Not My Cup Of Tea...A commentary on the American Tea Party

Throughout its history, The United States of America has had a magnitude of social movements for civil liberties, the environment, and political agendas. There have been a few that have started post 2000, but one that has had a large influence on society as well as political parties is the Tea Party Movement. This is a movement that began with many Americans in response to taxation and has involved into a large organization that has much influence in the Republican Party.

           There have been several theories about the origins of the Tea Party Movement. Some claim that it was led by the Koch brothers in an attempt to keep corporations strong (Pilkington, 2010). Al Gore believes that it can be traced to tobacco industries pushing for a grassroots movement to gain support for conservative politicians. Other claims have been related to protests against federal laws such as the Emergency Stabilization Act of 2008 as well as health reform bills (Barnes, 2009). Teaparty.org simply claims that it was the founding fathers in 1773 that started the movement with the Boston Tea Party and they are simply picking up where they left off restoring freedom and justice in the United States of America.

 Teaparty.org was created in the year 2004 and has maintained stability through the years. When it was created, people had the idea of reducing taxes as well as the size of government. On teaparty.org, there is “15 non-negotiable core beliefs” that are the basis for the party. This includes: Illegal aliens are here illegally, pro-domestic employment is indispensable, a strong military is essential, special interests must be eliminated, gun ownership is sacred, government must be downsized, the national budget must be balanced, deficit spending must end, bailout and stimulus plans are illegal, reducing personal income taxes is a must, reducing business income taxes is mandatory, political offices must be available to average citizens, intrusive government must be stopped, English as our core language is required, traditional family values are encouraged (teaparty.org, 2004). Although some of these beliefs seem to contradict themselves it is the core of the Tea Party Movement. It is definitely a long-term effort to lobby and persuade politicians as well as citizens of the United States of America to follow these core beliefs.

 Unlike the Civil Rights Movement, The Women’s Suffrage Movement, and multiple environmental movements of the past, the Tea Party Movement has had a lot more access to mass media and social networking which has allowed it to grow so rapidly. There were two Facebook pages that were created at the start of this wave and each one has over a million followers. One page is the Tea Party and the other is the Tea Party Patriots, which are both part of the same movement and started in 2009. Another large benefactor of the Tea Party Movement is Fox News.

 Fox News is typically conservative, believes that liberals control mass media and that they are the true voice of the American people claiming to be “Fair and Balanced”. In today’s society when there is so much access and specialized programming to attract a particular audience, I believe that if it weren’t for this the Tea Party may have never come up off the ground since Fox News was such a big advertiser and supporter of the Tea Party Movement.

 The Tea Party that is scene throughout Facebook, Twitter, and mass media is the group that the general American people have decided to join. The Tea Party Patriots was able to become an official political action organization with over 1,000 affiliated groups across the nation (teapartypatrtiots.org, 2010).

It wasn’t just social networks that helped get a name for the Tea Party Movement. There were many public protests in Washington D.C. and other major cities that attracted the attention of various news networks that reported on the Tea Party Movement and the things they stood for. The most recognizable symbol/slogan that the Tea Party Movement used repeatedly was “Don’t Tread On Me” while using the Gadsden flag with a snake on it.

 Besides getting attention in mass media and social networks, the Tea Party Movement has had tremendous influence in the political realm. The Republican Party continues to be shaped in extreme ways by the Tea Party in determining nominees. As a result of their influence within the political realm, nominees such as Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, and Richard Mourdock. In the 2010 midterm-elections while the Tea Party Movement was strong, many voters supported Tea Party politicians and were believed to have won many seats.

 By 2012, this was no longer the case. The Tea Party had knocked out established Republicans such as Richard Lugar who were considered moderate meaning they weren’t conservative enough for Tea Party support. This resulted in a big loss in multiple House of Representative races and the loss of the Senate. Many argue that the Tea Party is beginning to run its course and if Republicans plan to win elections they will have to disassociate the Tea Party in order to elect more moderate candidates that can get support throughout the country.

