.

Yes just think of that. The people are so feed-up and against this administrations policies that they will vote in high numbers for a not so good candidate. Just think if they were decent candidates. Must be something to this tea party thing.

LouisJ...After you finish talking to me about Alvin Greene, you can bring up O'Donnell....and how she was correct in what she said. In the same exchange, Coon's couldn't say what the 5 Tenets of the 1st.Amendment are. I doubt you can either. But the lame street media won't dare question his lack of knowledge.

Julkie said

Did you ever hear of a principle called "cause and effect"? Bush's policies are the direct CAUSE of our economic collapse.

*Sigh* another blah blah blah Bush's fault blah blah lemming. Did you ever hear of parroting? Bush's policies were not a DIRECT cause. This goes back well over 8 years ago. Either you're too young to really understand how the world works or you're getting forgetful. I'm not defending Bush, just sick-n-tired of hearing this over & over. When does Obama take over? I thought he did on 1/20/09.

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/who_caused_the_economic_crisis.html

Note the very last paragraph and that this was written in 2008:

The U.S. economy is enormously complicated. Screwing it up takes a great deal of cooperation. Claiming that a single piece of legislation was responsible for (or could have averted) the crisis is just political grandstanding. We have no advice to offer on how best to solve the financial crisis. But these sorts of partisan caricatures can only make the task more difficult.

HAHA, OMG... Alvin Greene. Um, no comment. I denounce Alvin Greene. There, that make you happy.

Hoo hoo hee hee, man that made my day. South Carolina, a good state, just questionable politics. And the tenets are in the preamble of the Constitution chief, not part an amendment. I remembered that from grade school. But if you are referring to what the 1st Amendment freedoms, then you are chomping at the bit just to sound adultish and educated. Which if you are, then I apologize.

LouisJ....First of all...I'm not a "chief"...anyway I used tenets, meaning those freedoms. Maybe a poor choice of a word. Regardless, Coons when asked could only respond "separation of church and state" when he really should have said "Freedom of Religion" And then he didn't know the others. I tip my hat to you that you do know....I don't mind having discussions here with folks I may disagree with....we can disagree without being disagreeable. Civility is quite often lacking on many of these posts.

No doubt.

Since you question where I stand politically I'm an Independent with Kennedy views Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. something present day Dems know nothing about.

This is a classic example of what some scholars call "racial authenticity." When Bush appointed Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, I am sure he thought--among other things--that we was replacing Thurgood Marshall with 'another black justice.' I am not sure all whites would have agreed, but I can't recall a single black--out of 35 million at the time--who thought that Clarence Thomas was a black replacment for a Black Supreme Court justice. Some here who are familiar with the relatively rare use of the first name Thomas for a black child will understand, particularly if that black child named Thomas has a sibling who, then, goes on to have a child him/herself. This guy should have been named Thomas; I'm sure he'd be comfortable with the name.

I think the whole point of the push-back against the Tea Party is that is has gone way beyond being the 'loyal opposition' and, instead, turned into a refuge for the rabidly racist, horrifically homophobic and stupendously stupid segment of the political landscape.

How many here remember Dave Chappelle? In one of his segments he plays something like a Grand Kleagle of the KKK speaking at a rally, ranting and raving at the (insert your favorite N-word here). As a black mucky-muck in the KKK the skit is comedic if sick, until you realize that this Kleagle's sunglassees aren't there because of the hot glaring southern sun. They're there because he's.....blind!

Palin is not dangerous, it's the Wall Streeters behind her who are. She's not dangerous compared to the Bush League that attacks the wrong country. Becuse even if it was for government contracts to Halliburton BP Shell Blackwater Black Mass etc., by not going to war with Suadi Arabia we (America) in fact collaborated with the 9-11 terrorists and spit on the graves of 9-11 victims, soldiers and innocents burned to death in Iraq. Now is Sarah Palin capable of this? No. But her financial supporters are the same who ruined America for 50 years...which is my estimation of the hole the Bush family has dug for us.

There have always been mislead,misguided individual in the Black race. Emery fits that mode. Not a one of the Tea party candidates were Black or Minority. Where were these Tea party persons when the past President Bush was give Billons of Dollars to the VP friends to pay for a War that was for profit only.

Tilton T

That is why we walk around them to get to what our Founding Fathers fought for: The Constitution as it is written.

The founding fathers were hypocrites, they preached equal rights for all, and meant equal rights to land owning white men. Women, native Americans, black, or anyone else didn't get equal rights.

it doesnt make sense to me that everyone preaches about going back to the way our founding fathers wanted it.

I can see that Emery would be a part of the tea party movement; he has strong religious beliefs. I think he is being paraded around by the true tea party founders, the Koch brothers, as a way to say "look, see...we have a token black guy, we're not racist..." He will see one day as well...

I really hope that the tea party members find the truth abouth the manipulation that is occuring...

Christina, Are you kidding me!!! You benefit from the FREEDOMS that they layout in front of us and you call them hypocrits! Our Constitution gave you your liberty and you would spit on it while the Middle East still opresses women.

This Tea Party movement is shouting out to people like yourself to remind you that YOUR Freedom is not set in stone. It can and is being taken from you a bit at a time and the last 21 months have been an all out assault on them.

Tell me this, can you choose not to participate in Health Care? Just so you do not have to bring out the LIE, No, you cannot. You must participate or the Government WILL impose a penilty "Fine or imprisonment". Freedom is when YOU have the choice.

It is the Political/Lawyers the keep imposing more and more rules and regulations upon us that is eroding our liberties.

Open your eyes because you need to see what is coming your way.

inspire - uh no, i don't spit on anything...and the founding fathers didn't give me my rights; womens suffrage did...

take a cleansing breath, calm yourself...

The middle east does treat women poorly; i don't see why that has anything to do with the discussion???

i pay for health insurance;14g's a year...do you know how much you pay for health insurance? i run a small business, we pay a TON for health insurance, and it goes up EVERY SINGLE YEAR. I am looking forward to 2012 when the coverage for adults goes into effect. Just in case you wondered, i do not feel like the government is taking over my freedom to choose health care. I think that the insurance industry that profits BILLIONS per year HAS taken over my heath care.

still nothing to do with the tea party patriot Emery??

Again...calming breath...in with the calm; out with the drama.

Faith

At first i thought you were a reasonable thoughtful individual but then came your rant about Jeremiah Wright, and you just bought into the sensationalism of journalism of the day. I don't care about Jeremiah Wright we dont even know that Barak Obama was at that service or even heard what was said and if you actually listened to what he preached wasn't off base.

He simply stated we can't bless what God has cursed you can say God Bless America all you want but if she doesn't do what is right in God's sight then just like the children of Israel she will be damned remember only 144 thousand will be saved from the tribe of Israel. That is the truth by bible standards not mine if you are a student of the bible, then Jeremiah Wright's premise is correct we just hate to admit it.

By you saying America lost her Honor and Integrity and it needs to be restored is tantamount to making the same accusations Jeremiah Wright was making only for different reasons.

Ranting and raving against the government is ranting and raving against America whether you say God DAMNED America or not the sentiment is exactly the same youre saying we lost our way.

The Constitution has admendments because it wasnt perfect it had to evolve we can no more go back to the orignal document than can we go back to the horse and buggy.

Its called progress I cannot will not go back to an era where discrimination is OK and supported by the law of the land. I cannot and will not go back to an era where my mother could be taken and abused because she was property of someone else.

Where you see a nostalgic era lost I say good riddance the 14th amendment is welcomed NO to business having the right to say because I am of this race or that gender I cannot have service. This is what the TEA Party represents to me.

Emery Mclendon is mistaken to stand with the likes of Rand Paul, Sharon Angle, Christine Odonnell, Sarah Palin, Jim Demint, Joe Miller and you Faith.

What I see your guys wanting to bring back is reprehensible

There have always been Uncle Tom toadies who will stand up for their massas. That's not "diversity", though. The massas are still the ones in power.

Faith, first of all, you are suppose to have faith in God, not in man.

As far as the tea party goes, they didn't decide to start this until President Obama got in office. That's strange. Then you have people going around shouting, "...take our country back." Take it back from what? If I remember, the Indians inhabited this place first and it was taken from them. By who? I'll let you answer that one. They were slaughtered; poor souls. How quick we forget. The bible says, those who are first shall be last and those who are last shall be first. Maybe the scriptures are just being fulfilled. When you have people calling themselves superior, that's not a good thing; God is superior. Whether you believe it or not, God created everyone equal, so that in itself, to me, is going against God when you label each other as superior and minority. I am sure He is tired of all this mess. God is in control of everything, He know what's going to happen before it even happens. We are where God wants us to be at that time and it's just the President's time. You all put him down before giving him a chance. Everyone else was given a chance, whether they did good in office or not, but all of a sudden we get a black President and you all act like the world is coming to an end. The only way that will happen is if God comes back.

President Obama is concerned about the well-being of people. All people, not just the rich, but all people. It seems as if you all are the type of people who think you all are better than other people who are less privileged. This man cares about everybody and everybody needs to be treated like they are somebody, not just the rich. As far as who he has been associated with in his life, doesn't mean he is like them. You said it in a nutshell when you said associated. I have associates, but they are not my friends and I know I don't do things that they do.

The government has been spending money; that's nothing new. I am sure the President has to spend some kind of money to make better things happen and to carry out some of his plans. That's just like investing in your own business, you have to spend money in order to make money. Well, he has to spend money to carry through with his plans to try to get this country out of the mess he inherited. And be for real, you know he inherited a big mess, but people try to close their eyes to that and put everything off on him. The mess he inherited went on for years and it will take years, I am sure, to fix it. At least he is trying.

You say you all love God, but you all seem to hate the President. Everything of God is GOOD, so when any type of hate is involved, that's not God. So if that is what you are doing, you need to pray for you to change and you need to ask God to forgive you. But people are so caught up in their own hateful and selfish ways, they began to think it is right. As a man thinketh so is he. You know what I mean, when people do immoral things for so long they began to think it's right. (God turns there minds to reprobate minds).

