Thursday, October 13, 2011

Sometimes our political future really terrifies me

Admittedly, I'm not very politically savvy -- certainly not as savvy as a Philadelphia committee man and journalist should be -- so I occasionally turn to my favorite media, magazines, to shed some light on the fuzzy stuff.

Today, I'm reading "Debt and Dumb" by Simon Johnson and James Kwak over on Vanity Fair's website. It discusses the Tea Party's attack on Alexander Hamilton's legacy. According to the following quote, it's also attacking institutions and agencies that help citizens. "Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, and the rest of the Republican candidates are running for president on the idea that today’s federal government is far out of line with the original intent of the Founding Fathers," write Johnson and Kwak. "The Constitution, in Perry’s view, permits only a narrow and specific list of activities to be run out of Washington—and Social Security and Medicare are definitely not on this list."

The writers go on. "With their steadfast resistance to taxes, their hostility toward central government, and their willingness to risk a national default, today’s Republican candidates tap into a different American tradition—one that begins not with tea but with whiskey: the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794."

Excuse me if I'm wrong, but aren't all of these insane Republicans also filthy rich? I'm sorry, but they can pardon with some of their wealth to support the health and well-being of senior citizens (if these wingnuts will support no one else, why not the senior citizens? Do these Republicans wish everyone to work until they die?).

The article goes on with an interesting history lesson that I think these Tea Partiers should pay close attention to...

No comments: