The 10 Economic Commandments Of The Tea Party: 24/7 Wall Street

By 24/7 Wall Street: In the latter days of Rome, the economy was crumbling, the emperor ... would placate the mob with bread and circus -- food and entertainment to placate them since the economy was in shambles and dwindling around them," Kentucky Senator-elect Rand Paul.

It was only a few years ago that most Americans thought tea parties were old-fashioned get-togethers, featuring warm caffeinated beverages and bite-sized sandwiches. Of course, that's no longer the case after this week's election results.

The Tea Party is a philosophy as much as a political movement. In fact, there is no single Tea Party or even a recognized leader, though several people including Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Sen.-elect Rand Paul (R-KY) could claim the title. It's not necessarily pro-Republican either. Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT) was driven from office for not being conservative enough. Former Tea Party darling Christine O'Donnell defeated Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) in the Republican primary.

For months, the Tea Party has waged an ideological war against the Obama administration over its handling of the economy. The battle has become personal at times. Tea Party favorite Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) became infamous for shouting "you lie" in the middle of President Obama's State of the Union address. He later apologized. Others shouted down members of Congress at town hall meetings discussing Health Care Reform. Activists wearing colonial costumes and waving "Don't Tread on Me" flags showed up at rallies across the country.

One of the movement's biggest tests may be the debt ceiling. Rand Paul has not ruled out filibustering any efforts to raise the limit on how much money the government can borrow, on which a decision is expected to be made early next year. If Congress fails to pass the legislation, the U.S. won't be able to make good on its commitments such as bonds.
Of course, the Tea Party doesn't want to be held responsible for the financial catastrophe that experts say would occur if the debt ceiling is not raised. The question is what sort of concessions the movement will want to make and whether the movement's supporters will keep their faith when political ideology meets economic reality.

The ideas espoused by the Tea Party about limited small government and lower taxes were once heard mostly at think tanks and campaign rallies. Many voters, though, probably know little about the movement's ideas beyond the soundbites reported in the media. 24/7 Wall St. decided to take a closer look at the Tea Party. We reviewed the position papers, public statements and websites of self-described Tea Party candidates. We then determined the party's 10 key economic ideas which may help shape government policy for years to come.

Check out the 10 economic commandments of the Tea Party and visit 24/7 Wall Street for more information:

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#1 Entitlements

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Many Tea Party candidates have called for reform of entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, both of which have begun to pay out more money than they take in. Recent Senate winners Rand Paul and Mike Lee have called for “systematic overhauls” of the politically popular programs. Other candidates, such as Pennsylvania Senator-elect Pat Toomey, advocate the partial privatization of Social Security. All of these candidates, however, say that it would be unfair to deny benefits to current retirees or those who are close to retirement. (Senior Morton Genser poses with his prescription drugs: AP/File Photo) Read more at 24/7 Wall Street.

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Many Tea Party candidates have called for reform of entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, both of which have begun to pay out more money than they take in. Recent Senate winners Rand Paul and Mike Lee have called for “systematic overhauls” of the politically popular programs. Other candidates, such as Pennsylvania Senator-elect Pat Toomey, advocate the partial privatization of Social Security. All of these candidates, however, say that it would be unfair to deny benefits to current retirees or those who are close to retirement.

(Senior Morton Genser poses with his prescription drugs: AP/File Photo)

Read more at 24/7 Wall Street.

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Comments

[Eagleman]

08:56 AM on 11/15/2010

They all make sense. I

However - These people should have came out of hibernation few years earlier. It is too late now. We are now economically annexed by Chinese.
The moderate and sane people are no longer there. The fight is between bible holding right and pot holding left.

[JuanCarlosysofia]

06:41 PM on 11/15/2010

is that a waffle house hat on the eagle?

[edavismail]

05:34 AM on 11/23/2010

William F. Buckley Jr. supported the legalization of some street drugs, especially pot. Too bad he died.

[blueplano]

03:08 PM on 11/09/2010

Newt on The View today said most tea-baggers are home schooled. That explains everything.

[MIKEBC]

02:43 PM on 11/08/2010

Where were these anti-spending hawks last decade when america's worst president was lying us into un-funded wars and giving tax breaks to the filthiest of the rich?

[vonbek]

08:10 PM on 11/11/2010

They are only anti-spending if it is for the poor or middle class, wars make them money. They do not want to share the wealth they have stolen legally. They are anti abortion because they want lots of worker for a cheap source of labor, and as cannon fodder for their wars to steal other countries resources. If we have no social programs we will work for as little as they are willing to offer, or will join the military cause it may be one of the last options for employment that offers an illusion of a middle class.

[edavismail]

06:25 AM on 11/23/2010

This is an interesting, sorta Marxist analysis, in that you point out the possible economic motivations of right-wing ideology, but I think that it applies more to the typical republican than to the typical tea party member. Many tea party members are against the Iraqi and even Afghan war. They are generally non-interventionists when it comes to foreign policy (something which was not really addressed in this article). They oppose corporate welfare just as much as other forms of government welfare provision; hence their opposition to bail-outs. They are anti-abortion mainly for religious reasons rather than an attempt to provide cannon fodder or cheap labor. Again, this applies more to the back-room, probably childless, cigar smokin corporate republican than it applies to a tea party member. For all my gripes about Sarah Palin, she really decide to raise a child with downs syndrome and she likely weighed heavily in the fact that, like it or not, Bristol Palin did not have an abortion. They Palin's aren't about to rejoice in the fact that either of their children gets killed in a war or works all their life at McDonalds. It's perhaps better to acknowlege that the tea party does force a rethinking of our typical propensity to pigoenhole, which I believe is the underlying point of the original article.

[AyeChart]

01:17 PM on 11/08/2010

Remember, please, Obama's discussion with Bob Scheiffer on Face the Nation some time back. Obama was pushing an increase in the capital gains taxes. Scheiffer reminded Obama that such an increase has been shown to actually decrease, not increase, tax revenues to the federal government. Obama responded that he understood this .. but raising capital gains taxes was an issue of fairness.  In other words, Obama wanted to take more money away from investors by way of taxes not to raise money for the operations of government, but because he felt it was not fair for the investors who earned that money to keep as much as they were keeping. This is Obama's motivation for tax increases. He's not ignorant. He knows history, and he knows that since World War II tax reductions on high achievers have been followed by increases in tax revenue.
--N. Boortz
Thus the need to PRETEND that tax cuts decrease revenue.  It helps sell the Democrat position to the economically ignorant.  There are not enough rabid class warriors among the electorate.

[oilfield]

06:21 PM on 11/08/2010

how else can you get the pitch forks out? i do remember that interview....i dont know why the government would want less revenue?

[danielboone]

01:36 PM on 11/09/2010

It's a power thing! That way they have more power over you when they increase the taxes and regulations! You notice that the New Obama care has to hire 16,000 IRS agents to make sure you pay for your insurance!

[LINY01]

11:50 AM on 11/08/2010

Today, Federal Reserve Notes and U.S. dollar loans dominate the economy of the world; but this international currency is not money issued by the American people or their government. It is money created and lent by a private cartel of international bankers, and this cartel has the United States itself hopelessly entangled in a web of debt.

Local, state and national governments are all so heavily in debt that they have been forced to sell off public assets to satisfy creditors. Crowded schools, crowded roads, and cutbacks in public transportation are eroding the quality of American life.

Full: Web of Debt (excellent Book!) http://www.webofdebt.com/excerpts/introduction.php

[ekg]

09:34 AM on 11/08/2010

Wow, cant believe huffypuffy did an objective piece on the TP. What, are they finally getting tired of perpetuating the "boogeyman" meme?

About time

[AyeChart]

01:18 PM on 11/08/2010

Maybe they are growing tired of looking loony.

[oilfield]

06:21 PM on 11/08/2010

4 out of 10 voters identified with the tea party.....that is a big number

[vonbek]

08:17 PM on 11/11/2010

It is not a majority is it?

[Lorianne]

08:08 AM on 11/08/2010

Palin to Bernanke: ‘Cease and Desist’

[Carolab]

08:37 PM on 11/08/2010

Interesting but you are aware that Mayor Palin bankrupted her tiny town of Wasilla, right?

[muck-raker]

08:02 AM on 11/08/2010

Globalization/Trade Wars: excerpt: Another leading indicator for potential change is that a few influential industry leaders are deviating from standard corporate line. Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric, has called for revitalization of manufacturing and suggests that United States can become the leading exporter. "In some areas, we have outsourced too much," Immelt admitted in a speech last year to Detroit Economic Club. "We plan to 'insource' capabilities like aviation component manufacturing and software development." GE's strategic shift sounds shocking (and unreal to union leaders) because company has been most notorious player in offshoring assembly lines and jobs. GE's 288,000 worldwide employment is now 53 percent foreign. unions that represent workers at GE had more than 100,000 members there in 1970s; they are now reduced to 15,000.