What were you all's thoughts during the years before President Obama got in office and inherited the mess this country is in. Were you blindsided by what was going on?

I am not trying to knock you for what you believe because we all have different opinions, but no one looks at the big picture, they only look at what they want and decide that's what's right.

Read about the so-called tea party, back in the day. Does Mr. McClendon actually think these people care about him? They just need him for now to get their point across; their point. "Take our country back?" He is still minority to them. People will use you for what they can get out of you and then throw you away. I have had some, what society calls, trailor-park trash to talk down to me like they were better than me and I had a suit on and doing well. I didn't say anything back because why waste my breath, I know God created us equal. I just said "yeah" to what they were saying and kept walking. You can't change people or how they think, people have to change themselves.

You are talking about praying for Louisj, pray for you first that you have an open mind and not a one-sided mind.

Hey Christina, have you ever heard of Frederick Douglas well he was one of our founding fathers he also was a Repub.

Sray you know the heart of all the people in the Tea Party, to make a blanket statement like you did seems a tad judgmental don't you think

to wlee...I teach african american studies at the college level. Let me expand on your comment about Douglass. Lincon was a Republican. All of the supporters of the 13th, 14th, and 15th were Republican. I'm sure General William T. Sherman, who issued General Order No. 15 award Sea Island slaves 40 acres and a mule, was a Republican. The Democratic Party was the party of the South and the party of the slave owner. The Democratic Party in the South invented in implimented Jim Crow. But......and this is a big but....as we moved into the 20th Century, the Republicans gravitated to represent more and more big business interests (and knowing who the Democrats represented simply rested on their laurels vis a vis blacks.....we werent exactly welcome in the other party).

As we moved into the 20th Century, the northern Democratic party began to gravitate to towards representing new immigrants, workers and union folks, newly franchised women and others northern Republicans and their monied interests stood against. The Democrats in the South were still the party of the slavemaster and his/her descendants. And blacks? In the South? Democrats there made sure they could not (or would dare not) vote--so they were useless to the 2 Republicans who still lived in the South.

The Depression found many out of work and suffering and millions of blacks participating in the Great Black Migration were populating the cities and forming coalitions and alliances with other Democratic constituencies. the 1932 Presidential election would be the last with any significant black Republican vote. Roosevelt prohibiting discrimination in industries with federal contracts sent a strong signal to black America; by 1936 blacks began their near unanimous support of democratic candidates (in the North only at the time. By the late 40's blacks had moved over to the Democrat side of the line in such numbers that the Southern "wing" of the Democratic Party--under then Governor Strom Thurmond re-named themselves "dixiecrats" and began their sulking in some forgotten crevice of the Democratic party. By the 1968 Presidential election white, Southern Dixiecrats began to realize that the, then, empty, abandoned Southern Republican party could be a new home. They moved in and took over; that was 40 years ago--outside the personal memory of many.

Your comment about Frederick Douglass--who in the last half of the 19th century was a black Republican like every other voting black--was misguided and a schoolboy-ish attempt to confuse.

It's didn't work here and most of us understand quite well what the Tea Party stands for.

Kdsmith thanks for your comment it was very informative, but then you lost my respect by your derogatory remark about my character, you don't know me or my motives, you don't know all the people in the Tea Party or their motives to judge leaves you open to judgment

Wlee-950886 - You were given a proper history lesson by someone with far more knowledge than you. Accept it like the man you fantasize being.

That's awesome. Calling a black man racist against another black man.

What an insult to all conservative minorities. They do exist you know.

moshuluu, did you disagree with Bush? Are you a racist? Instead of playing follow the leader why don't you break out a dictionary and read the definition of the word of course that would be assuming you are capable of understanding what you read

The facts are the facts. When he want to redistribute the wealth, that is a socialist aspousal. Simple. I get it, why don't you? I work hard for what I get and YOU don't deserve to take it from me. Just because someone works hard to get ahead does not mean that it was on the back of someone else.

2inspire2

The facts are the facts. When he want to redistribute the wealth, that is a socialist aspousal. Simple. I get it, why don't you?

If you take one tenet from an ideology doesnt make you that faith. As christians we took many tenets of Judiaism but we are not Jews. Taking a tenet from socialism does not make you a socialist. I get it Why don't you.

"aspousal"? No one is "marrying" socialism. You mean "espousal". I wouldn't be so worried that teabaggers don't know the meaning of anything - except that goes for the Constitution as well. They definitely seem to have a reading disability.

wow so if your black and you don't agree with you your a dumbazz n.... and you teach college that explains a lot of things

to wlee: you said "....if your black and you don't agree with you your a dumbazz..." I'm sorry, i only speak two languages well (one is english). Can you translate this. it looks like some dialect of english but what does ' ...and you don't agree with you..." mean?

Revisionist history, Repubs got the civil rights bill passed, but why let facts get in the way.

Talk about revisionist history

Saul Alinsky whom the right like to demonize as a commie was far from it. His tireless work as a community oganizer fighting for civil rights made him the Tea Partier of his time.

The causes that Alinsky supported made him a leftist in his time. When he supported the rights of workers to organize unions in the 1930s, he was viewed by many as a communist, even though he had repeatedly condemned communism and communists in deed and in his writings. His support of civil rights and expanding economic opportunity for blacks, and his opposition to the Vietnam War, also aligned him with the liberal causes of the 1960s. Yet, unlike many of his contemporaries on the left, he considered government generally inept if not corrupt.

He was an early and prescient critic of the "War on Poverty," when in 1964 he called it "a prize piece of political pornography." What is fascinating is that his emphatic claim that he and this book are non-ideological is essentially true. The book is focused on the pragmatic aspects of organizing and empowering the "Have Nots" without reference to any political ideology per se.

to wlee--as long as there are people here who know american history from other than a comic book, you'll be called out. While it is very true that "democrats" were some of the stronger antagonists to Civil Rights and that their representatives in Congress weakened (and when that didn't work) filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act (1964 CRA) and the 1965 Voting Right Act (1965 VRA), 95% of such democrats were from the Dixiecrat wing of the party. The truth (I know it's pesky having someone who knows the truth around when yu spew lies) is that both bills, i.e., the 1964 CRA and the 1965 VRA, were signed by a Democrat....and a Democrat from TX (one of the 11 Confederate State)! His name: President Lyndon Baines Johnson D-Texas!

And before you spew more garbage I'll head you off at the pass, that same President appointed the Black man (a real one)--who lead the NAACP Legal Defense Fund team that won the Brown vs Board of Ed landmark ruling in 1954--to be the first Black Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. That Black man's name....Thurgood Marshall.

kd you speak of spewing garbage your constant name calling shows your lack of civility look it up maybe you'll learn something. Now tell me again how the Repubs didn't get the Bill passed and I never said the Dems didn't have anything to do with it Again with whoever disagrees with you fill in the derogatory remark.

Actually, the Tea Party does want to control our lives. They want us all Christian, no other religions allowed, over turn women's rights to choose, close "government schools", change our university system, change our tax system, dismantle our government, eliminate federal ovesight and regulations, decide which religions can build and where, etc........... Controlling the US is their very mission. Nuf said.

Mary could you show me some facts that what you say is Tea Party agenda

I'm a tea party member and I don't care about controlling your life Mary. You not being a christian is also the problem.

You can go to www.teaparty.org and see their "Non-negotiable Core Beliefs", but I did you a favor and copied them for you below. Also, elimination of "Government Schools" is written about almost every Saturday in an article by a TeaParty representative named Neil Boortz, who writes for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. You can read his part articles by going to www.ajc.com. Also, watch the Christine O'Donnell debate to see her positions on dismantling and eliminating programs for the federal government. Then see Sarah Palin's comments on the NYC mosque near ground zero for religious intolerance. Here are the core beliefs, taken from teaparty.org, but beware that some are buzz words for "Christians only" like "Traditional Family Values":

Illegal Aliens Are Here illegally.
Pro-Domestic Employment Is Indispensable.
Stronger Military Is Essential.
Special Interests Eliminated.
Gun Ownership Is Sacred.
Government Must Be Downsized.
National Budget Must Be Balanced.
Deficit Spending Will End.
Bail-out And Stimulus Plans Are Illegal.
Reduce Personal Income Taxes A Must.
Reduce Business Income Taxes Is Mandatory.
Political Offices Available To Average Citizens.
Intrusive Government Stopped.
English As Core Language Is Required.
Traditional Family Values Are Encouraged.
Common Sense Constitutional
Conservative Self-Governance

Mary225; the only people that want a 1 religion country, are Obama's Muslim friends; they demand all convert to Islam or die.

You think the tea party want to control your life? Wait until they are in charge, and sharia is law. You will be begging for the tea party then.

OUTSTANDING Statement and so true. I want to be Free to achieve as much as I would like. I don't want to crush anyone else, I just want to accel. I want the same for my children as well. Freedom can be lost if we take it for granted.

Holy cow. Those are core values are what is scaring the left? They sound pretty good to me.

Mary; I don't see that any of those things are an intrusion into your life...they all seem like good things to me.

Illegal aliens will bankrupt the rest of the country, like they have California if we don't do something fast; the 14th amendment says, "subject to the jurisdiction of", illegal aliens are subject to the jurisdiction of the countries they come from, not the United States. The fact they they sneak into the United States illegally, should not be rewarded.

Getting Americans back to work is a good thing; it will cut down the number of people on the welfare dole.

The way things are in the world today, if we don't have a strong Military, we will be speaking Arabic; do you want your granddaughters controlled by sharia law?

Special interest groups are responsible for a lot of the problems in this country; the majority are being led around by the minority. While minorities should have all the rights that everyone else is entitled to, they should not get special treatment, because they are a minority.

Politicians prefer unarmed peasants & criminals prefer unarmed victims; I'm sorry if that offends you, the 2nd amendment is very clear. "The right of the PEOPLE to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Government does need to be downsized; we are paying far too many people for nothing. How many aids and secretaries does a person need? I think part of the problem with our government is that they never answer their damn phones themselves! That is why they are so out of touch with the wishes of the people of this country.

