The American struggle for individual liberty continues
Part I: The Tea Party revisited (July 12 issue)
Mike Wevers
On July 4, our southern neighbour celebrated the 234th anniversary of the most pivotal event in its history, when the representatives of the 13 colonies agreed to break ties with the British colonial power. This event, and the eloquent and dramatic words of the Declaration of Independence itself, forms the cornerstone of the whole American political system. The themes of liberty and freedom that permeate American political discourse are the recurring echoes of a revolution two centuries old.
Revolution and liberty
One of the most important precursors to the Declaration of Independence arose over the British government’s taxing power in the colonies. In May of 1773, King George III gave assent to the Tea Act, enabling the East India Company to deliver tea direct to the American colonies. It also continued a tax on tea imported into the colonies as approved by the British parliament, even though the King had been warned that such a tax might incite resistance. Because the tax was instituted by a parliament in which the colonies had no representation, opposition to the East India tea and its tax grew quickly. Colonial leaders had been arguing against such British taxing power for years and recommended the tea be returned to England. Three colonies agreed, but the Governor of Boston refused to return three ship loads of taxed tea to England. On the night of December 15, 1773, some colonists boarded the ships and threw the tea into Boston Harbour.
The “Boston Tea Party,” as it became known, showed the determination of the colonists to tell the parliament in Great Britain and its King that they no longer enjoyed the consent of the American people. Thus “Tea Party” entered the lexicon of American politics as a rallying cry for when it appears that the government is no longer listening to its people. The Tea Party reference is often used too swiftly and very lightly. Occasionally, it is meant as a reminder that the British parliament and its King, who ignored the original Boston Tea Party, did so at their peril. After all, the peaceful Tea Party protest was followed by much more serious events – the American Revolutionary War in 1775 and the Declaration of Independence a year later, which specifically mentions such tyrannical acts as “imposing taxes on us without our consent” as a rationale.
The new Tea Party movement
The American political landscape is again rife with the Tea Party’s rallying cry. Current Tea Party enthusiasts point to three pieces of legislation which they believe reflect that the government, although ruling with people’s elected consent, has lost touch with what the people want.
The current Tea Party cries are not just simply concerns with Democratic Party initiatives since they are rooted in the public reaction to the Bush administration’s $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, passed in October 2008. Congress passed the legislation, with clear majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Congress believed it needed to act, owing to a mortgage financing crisis and to halt the market tailspin resulting from the Wall Street banker Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, and the federal takeover of mortgage providers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Although Congress and the Bush administration enjoyed the support of many economists for instituting the Troubled Assets Relief Program through the Act, there were many detractors who saw it as a bailout of the Wall Street elite.
The current Tea Party push for change in government widened when President Obama continued the Bush administration’s spending and market intervention. In February 2009, the recently inaugurated President signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide assistance to workers affected by the recession as well as stimulus funds for infrastructure and to help move the USA out of recession. Again, some experts hailed the spending as sound counter cyclical economic activity; however, many perceived it to be more Washington pork barrelling enabled through increasing America’s public debt burden which would hamstring future economic activity.
The most recent, of course, and arguably most contentious of the three pieces of legislation which have stimulated the Tea Party movement is President Obama’s March 2010 signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, completing his push for legislating health care reform. Many current Tea Party supporters will not rest until this legislation is rescinded.
Grassroots democracy
Trying to understand the current Tea Party label and to whom that applies is not an easy task. There is no single organization and certainly no one person leading this loose coalition of discontent simmering at local level. Although references to Tea Party-type activities were present in the 2008 election cycle, the Tea Party movement gained momentum in early 2009. Many grassroots developments were aided and abetted by conservative radio talk show and television news show personalities. Their protests against government economic stimulus spending culminated in the first “Nation-wide Chicago Tea Party” in February 2009. Since then, the movement has gained considerable momentum. President Obama and his Democratic Party will have to determine how to derail this momentum or see a Tea Party celebration at the mid-term elections this November which may outdo its Bostonian roots.
PART II (July 26 issue)
When the original Boston Tea Party challenged the authority of the British parliament and King, it became a catalyst of the American Revolution and enshrined into the American constitution the liberty of all. The new Tea Party Movement is certainly trying to reinvigorate in the American people that challenge of authority, especially when government spending and market intervention is perceived as diminishing individual liberty.
Unlike the original Boston Tea Party, where only a few dumped the taxed tea into Boston harbour on that cold December night, its modern counterpart is supported by numerous organizations, led by many ardent conservatives. Its first nation-wide stage was at the Chicago Tea Party in February 2009. At least 12 Tea Party related organizations were represented in Chicago, including FreedomWorks, Tea Party Patriots, Tea Party Nation and (Radio and Fox TV personality) Glenn Beck’s The 912 Project.
