the tea party

I'm sure many have seen this chart before, showing communism being more popular than Congress:

But is it as bad as we think? Apparently so.

NPR as a lengthy article up examining just how bad Congress really is, and the conclusion is really, really bad. This quote should show you just how bad:

"There were a few really bruising periods in American congressional history, not only the run-up to the Civil War, but also around the War of 1812," he says.

Two periods in American History none of us could even begin to imagine living through, yet our Congress is viewed as badly now as then.

But it compares worst than other bad times for Congress:

Other periods of governmental deadlock include Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction presidency, Woodrow Wilson's conflict with Congress over the League of Nations and the fights between President Truman and the "do-nothing" 80th Congress in 1947-48.

"None of those involved the level of conflict within Congress itself that we see today," Feller says.

Ouch! But here's something that really could prove the case and something that I talked about in my last post:

In the pantheon of also-rans for least effective Congresses, Mann would add a contentious period circa 1910 when long-serving Republican House Speaker Joseph Cannon was ousted from his post mostly by renegades in his own party. There were also bruising fights over the Depression-era New Deal.

A lot of the Tea Party has been throwing their weight behind Newt Gingrich, but lately we have been seeing some big name former Tea Party candidates split off and endorse Mitt Romney.

It started earlier this week when Christine "I'm not a witch" O'Donnell came out and endorsed the Mittster. You got to give credit to the former Senate candidate - she made one of the most interesting endorsements EVER!

"He has been consistent since he changed his mind". That's like saying a killer hasn't been a killer since he last murdered.

Of course O'Donnell's interesting endorsement has lead to all kinds of fun for pundits and late night comedians alike.

But today we get another darling of the Tea Party coming out and throwing her weight behind the Mittster:

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney picked up the endorsement of South Carolina's Republican governor, Nikki Haley, on Friday in a move that could boost his fortunes in the early voting state.

Romney has been lagging in South Carolina and his backers in the state have been urging him to campaign more frequently there. South Carolina holds the first primary in the South on January 21 and former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, who hails from neighboring Georgia, has a lead there.

What makes this endorsement extra juicy is the past relationship Haley had with another presidential hopeful, Michele Bachmann.

Some new polls out this week really show the problems the GOP is facing with only a little over 3 weeks before voting kicks off.

First off let's talk Iowa. This was being scene as a guarantee win for Newt Gingrich just a week ago, but that has now changed:

There has been some major movement in the Republican Presidential race in Iowa over the last week, with what was a 9 point lead for Newt Gingrich now all the way down to a single point. Gingrich is at 22% to 21% for Paul with Mitt Romney at 16%, Michele Bachmann at 11%, Rick Perry at 9%, Rick Santorum at 8%, Jon Huntsman at 5%, and Gary Johnson at 1%.

If you look at it in graph form, Ron Paul has really gained ground in the past week.

I always like looking at the graphs instead of the raw numbers because you can easily see trends. The one I see here is that Herman Cain's support didn't go to Romney or Gingrich, but rather to the more unlikely winners. Not only that, but these people have also peeled off support from the once front runners.

These numbers are the big eye catcher, but buried in the actual results (PDF) was something even more interesting

Q27 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the Republican establishment?
Favorable........................................................ 31%
Unfavorable .................................................... 31%
Not sure .......................................................... 38%

The fad that is the Tea Party is starting to show real signs of fading:

Since the 2010 midterm elections, the Tea Party has not only lost support nationwide, but also in the congressional districts represented by members of the House Tea Party Caucus. And this year, the image of the Republican Party has declined even more sharply in these GOP-controlled districts than across the country at large.

Since the 2010 midterm elections, the Tea Party has not only lost support nationwide, but also in the congressional districts represented by members of the House Tea Party Caucus. And this year, the image of the Republican Party has declined even more sharply in these GOP-controlled districts than across the country at large.

And with the sinking of the Tea Party goes the sinking of the Republican Party as this chart shows:

But wait! It gets even worse for them, which means better for the Democrats.

The favorable rating of the Democrats is at least holding steady in the Tea Party districts and is now into positive territory overall.

The extreme right’s battle against organized labor is taking another turn in Ohio:

Just two days after voters overwhelmingly killed legislation restricting collective bargaining for public employees, Tea Party activists and a nonunion trade group Thursday launched a campaign to put a broader crackdown on union rights on the statewide ballot in 2012 or 2013.

The proposed right-to-work constitutional amendment would prohibit making union membership a condition of employment.

Chris Littleton of West Chester Twp. in Butler County, a Tea Party leader and co-founder of the Ohio Liberty Council, said at a Statehouse press conference that the amendment would provide “work place freedom for every single Ohioan.”

It takes signatures from 385,253 registered voters to put an amendment on the ballot and Littleton said that it might take until the November 2013 election to meet that requirement.

This appears might be going to far even for a lot of Republicans:

However, Republican leaders distanced themselves from the amendment. “Job creation” is the top priority, Rob Nichols, spokesman for GOP Gov. John Kasich, a key backer of Senate Bill 5, said in an email.

Actually this is nothing more than a continued assault on workers right by the extremists that have taken over America’s right. The people spoke in Ohio on Tuesday and told the state to stop limiting bargaining rights of Ohio’s public workers. The Tea Party, in their closed, cult like mindset, can’t acknowledge that so now they are going to try to make it even a broader assault. It’s no wonder that the Tea Party’s popularity is going down in flames. Thankfully more Americans have awoken to the bullshit these people push and are turning them away.

My heart weeps for this poor fellow:

Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) appeared on MSNBC with Chris Jansing this morning to attack President Obama’s new deficit reduction plan, which includes some tax increases on the wealthy. Taking up the typical GOP talking point, Fleming said raising taxes on wealthy “job creators” is a terrible idea that kills jobs because many of these people are small business owners who pay taxes through personal income rates.

Fleming is himself a businesses owner, so Jansing asked, “If you have to pay more in taxes, you would get rid of some of those employees?” Fleming responded by saying that while his businesses made $6.3 million last year, after you “pay 500 employees, you pay rent, you pay equipment, and food,” his profits “a mere fraction of that” — “by the time I feed my family, I have maybe $400,000 left over.

We should tax the middle and lower class more, take away healthcare for poor children, close schools and dismantle government just so this man from the party of the “common man”, the Tea Party can survive. 

Welcome to the sick and twisted views of America’s Tea Party. They champion people who complain about living on only $400k a year, yet insult those who only make $20,000 all while saying they believe in Jesus. The Tea Party isn’t a “party” – it’s a god damn mental illness!