What could possibly be wrong with balancing the budget?

Isn't everyone against deficit spending?

Bail-out and stimulus plans do not work...everyone should be against them...the CEO's end up with most of the money the companies get anyway.

I'm all for lower taxes; I personally think that I am taxed too much. I pay taxes for schools...I don't have any children! I pay road taxes...I drive 1/2 mile to work and back everyday...how much damage am I causing to the roads? I am taxed on the money I make before I ever get a penny of it...then I am taxed again every time I buy anything...I am paying taxes on things that have already been taxed!

Business's are not going to start hiring people until they can see that they aren't going to have to pay exorbitant taxes.

Why shouldn't Political offices be available to Citizens?

Do you realize how much money is spent on printing government forms in all the languages? Check it out, you will be shocked! When my relatives came to this country in the 1800's they were expected to learn English and assimilate to this country; I don't see anything wrong with that. If your allegiance is to the country you came from, you should go back there.

I don't want the government sticking their noses into my business, do you?

What is wrong with Family Values? Is it wrong to teach a child right from wrong now? Is it wrong to want children to become responsible members of society? Is it wrong to want them to be raised with Pride and Respect for their country? Is it wrong to want what they are taught about the religions of the world to be fair and unbiased to any one of them?

I can't find even think of a question to ask about common sense...to me the words say it all.

What is it that you find so offensive about these things?

Mary225,

Wow, I thought I was a republican. But if that is what the tea-party stands for....count me in.

The whole idea of "Big Gov." vs "Small Gov." is stupid and outmoded. What people want I think is responsive and responsible government no matter the "size".

Reduce the government by cutting Gov. workers will only place hardships on the rank and file lower level wrokers For instance GS-7's who make 40,000 a year supporting a family of three in the DC area. Regular gov. workers are just regular people they are NOT the same as elected or appointented officials.

I find this statement most offensive:

"I'm all for lower taxes; I personally think that I am taxed too much. I pay taxes for schools...I don't have any children! I pay road taxes...I drive 1/2 mile to work and back everyday...how much damage am I causing to the roads? I am taxed on the money I make before I ever get a penny of it...then I am taxed again every time I buy anything...I am paying taxes on things that have already been taxed!"

I have no children and work from home. I do not mind paying taxes for services that are for the common good. As far as the dole is concerned, no person shoud be hungry.

Businesses will hire when they no longer have a tax burden. They are all sitting on cash (buying back shares). There is already a movement surfacing to eliminate minimum wage. If it succeeds, slavery will return with the jobs.

Downsizing government is tricky. I am all for limiting Congress (salaries, pensions, and staff). I am not for limiting services for the people.

You may only drive 1/2 mile to work, but you eat food that was brought to you on trucks. The police and fire department and ambulance that come to your home on roads....

So go ahead and privatize roads... they'll charge the trucks that brought the stuff to the store.... the store will charge you for the products you consume... either way you pay.

You don't have kids... but we have a potent science, industrial, military, and medical population that were educated in public schools that all provide services to you. The fact that we educate broadly ensures that the we have the deepest pool of talent to drive our science, industry, military, and medicine.

Do you really want us to rely on people who can afford education?

Just incredibly short-sighted how you think you aren't connected to these public services.

Yep, thanks Mary. Great list, couldn't of described what I want for my country so short and sweetly. YAY Tea Party, I'm in too.

You tea-partiers are like people that complain about hunters, but have no problem eating meat from the grocery store...

So those are the core values of the Tea Party and the left is scared, you people need to get a life that scares you yet the high debt. doesn't

Mary, why should the military be exempt from downsizing? Do you think maintaining those bases in Euorpe, Japan and now the middle east is free or cheap? Let Japan defend themselves as well as all of Euorpe and the same for Israel. Get our troops and material out of those places. Another good way to reign in the Federal spending is to stop letting military people retire after 20 years of service and get a pension and medical for life. Even if they are too old to be fighting soldiers they can certainly drive trucks, operate machinery or do a multitude of tasks around the bases. I'm not worried about my kids or grandkids coming under sharia law. Talk about a scare tactic. Being a half a world away fighting some goofy undeclared war is like helping to put out a grass fire 2blocks away while your house is on fire. And the government needs to stay out of our bedrooms and homes, I agree with you there. We should not be told we can't use marijuana. We should not be told we can't cross into Canada to purchase our prescription drugs.

dpgympac.... you need to lay off the cannabis and consider your comments about vets. They signed a contract to put their life on the line for this country... they deserve not only their retirement, but our respect as well. Their pay is pathetic. How about we quit paying for all the lazy and drug addicted welfare recepients instead?

Evidently you might need to study up on geography as well. You need bases in various regions of the world to stage from.

True Conservative, please visit www.latftp.com There are pictures of the signs held up at Tea Party gatherings....then post again and tell us that they are not racist. Also, be sure to page back to all the signs....there are tons of them. Be warned, though, that there is a swear word in the title of the page (I wish they hadn't done that, but the pictures are still noteworthy.) There's your "shred of evidence". You're welcome.

TrueConservative is truly misguided my guess is you know nothing about what America is supposed to stand for and what it is. To say one man is destroying our great nation is ridiculous the same people that took us here in the first place are now claiming to be our saviours? how clever. OH I have some farmland in the dessert forsale would you like to buy it, get it?

Hank, you bought that "farmland" from some Dem politician, didn't you? Along with the party line. The same people that got us into this mess? Are you kidding me? Ignore the part where the Dems are in control of Congress when this happens. Ignore the part where the Reps proposed bills twice that would have prevented the collapse, but the Dems (and a lot of other Reps, to be fair) shot those bills down. How about just sticking to the part where the Tea Party aren't any of them!!! That's the whole point of the Tea Party: that they aren't any of the establishment elite. That's why the RNC is almost as mad at them as the DNC is.

Mary 225... their are a lot of people pretending to be tea perty memebers and shouting profanities and holding racisit signs up at the rallies. There was a public school teacher in Portland, Oregon that had en entrire website dedicated to such activity. Which by the way...he was doing on the tax payers dime.

Gee Mary, you did such a fine job of listing the "values and beliefs" of the Tea Party- directly from their web site you said.

How come you only have one link for political signs? Why don't you also include ALL the signs from ALL political rallies for ALL parties for comparison? And the links for ALL political cartoons from all parties while you're at it, so we can see that it's ONLY Tea Party supporters that have "racist" or unflattering things to say?

Mary: It has been discovered that those "racist" signs you claim you saw on some web page, were PLANTS by liberals to demonize the Tea Party. Do you HONESTLY THINK that the Tea Party would have signs like that, when all this crap is spewed about it being a racist group? Think about that...get a clue. There have been several staged scenarios "presented" in the hopes of smearing the Tea Party.

Great, so now a black man has to be brain damaged to disagree with Obama and the Left's liberal agenda? Really smart, there.

Wow, that is the most racist thing I have read all day!

Your just brilliant aren't you you still don't get it do you. By the way where did you copy your comment from ? the book of morons unfortunately it will be years before you understand the errors of your ways would love to see the look on your face the day you finnaly get it and relize you've been deceived.

Wow. Some of the comments on here are outrageous. "The Tea Party is a Racist Organization" but if they do have minority members it is because they are brain damaged, fools, Uncle Toms, and racists themselves????? Has everyone in this country lost their minds??

And they call Tea Partiers racist! Unbelievable.

I am not a Tea Party member (independent), but agree with their values. I do think its is funny how people that claim racism seem to be the most racist individuals.

"Stupid is as Stupid does" Was that Forest Gump?

TJ Wolf, be careful where you get your information from. I don't think those the price ideas that the Tea Party is pushing. You are hearing generalizations of comments taken way out of context.

1.) Most tea party candidates aren't pushing any of these things. 2.) You've got your facts wrong:

a.) Social Security was borrowed from, that's true, but in the form of interest bearing government bonds. If the money hadn't been borrowed at all, it wouldn't have earned any interest at all This was stupid, though, because it basically means that the government is borrowing from itself, and paying itself interest. That means that, when SS starts paying out more than it earns (happening soon), it will have to start calling in debts owed to it by the US government, meaning WE need to pay.

b.) Medicaid has low admin costs, true, but also incompetent admin and terrible payout rates. It's so bad that most doctors won't accept Medicaid patients, because they actually take a loss on those patients.

c.) Public schools aren't working in most places. The US's average test scores have been steadily dropping for years, meaning the average school is getting worse (or at least that other nations' schools are getting better faster). That being said, as I pointed out above, I haven't heard anyone but the Dems talking about killing public schooling.

How about looking up some of the details and not assuming they're re-hashes of the very politicians these guys are opposing?

As for sharing wealth, when it's done by mandate by the government, it's socialism. When you do it privately by your own choice, it's kindness. I have nothing against the latter. I give to charities myself. but let me choose who to give it to, and how much, instead of doing it for me.

Again - I ask....where were these people years ago when there were definitely worse things going on?

We were griping at Bush for the Medicare Prescription plan - putting 400,000 seniors on it when only 40,000 really needed it.

We were griping, and STOPPING, the amnesty for illegals plan when Bush tried to push that through.

But, it really got us riled up when Bush pushed the Bailout through, with virtually no discussion and then Obama doubled down on that amount 6 month later with the Stimulus that didn't stimulate and then jammed through HealthCare when he knew the votes weren't there.

Oh, and C Smith is right - it's socialism when sharing the wealth is done forcibly. That has nothing to do with kindness or being human.

How can you jam something through if you don't have the votes? Griping my butt. And where were you people when Bush was starting a war based on WMD's that were never locate? You know the war that has cost this country thousands of lives and trillions of dollars, which by the way will be paid for by our kids and their kids for years to come.

No. What he meant was, they're not KKK after they take off their white sheets. Otherwise, you'll never know who is who under the sheets so don't call them KKK.

