Do the tea partiers really care about "economic justice?"

We Just Disagree

by digby


Do the tea partiers care about economic justice? Dylan Ratigan thinks so:

How do you deal with the issue of some very valid concerns and issues that exist inside of the tea party and some very invalid in my opinion and very ineffective and in my opinion destructive messengers delivering what may very well be a valid message? ... So how do you deal with that? Because we actually need their energy. We need people who understand how unfair and how unjust our government's function is, whether you call yourself a liberal or a conservative, p0rogressive, call yourself whatever you want. Whatever you call yourself you can see how unfair it is.

And their energy is goes to that unfairness but manifests itself in really stupid destructive ways that leads to ... billboards like this. How do you keep the good and get rid of the bad?

Listen, the fight for economic justice is a valid fight that needs as many warriors as possible. We can't mix up the fight for economic justice with whatever's pissing them off that day or whatever's crazy. But economic justice cannot be taken from us because we're distracted by these things either.
The Democratic strategist on the panel added:
Listen this is unfair to the tea party who have legitimate complaints that we've talked about. We're seeing the same thing with some of the more racist elements of the trea party. They undermine the entire movement.

I would argue that racism is intrinsic to the movement, a fundamental bedrock of their belief system, but I'll set that aside for now. However, what part of the rest of their movement cares about "economic justice?" Sure they hate the bailouts. And I have no doubt that they believe that the government is unjust and unfair. But do they define that the same way a liberal would define them?

You be the judge. Here's how the Tea Party defined their economic views when they wrote the Maine Republican platform:

To Promote the General Welfare:

a. Return to the principles of Austrian Economics, and redirect the economy back to one of incentives to save and invest.

b. Cut spending, balance the budget, and institute a plan for paying down debt. Proclaim that generational debt shifting is immoral and unconscionable and will not be tolerated!

c. Pass and implement Fed bill #1207 (Introduced by Ron Paul), to Audit the Federal Reserve, as the first step in Ending the Fed.

d. Return to transparent and honest reporting of economic statistics free of gimmicks and distortions.

e. Require the government and all its agencies adhere to the same GAAP accounting rules that businesses must follow.

f. Restore the provisions of welfare reform removed with the stimulus bill.

g. Defeat Cap and Trade, investigate collusion between government and industry in the global warming myth, and prosecute any illegal collusion.

h. Freeze current stimulus funds, prohibit any further stimulus bills, and apply all unspent funds towards the debt they created.

i. Promote energy independence aggressively by removing the obstacles created by government to allow private development of our resources; natural gas, oil, coal, and nuclear power.

j. Institute Zero based budgeting on all programs.

k. Espouse and follow the principle: It is immoral to steal the property rightfully earned by one person, and give it to another who has no claim or right to its benefits.


Sure, they like to think of that as "economic justice" but I certainly don't agree. And validating them by saying they have "legitimate complaints" and asserting that we all agree that "the government is unfair and unjust" without noting that what liberals think is unfair and unjust about the government --- policies that favor the rich and powerful and its assaults on civil liberties --- are not the same things the tea partiers think are unfair and unjust --- a redistributionist tax system and welfare state --- is to give these anti-government cranks far too much credit. In fact our philosophies are diametrically opposed.

Once you get past two issues (that the government should not bail out Wall Street and the Fed should be audited) there is nothing that liberals and tea partiers believe in common. They think everything the government does is a bailout --- including unemployment insurance and public education. They are anti-government radicals who consider anyone even slightly to their left as socialists who are destroying everything they hold dear.

Ratigan is an interesting guy and I often appreciate his aggressive posture against the malefactors of great wealth. But I don't think we agree on the way American politics works. Validating the tea party as believers in "economic justice" is being a useful idiot for the very people he loathes.

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