While I have never attended a Tea Party rally, the movement has become many things to many people since it began with CNBC’s Rick Santelli’s February 2009 rant on CNBC.
As the 2012 election approaches, I thought it apt to remind folks what our next election is really about by posting Rick Santelli’s original rant. To put it bluntly, the next election is about whether one supports a government that gives Americans the freedom to take responsibility for their own actions, or a government that punishes success and rewards failure.
Reflections of a Rational Republican 
sean, Rick has always been my hero. We need to separate the non-contributers form the contributers. stick with darwin- survival of the fittest and reward those who work hard and spray those fleas who ride the backs of the working dogs.
Wrong. The next 2012 election is about having a government that serves only the narrow, selfish interests of the most wealthy and powerful, or a government that attempts, however imperfectly, to serve the interests of the vast majority of ordinary people. It may sound corny, but ask yourself: “What would Jesus do?”
He would teach people how to fish so they could eat for a lifetime. Our government simply supplies the fish.
This government doesn’t serve the majority of the people. It rewards failure. Ask yourself what percentage of taxes are paid by the top 10% of wage earners and you will understand my point.
Right now, nearly half of the population doesn’t pay taxes and the number of people on food stamps has nearly doubled. Meanwhile, baby boomers are growing older and threaten to consume the majority of the nation’s budget in future decades between healthcare and social security. When the state provides an increasing number of services to people who don’t pay any of the taxes, there is significant moral hazard embedded in the system.
Your goals are noble, but in practice, the incentives they create result in an unsustainable system that will collapse. Ask Tiberius Gracchus what happened to Rome after Roman leaders bought the people’s support with bread and circuses. We’ve been down this road before and we all know where it will lead…
Our country is becoming a welfare state and it needs to stop. This class warfare line is really starting to get old.
Just follow the money. Look at who really pays all the taxes.
The best reaction to Santelli’s rant is Jon Stewart’s skewering of CNBC afterwards. “Wall Street is mad and they’re not going to take it any more! Unless by “it” you mean bailout money…”
See Stewart’s response here: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-march-4-2009/cnbc-financial-advice
Hilarious! Thanks for sharing!
Here’s another one back at you on Obama’s debt reduction speech:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/thu-april-14-2011-ricky-gervais
I love the line about sending royalty checks to the estate of George Orwell. Spending reductions in our tax code? Sheesh.
Yeah. This is why I’ve been kind of testy about Obama in recent days. I fell hook, line and sinker for this gimmick and I’m not too proud of myself for that. Nor am I happy with the President for not deliberately stating that his $1 trillion tax increase is in addition to getting rid of the Bush tax cuts. Very sneaky…
There are too many lawyers running our political system…