Tea party wants less government involvement in our lives. Noone ever said cutting regulations, or any garb you are talking about. Many of our leaders are corrupt, many have criminal records, but yet we find it OK that they make decisions that affect our lives.

And we are supposed to trust someone like that??? If you remember 8th grade social studies classes: The politicians work for us, not the other way around.

So how are you going to cut out all the regulatory agencies but not cut regulations? Oh, I forgot - just do it like Bush did - don't enforce them.

Mary I suggest you read on the origins of the KKK and their party affiliation.

It's funny to see people like this carry water for billionaires. What this country desperately needs is not to cut medicare/social security. Never a peep from these people during Bush years when a surplus was turned into a massive deficit. Never a peep from these people about the trillions we waste on military spending. They have no credibility. What they really want is a theocracy .

To quote some anymous wag "Hate government and taxes? Move To Somalia and find how well that works"

We all pay into the system. Some programs we might like or have a use for others we may not like or use. I don't have kids or own a car but I understand why public schools and roads are important. (Oh no that's socialism!!!)

Bingo.

Notice how, when they're interviewed, virtually every one of them eventually gets around to Jesus. The other constant is their reliance upon Fox News, the Propaganda Arm of the Republican Party.

These are the same geniuses who thought George W. Bush was doing a good job, Iraq was a mortal threat, trickle-down economics worked, the Earth was cooling off, and dinosaurs and humans lived alongside one another. Now they think Glenn Beck is smart. Beware of anybody who feels the need to incessantly insist that they are a real 'patriot' who 'wants their country back.'

Low-information voters is an apt description.

Wolverine...you are right. I met a woman who joined the TeaParty and she actually said to me, "Mary, there is a black man in the white house, and we need to take our country back." From then on, I knew they were all racists, and I live in the South, and the TeaBagger movement is really big here.

Wolverine and Mary are you really that ignorant , you label thousands of people as being racist you don't know their heart, did you disagree with Bush, are you racist. I actually met someone with different views then me and guess what, he wasn't racist, he was just another fellow countryman

Even "photojournalism" implies some level of actual "journalism". I don't know who Kari Huus is or what her qualifications are, but she does have the responsibility to do at least some minimal fact-checking before publishing bald-faced lies. For example, her article on the farming family stated that the son "doesn't take subsidies on principle." The truth, however, is that he has taken thousands in federal crop subsidies for his 20-acre cornfield and the family pictured has gotten over $300,000. Between them and their relatives in the town, they've pocketed almost $750,000 in taxpayer money.

It's the equivalent of doing a push-piece on Joe the Plumber and only publishing what he says about himself. Slack, MSNBC.

Total Liberal spewing! You are showing the fact that you are the racist and party line walker. The Tea Party movement is comprised of ALL ethnic backgrounds and it is people like you that simply need to grow up.

The 18 percent of Americans who identify themselves as Tea Party supporters tend to be Republican, white, male, married and older than 45.

Eighteen percent of Americans identify as Tea Party supporters. The vast majority of them -- 89 percent -- are white. Just one percent is black.

Yeah, they really represent "America". If you happen to be an old white guy.

KKK originally were Dems. who were against the radical Repub. congress.

I agree with you 110% Deez! I posted this comment earlier to Iceman25-835270 & didn't get any response!

That's just it when Obama ran in 07, non-supporters SCREAMED that he didn't have enough experience, now you're putting up candidates with ZERO experience! You don't see how hypocritical that is?!

There is clearly a double standard for 'Tea Party' candidates as opposed to the rest of the country! Well I see right through this double standard & I will vote for Mickey Mouse before I EVER vote for a "TeaParty' candidate!

it is not hypocritical to distinquish a successful Havard Law School grad. from an unsuccessful, nutbag.

Amen to that... what about the rest of us? Or was that "America" blessing for the rest of us?

Yes Louis it was for you, It was even for the liberals, They need it to if not more. God bless everyone.

I just don't see Jesus being a Teabagger, or a Republican for that matter.

IN fact if Jesus returned the Tea Party would blame him for all their ills just like they do the government and Illegals.

The only question is would the Tea Party lynch or crucify Jesus??? WHILE many of them come from a long line of lynchers, my bet is they would crucify him.

Then they would burn the cross!!!

I just don't see Jesus being a Teabagger, or a Republican for that matter.

Frankly, I don't see Jesus being stupid enough to belong to any political party, Dem, Rep, Ind., TP. That's probably because he would be too busy helping his fellow man...

Agreed.

BUT still believe the paranoid Tea Party would mistakenly identify him as the Antichrist and kill him.

Actually Jesus said to turn the other cheek something you might try, oh and by the way Jesus was very conservative and once said you can give a man a fish and feed him for a day or you can teach him how to fish and feed him for a life time, as far as paranoid just listen to yourself.

Yea, the fish thing is a Chinese proverb not something Jesus said, BUT I bet he would agree with it.

Those were my thoughts too.