A more persuasive break from past dogma was expressed by Andrew Grove, former CEO, now senior adviser, of Intel and a revered figure in Silicon Valley. Grove wrote a blunt confessional essay for Bloomberg titled "How to Make an American Job Before It's Too Late." The government, he urged, must intervene to end the offshoring game his semiconductor firm and other computer giants have played for many years. Tax the product of offshore labor, Grove proposed, and use the money to help other US companies scale up production at home. "If the result is a trade war, treat it like other wars-fight to win," he declared.
http://www.zcommunications.org/the-end-of-free-trade-globalization-by-william-greider

[letsgtogether]

08:55 AM on 11/08/2010

Amazing. Obama has been advocating the tax on offshore labor all along, but the giant corp. constituents of the Republicorp party have bashed that with no concern for American jobs. Offshoring is corporate america's way of controlling the cost of labor. It has been nothing more than war with the American worker.

[floodmfx]

07:46 AM on 11/08/2010

I actually agree with a few of those items -

bail-outs were wrong, and should never happen again
the deficit should be under control more
and the Fed should be more transparent

There is some grounds for agreement here.

[JavaJuice]

08:47 AM on 11/08/2010

As much as I despised Wall Street getting bailed out, they control a good 40% of our economy. If there wasn't a bailed we would be in worship shape now. I would like to prevent any further bail outs of course, but the watered down financial regulations, allowing "Too Big To Fail" will make that difficult. I don't see that issue being addressed by the Tea Party. They want things both ways. They want "small government" and the "free market", which means supporting the deregulations which is the root cause of the financial crisis.

I agree the deficit should be lowered, but it doesn't have to come at the expense of investing in our country and people. Time to lower military spending and end Bush's tax cuts. Those are the biggest engines driving the deficit. I don't hear the Tea Party focusing on those 2 areas, its all about "entitlements" which is code for programs that help poor and retired people.

I also believe the Fed should be more transparent, but I do not agree with the conspiracy theory that surrounds the creation of the Fed. All the Illuminati/Bildberge/NWO garbage prevents the nation from having a reasonable discussion about the Fed.

[floodmfx]

12:41 PM on 11/08/2010

We would be in worse shape if Wall St wasnt bailed out?
What else can they do - they took my home, they took my job -
What else could have happened to me !?!

Anyone who says that it would have been worse, so we should bail them out,
that means:
1. you were lucky enough to not lose your home and your job in this crisis
and
2. you are willing to sell out what is right so that you can keep your home and your job.

Don't get me wrong - if I could have my job and home back, I would sell out quick too - but millions of Americans have nothing less to lose. Don't sell me your "it would have been worse" crap, because it aint selling here.

[oilfield]

06:22 PM on 11/08/2010

welcome to the dark side!

[southingtonian]

05:06 AM on 11/08/2010

A single-rate tax system. Sure: because 10% of minimum wage doesn't hurt any more than 10% of $900,000. Riiiight.

[PWM]

08:55 AM on 11/08/2010

Exactly. Such a tax rate is nothing less than punishing the poor. The Kock Brothers are behind the TP and it is no accident the TP holds the exact views the brothers hold.

[Chris]

02:18 PM on 11/08/2010

Most supporters of a flat tax/signle rate also support exempting some of the income. Such as the first 30 - 50k of income is exempt. This mirrors the current system where many families earning less than 50k have little to no tax bill at the end of the year.

[southingtonian]

11:56 PM on 11/08/2010

Such qualifications would make it less onerous. With taxes on most other purchases in most states (Pa. exempts shoes and most clothing), the lower 1/4 of taxpayers pay the larger percentage of income for basics.

[PhilipTaylor]

03:45 AM on 11/08/2010

The 10 Fiscal Commandments of the Tea Party and Republicans:

1. Entitlements - Social Security and Medicare = “systematic overhauls” or giving it to WALL STREET TO SIPHON INTO THEIR POCKETS!

2. Taxes - “the best way to get the economy going and create jobs is to put more money in the pockets of RICHEST 1% to 2%! Despite fact BUSH TAX CUT economy was the worst in 60 years! Some Republicans advocate a National 23% SALES TAX on FOOD, CLOTHING and HOUSING that would WIPE OUT Middle Class and P00R FAMILIES!

3. Health Care Reform - repeal of the legislation = SMALL GOVERNMENT - Let the Market control like GREENSCAM did for years and then GOT A NEW RELIGION! Make all medical expenses tax deductible

4. Bailouts = SOCIALISM = CORPORATE WELFARE = Even Progressives AGREE CORPORATE WELFARE MUST BE STOPPED!

5. Government Spending - 98% of BUDGET GOES TO CORPORATIONS and the RICHEST 0.1% - Progressives agree that CORPORATE WELFARE MUST BE STOPPED IMMEDIATELY!

6. Inflation = FED’S MASSIVE INFLATION = MONEY OUT OF THIN AIR = MANIPULATORS. FED was Created in l9l3 and America was #1 Creditor Nation now after 100 Years of FED USUSRY and INFLATION America is #1 DEBTOR NATION!

7. Free Market Economy - DEREGULATION of the CROOKS will work - TRUST US!

[PhilipTaylor]

03:45 AM on 11/08/2010

8. Budget Deficit & Federal Debt - MASSIVE WAR SPENDING of $16 TRILLION over next 20 years insures MASSIVE DEFICITS! If America simply cut the WAR BUDGET to DOUBLE #2 CHINA we could save $12.6 TRILLION over 20 years.

9. Energy/“Cap and Trade” - WITH THE THREAT OF WALL STREET USING THIS AS ANOTHER DERIVATIVES SCAM THIS WILL NEVER PASS UNLESS THE PROGRAM IS ADMINISTERED by the Government. Unfortunately, they think Global Warming is false and so we do not need to conserve energy or develop green energy

10. Federal Reserve - MUST BE ENDED and MOST PROGRESSIVES AGREE! FED’S MASSIVE INFLATION = MONEY OUT OF THIN AIR = MANIPULATORS. FED was Created in l9l3 and America was #1 Creditor Nation now after 100 Years of FED USUSRY and INFLATION America is #1 DEBTOR NATION! FED must be AUDITED and if found FRAUDULENT and/or INEFFECTIVE then TERMINATE THE BANKSTER OWNED FED or transfer it to CONSUMER ORIENTED CONTROL.

[Carolab]

04:12 AM on 11/08/2010

Bill Black on the Fed:

The first decade of this century proved how essential effective regulators are to prevent economic catastrophe and epidemics of fraud. The most severe failure was at the Federal Reserve. The Fed’s failure was the most harmful because it had unique authority to prevent the fraud epidemic and the resulting economic crisis. The Fed refused to exercise that authority despite knowing of the fraud epidemic and potential for crisis.

The Fed’s failures were legion, but five are worthy of particular note.

1. Greenspan believed that the Fed should not regulate v. fraud
2. Bernanke believed that the Fed should rely on self-regulation by “the market”
3. (Former) Federal Reserve Bank of New York President Geithner testified that he had never been a regulator (a true statement, but not one he’s supposed to admit)
4. Bernanke gave the key support to the Chamber of Commerce’s effort to gimmick bank accounting rules to cover up their massive losses — allowing them to report fictional profits and “earn” tens of billions of dollars of bonuses
5. Bernanke recently appointed Dr. Patrick Parkinson as the Fed’s top supervisor. He is an economist that has never examined or supervised. He is known for claiming that credit default swaps (CDS, a.k.a the financial derivatives that destroyed AIG) should be unregulated because fraud was impossible among sophisticated parties.

Read it all at:

http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/01/bill-black-and-the-federal-reserves-war-against-effective-regulation.html

[Dr Juan]

08:08 AM on 11/08/2010

You have perfectly described neocon republicans with a globalist money and power focus - this is not the Tea Party

You are guilty of neoconnery.

[Chris]

02:19 PM on 11/08/2010

Phil pleas expalin why the highest tax receipts on record (in terms of actual receipt and in constant dollars) occurred in 2007?

[HeyTheist]

03:09 AM on 11/08/2010

Well, I'm all for reducing taxes, so here are my suggestions for overcoming the reduction in taxes (Tea Baggers, take note!):
-Take away tax exemptions for all religious institutions, except for the revenue that is used for secular charitable work.
-Ban all pork barrel spending
-Close current tax loopholes (for business and private individuals)
-Reduce or cease foreign aid to countries that don't need it (Israel, for example).
-Reduce military spending by getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well reduce spending in general.
- And last, but not least, stop the no bid contracts (like those Halliburton seems to benefit from).

It's not an exhaustive list, but I think it could trim a few billion off the federal budget and, at a minimum, pay for the Bush tax cuts.

[FredBrighton]

07:17 AM on 11/08/2010

Excellent list! My big worry is that no matter what we do if the Chinese decide to dump dollars and T bills our economy will tank beyond saving. It isn't the owing per se it's who we owe to: communists and socialists who have sworn to destroy our society. Seems like we made it easy for them to do so. But if they leave us alone as a potential threat to their rise as the only world superpower we can fix things by your ideas above. The Republicrats will never let it happen.