Tea Party supporters point to the broad local membership and diffuse leadership as the strength of the movement, reinforcing its true democratic character. Nonetheless, attempts are being made to firm up the coalition of interests. The non-profit Tea Party Patriots lay claims to be the “Official Home of the Tea Party Movement.” Looking at its website will convince you that it does indeed represent a myriad of local chapters and has secured the partnership support of many conservative institutions, including FreedomWorks (led by the former Republican Majority House Leader), Let Freedom Ring, Smart Girl Politics and Regular Folks United. Tea Party Nation tried to coordinate a national convention in April 2010, where Sarah Palin was a keynote speaker, but it was not well attended because the organization was criticized for being a for-profit agency and charging a significant registration fee. Most recently, a National Tea Party Federation has been established “to create a unified message,” but membership appears limited at this stage.
A new contract from America
Despite the lack of clear leadership in the Tea Party Movement, some common messages are coming out. The Tea Party Patriots’ core values of Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets are identical to those of the Tea Party Federation. More impressively, the loose coalition has seized upon a uniting charter, the Contract from America. The Contract presents 10 principles which should guide American governance, including limiting government spending, achieving a balanced budget, tax reform, stopping tax hikes and, of course, repealing “Obamacare.” Partners for the Contract reads like the who’s who of the American conservative political family, which includes Newt Gingrich’s American Solutions (Gingrich was one of the authors of the Republican Party’s mid-1990s Contract with America).
The Tea Party Movement, not surprisingly, is also very politically active. The movement is steering clear of developing a third party, which would simply split the conservative right and ensure Democratic Party victories. Instead the movement is bringing its considerable political organizing ability to identifying and supporting individuals who will bring its message to state houses and Washington. It also is putting pressure on incumbents to sign the Contract from America or face nomination challenges as parties prepare for the mid-term elections this fall (the United States elects its 435 member House of Representatives every two years).
Cracks in the coalition
In February of this year, Karl Rove, Bush’s key political strategist, stated that the Tea Party Movement must resist aligning itself with any one political party, even though its natural home would be more Republican. To assist political discourse and pursue the diverse interests of its many members, the movement must be able to “put feet to the fire” of elected representatives from either party. Rove also raised the issue of fringe groups finding a home in the Tea Party Movement, which would diminish its credibility, including 9/11 deniers, “birthers” who insist President Obama was not born in the USA and hence ineligible for office, armed “militias” (the calls for new members in the Tea Party Patriots is to join the “1st Brigade”), and failed candidates from previous elections who remain disaffected by their loss.
The concerns with what may be unpopular views finding a home in the Tea Party Movement does not stop with fringe groups. In Nevada, the Tea Party has been instrumental in having Sharron Angle nominated to face the Democrat Majority Leader in the Senate, Harry Reid. According to opinion polls, Ms. Angle enjoys a significant lead, and if it holds she would unseat him this November. However, in recent interviews, Ms. Angle has suggested, “if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies” (the right to bear arms amendment). Ms. Angle, with her modern day Tea Party support, appears to have been caught in some unwise political rhetoric; however, critics are not being so kind remembering that the original Boston Tea Party activists were a catalyst inducing a call to arms to overthrow the government, and that the current Tea Party Movement does include the armed militia advocates on its fringe.
November mid-term election will be a test
The strength and resiliency of the Tea Party Movement will be tested in this November’s Mid-term elections. Surveys of Tea Party supporters indicate that the majority of them are or were Republic Party supporters, with usual Democrat voters representing less than 20 percent of the Tea Party movement. So while Democrat strategists may take some comfort from this in most solid Democrat districts, they realize in swing seats where vote margins are usually pretty thin that the Tea Party will be a force to be reckoned with. Even where margins aren’t that thin, the Tea Party appears to be able to mobilize a great deal of organizational support and election campaign funding to candidates it chooses to support. November will tell us how effective the Tea Party movement truly has been in changing the face of the United State Congress. If the Tea Party does enjoy success this November, President Obama and his Democrat Party, unlike his colonial counterpart King George III who ignored the message sent from Boston’s Harbour in 1773, will have to pay attention. If not, they do so at their peril in 2012.
Mike Wevers recently retired as Assistant Deputy Minister with the Alberta Government’s Treasury Board. He lives in Edmonton. The first part of this series can be found in CC’s July 12 issue and at christiancourier.ca.