The constitution gives the power to the people and not the Govering body. This goveringin bady has gotten to big and elitist.

the constitution, bill of rights and the rest of the amendments outlaw every single one of those negative aspects of "the good ole days" I'm not a tea partier, or a republican. You claim that Obama has done great things in 21 months... like extend the Patriot Act that lets the government spy on you at will. He won a Nobel Peace prize while being Commander-in-Chief of a military that is fighting two wars and several covert ops... he force fed us lies about healthcare and along with Pelosi and Ried did back door deals with my Democrat Nebraska Senator who I voted for (and will vote out in '12). He allowed armed military combatants full American miranda rights (as bush allowed a few himself)

its so easy to name call people and spew lies when you know nothing about the people at the base. I'm poor, but I'm tired of working hard to provide for myself and my family when my next door neighbor lives off of welfare and unemployment and plays his xbox on his bigscreen and lives in subsidized housing.

18 months ago, i had no job $2.14 in the bank and 5K in debt. I fixed fence, shingled roofs and landscaped. Since then I got a better job and have no debt and 12K in the bank and didn't take a hand-me-out.

Let them build the mosque, the momment any party tries to inject the religion into a party it will fail.

Repubs freed the slaves and led the civil rights movement in the 60's... your Dems fought tooth and nail for the South and for segregation... read a history book.

Silly Tea Bagger.

We are a representative republic who elect representation, NOT a democracy.

Donna

Your thoughts are nothing but extremist. Do you think that there is never a middle ground for anything?

Why is it wrong to want to bring America back to it's glory? Why is it wrong to want to bring government back to the people? The Preamble doesn't start out with "We the Government..."

Just because we say we want to go back to the Constitution, doesn't mean we actually go back in time to the days of slavery and suffrage (yeah, we can wear corsets, shoot muskets, and wear powdered wigs too [THAT would go over well with kids today]). Just because we say we want less government doesn't mean absolutely no government. How can we progress when we are making the same mistakes as our past?

You're an idiot. You're afraid of changing for the better, Dems had their way and couldn't affect change. Bush didn't leave the country in shambles, and congress and the senate were not controlled by the republicans. You should move out of the country to see what your socialist agenda really feels like.

What? The dem's had a majority of congress two years of the Bush administration. That was the last two years. By that time the damage had been done. Tax cuts to the wealthy and funding of not one, but two wars had already run the deficit through the roof. Deregulation of the finance & investment industry had allowed the books to be cooked until they could not be cooked anymore. The usage of control of congress is not even correct due to the assumption that Lieberman is a democrat, which he is not. What good is a majority when almost every vote is filibustered? As far as the Tea Party, it is simply the repackaging of an old product. Traditional Republicans have fallen out of favor so badly that it has been determined that a new face has to be applied to the party. The solution is to create a movement that calls for change, just like President Obama did; but instead of change you just continue the same policy under a new name. It is nothing more than damage control and the spin masters at work. Why do you not see a single TP candidate running on a democratic ticket? You can take a piece of @!$%# automobile and dress it up with a new paint job, new stereo and fancy wheels and it really looks good. But the fact remains that it is still a piece of @!$%#!.

RHINO-

The Senate was split between DEMs and REPs in 1996. NOW that is a strong majority!

Bush did'nt leave the country in shambles? He could not wait to get back to Crawford fast enough, he was so far in over his head.

BTW if you read more you would find that the nations that have the best education, best healthcare, and wealthiest citizens are all Progressive nations.

Our nation is dummiest nation compared to other nations. We have the lowest score any where. Why we are in shambles is because the Banks got us there from Clinton administartion. Who in their right mind to lend someone 200,000.00 to someone that make 40,000 year family income. Clinton wanted everyone to have a home so they jiggered up a law on paying intrest loan only. So, when the bank wanted people to pay on the loan they didn't have the money so after ten years after Clinton left Every on start losing thier homes banks losing money and giving themself big bonuses. Banks cried Help and Obama came and now we are in big DEBT with China. and now we can only afford intrest to give them. 400,000 billion a day.

Especially the white.

Excellent point, Julkie. I submit that the entire country is racist because the flag is reg, white and blue rather than red, BLACK, and blue. Or perhaps it should just be an unorganized rainbow of colors... like Skittles. Very thought provoking, there...

I would think yellow would be a popular color among these Tea Party cowards.

Pirate's Life for Me,

While I certainly applaud the addition of yellow to the flag (after all, going by these rules we would have to give equal recognition to Asian-Americans as well as African-Americans), I'm not seeing the connection to the Tea Party. They are cowards because they want less government? Or are they cowards because they want less taxes? Silly facts. Who needs em?

Oh, and by the way, I am disgusted by your association of the color yellow with cowardice. That is offensive to Asians everywhere. You sicken me.... racist.

I'm thinking about Oskar. Hey Oskar, surely you care about your elderly having social security and medicare. And don't you want your children to have public schools available to them? What about the rights of workers versus the billionaires who turn their backs on the ordinary man. I think Immigration is important, but it isn't the only reason for a Latino citizen not to support the tea partiers. I hope you will look very carefully at what they believe in before you speak out on their behalf. Yes, they have the right to say what they say, but I don't have to like what they say, and I certainly don't have to give them more power by defending them.