party people

These Tea Party congressmen. They are nothing but common people, just like you and me. Right?

One-fifth of the 50 richest members of Congress are freshman House Republicans sent to Washington last year with strong Tea Party support, according to The Hill’s 50 Wealthiest for 2011.

Ohio’s Rep. Jim Renacci, the wealthiest of the 87 freshman Republicans elected in 2010, has an estimated net worth of $35.9 million and is the 11th richest lawmaker in Congress, according to The Hill’s list.

Like Reps. Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.), and Blake Farenthold (R-Texas), who are also numbered among the most wealthy 50 lawmakers in Congress, Renacci had a successful business career before entering Congress.

[SNIP]

Two other new members of the rich list, Reps. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Scott Rigell (R-Va.), made their fortunes with car dealerships. Kelly’s estimated wealth is $11.9 million, while Rigell’s is $10.7 million.

Ah yes, I feel like such a common man, much like these tea party people. Now excuse me while I bath myself in my millions!

Wow – what a potty mouth:

Hamilton County Republican chairman Alex Triantafilou accuses Rep. Steve Driehaus of using ‘a vulgarity’ in a fundraising email, and is demanding an apology.

The vulgarity: “tea bagger.”

The Driehaus campaign calls the GOP release “nonsense” and says “no offense was intended.”  Spokeswoman Melissa Wideman cites the Oxford American Dictionary definition of the term: “a person who protests President Obama’s tax policies and stimulus package, often through local demonstrations known as “Tea Party” protests (in allusion to the Boston Tea Party of 1773.”

Tea Bagger is a vulgarity? If that’s the case then the Tea Party people out protesting this week should be arrested for displays of public vulgarities:

(Photo by Ana Marie Cox)

This isn’t the first time I have talked about Triantafilou, the head of the Hamilton County Republicans. Last year Triantafilou decided to show what a real class act he is when he used a picture of a bald Arlen Specter to compare him to Dr. Evil. Of course Specter was bald in that picture because of his brain cancer.

Triantafilou is no authority on class, let alone what is a vulgarity and what isn’t. He’s just proving that the Tea Party is an extension of the GOP.

With Sean Hannity being forced by Fox top brass to cancel the live airing of his show from the Cincinnati Tea Party yesterday, we are given a new look into the Tea Party. I touched on it last night, but decided it really deserves it’s own space on the blog.

When it was announced to the crowd of around 10,000 last night that Sean Hannity wouldn’t be appearing, this is what happened:

Several people in the audience shouted “refund!”

[SNIP]

The Tea Party reported about $77,500 in ticket sales. It had budgeted $70,200 in expenses for the event, including security and other costs, officials said. However, there will also likely be extra costs, as the group said in a news release late Thursday that it would honor requests for refunds. It said an e-mail address to request a refund would be set up within 48 hours.

I thought the whole purpose of the tea party rallies was to protest “big government”? Aren’t they there to “denounce runaway spending by Washington”? That means these people should be happy to be there regardless of who is speaking.

Don’t these people understand capitalism? Tickets for the event ranged from $5 to $20 dollars, with all proceeds going to the Cincinnati Tea Party. This would be money to help organize future fund raisers and events, and is something that any political party or movement must do. It takes money to organize large events like this.

It really isn’t a lesson, but more of a reminder. Democrats suck at politics. To the Democrats out there acting shocked over the Brown win, all I can say is “wake up!”

We don’t need to turn back the pages of history more than a few months to remind us how bad Democrats are at politics. Last August they sat shell shocked as the tea bagger movement erupted. During the entire health care debate they were crap. They started negotiations low and just kept going lower. When someone like Lieberman threw a monkey wrench in the plans the leadership just blinked.

For the Democrats to remain a majority party they have to become the party people want, not the party that people resort to as the ‘they are better than the alternative” candidates. They need to remember what promises brought them to power in 2008 and deliver on them. Stop it with the dream of “bi-partisanship”. It isn’t going to happen. We are not going to pull this highly polarized country together over night. Hell we probably won’t be able to until some massive national disaster happens again, and a near depression wasn’t even enough for that.

Democrats also need to learn a thing called message control. This is something the Republicans excel at, while the Democrats fail every time. Health care is a perfect example of this. The Republicans had “death panels”, while the Democrats counter argument was “health exchanges”. Average Joe voter has no idea what a “health exchange” is and Democrats sure as hell didn’t try to explain it.