[oilfield]

06:25 PM on 11/08/2010

why wouldnt you dump dollars to buy up the worlds resources? he has the gold wins....so to say. or copper or titanium or lithium and on and on

[lachihuahua]

08:08 AM on 11/08/2010

F&F! Great list. (nn)

[HappyVomit]

02:39 AM on 11/08/2010

Sure, cut back taxes. Who needs public services? And why not go the full hog and fully privatize SS - since when did privatizing do any harm? As long as they're not run by corporations with Enron-style ethics, everything will be a-ok.

[ecrichert12]

12:37 PM on 11/09/2010

SS is already responsive to the stock market - the government manages the fund and gets almost no return on revenue - meaning it has no chance of meeting its liabilities to future generations (who by the way, are increasingly representing a higher age and facing retirement - we're Japan in 15 years).

The difference is that giving people the OPTION to put their money in bonds or stocks at least gives them the upside when times are good. If you don't want the upside, have the option to let congress manage your money and deal with the consequences. I'd like the chance to manage my own so we don't borrow from it and make it a permanently unfunded liability as we've been doing for decades.

[FredBrighton]

05:02 PM on 11/09/2010

Who will advise those retirees who want to get rich by gambling their retirement in the stock market? Who tells them when and what stocks to buy and why? My dad was convinced by a telephone salesman to buy into a vacation plan for discounts at Vegas, Palm Springs etc when my Dad was blind, in a wheelchair and incapable of boarding a plane and flying somewhere. $80/month they were paying for useless discounts and when I called the SOB he threatened to destroy my Dad's good credit if they tried to back down. I pointed out to Dad that in the 6 months he had to live he didn't NEED any credit, he was in a nursing home! That SOB will be advising other oldsters to take the money out of SS and into wonderful phony investments. The Market will make money, the advisers will make commissions, the retirees will be broken and destitute and we will have by then eliminated all social services for old timers to save money towards that 13 trillion dollar debt we have. People will be sitting in wheel chairs on the sidewalks begging for pennies or food. Great way to save a country, eh? We can sell our grandparents for medical parts and finally, dog food. Is this what we want? Is this our long awaited destiny? Have we been sold out and now we need to stand up, arrest the criminals, take this and the last administration to the Hague?

[GreenKate]

02:29 AM on 11/08/2010

Boomers have paid vastly more into social security than any other generation, the entire payment structure was revised under Reagan so that we have paid far more than any previous generation of workers. Reagan's increase to social security tax was rated one of the most massive tax increases in history. And of course it fell hardest on the working class. Meanwhile he cut income tax rates for the top to roughly half what they were back when the USA was at our most successful. And he expanded the military industrial complex that Ike warned about. All this income tax cutting and military spending had to come from somewhere so they stole our social security. The GOP will just have to figure out how to replace what they took. My money better damn well be there. They have 7 years, tops, so they need to start beating the sofa cushions.

[ecrichert12]

07:45 PM on 11/09/2010

Social Security spending consumes more than 20% of the budget as is at $700 bil a year and will increase rapidly each of the next 30 years as babyboomers are phased into retirement. How much more of the money that we don't have are we supposed to throw before we declare insolvency?

And people always use stupid talking points like "he cut taxes on ___ and raised them on ____. How about you actually use what the new rates ARE. Yes, the government no longer takes 90% of marginal income certain people earn, it is now reduced to a different rate that is significantly higher than what other classes pay. Wealthy people still frequently contribute more than 50% of income to income taxes while 52% of americans paid 0 or NEGATIVE Federal Income taxes in 2009 (IRS).

So before you talk about who'se getting a freeride, look who'se actually paying for that ride and say thank you.

[GreenKate]

11:24 PM on 11/09/2010

"Wealthy people still frequently contribute more than 50% of income to income taxes"?
Not in this country. Tell your rich friends they need a better accountant.

As for "the money that we don't have"- it's gone because it was misappropriated.

[marilyn 63]

02:11 AM on 11/08/2010

if the teabaggers were really about lower taxes and small limited Governor. then who were these people at the Democratic health rally's?? in the summer with racist misspelled signs saying HITLER, FASCIST, SOCIALIST, Marxist, AND N------ KENYON. about the president? and wouldn't let the Democrats explain what the health care was. i guess they were told to shout them down ( the Democrats) Michelle Backman was cheering them on (teabaggers). especially when some black congressman came through to go to their offices. the ranting racist crowd taunted with the N word and spit on one( after it happened the GOP swore up and down it didn't). yeah they showed us who they were and a lot of us who haven't drunk the kool aid believe them.