 The Tea Party Movement was certainly beginning to lose a lot of its thunder up until 2013 when the Internal Revenue Service was reported to have inappropriately “flagged” Tea Party groups and other conservative groups for review of their applications for tax-exempt status. The Internal Revenue Service violated their policy by asking for donor lists, asked for details about family members involvement, and asked about their social networks. This called for an outcry and once again put Tea Party organizations in the spotlight by claiming that President Obama was targeting them by using the IRS to track the Tea Party Movement and dismantle them.

 President Obama had claimed at the time that he was not aware of the Internal Revenue Services’ actions and demanded that investigations of employees of the Internal Revenue Service immediately. When Commissioner Douglas Shulman of the IRS had to testify in front of Congress in 2012, he denied that the groups were being targeted based on their political views, but the Tea Party strongly disagreed. Tom Zawistowski, president of the Ohio coalition of the Tea Party Organization, quoted, “I don’t think there’s any question we were unfairly targeted.” (Ohlemacher, 2013)

 When comparing the Tea Party Movement to other social movements in the new millennium, there are multiple similarities. The one that has the most similarities to the Tea Party would have to be Occupy Wall Street. Although Occupy Wall Street has not been as politically involved as the Tea Party, it still created a large social movement based on social media websites with the bases of freedom in mind. Without social networking, creating web pages, Facebook, Twitter, etc., I don’t think either one of these movements would have had a chance to even come up off the ground. Since we have so much access to mass media being 24-7 from several different sources as well as social network websites, movements such as these can lift off the ground overnight.

 I could certainly say that the Tea Party Movement is not my cup of tea. Although there are many things I disagree with this organization pertaining to Tea Party policy and politicians, it is still fascinating to see an organization like this spring up from the ground. You certainly can’t see many other movements in history like this because social networking was a lot harder to do and required phone calls, letters, and town meetings versus movements like these that could simply create a Facebook page and get national recognition. Many people may be getting tired of the Tea Party Movement, but I believe that this organization has been an excellent example of how a modern grassroots organization is to develop.

  Ever since the Tea Party Movement was able to use resources like Facebook successfully, many different movements have followed in their path including Anti-Bullying campaigns, Occupy Wall Street, Kony 2012, Marriage Equality, etc. They may not be the voice of the American people, but this is certainly “The American Way” when it comes to starting a grassroots organization and researchers as well as political analysts will look back to this group when it is long gone and make note of how fast the organization was able to start as well as the influence it has in politics.

Bibliography

Pilkington, Ed “Americans For Prosperity Sponsors Tea Party Workshop”. The Guardian. September 11, 2011

Altman, Alex. “The Real IRS Scandal”. Time.com. May 14, 2013

Author Unknown, Teapartypatriots.org, 2010

Defining Marriage

Lately the definition of marriage is causing tremendous controversy in the United States. Organization such as Human Rights Campaign have formed and advocated for people who are homosexuals. Particularly in Indiana, it has become a heated debate as Governor Mike Pence is pushing legislators to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Even if a gay couple were to get a certificate at the court making them a legal union, Governor Pence wishes to incriminate those people and fine them a set fee for even trying. There is not much justification for people being judgmental and prejudice toward the gay community. The largest group that opposes them is the evangelical Republicans who see that a 1 out of 30,000 scriptures in the Bible justifies their actions, which wasn't originally in the Bible till after a revised edition was released. When it comes to Christianity, from my perspective, Jesus taught us to be loving and forgiving to all and to judge others is a sin. Beside the point, many who have the perception that gays are unequal are limited and are slowly going away.

Not only is this unethical to treat people unequally, but it is also hurtful to the economy. We can analyze the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s when African-Americans participated in peaceful protests to stand against oppression to see examples as to how minorities play a role in the community. One specific example of how the economy was affected during the Civil Rights Movement was the bus boycott in Alabama. Since African-Americans used the bus frequently and were treated unfairly, they decided to take action and not ride the buses at all. Eventually this created such a hurtful impact to the economy politicians had no choice but to meet those demands. Similar economic downfalls happened when African-Americans did things such as attend a theater, eat a restaurant, etc. that were illegal to them due to race that they were arrested for causing jails to be overcrowded to the point that it was hurting the economy and overcrowding the jails resulting in their release. By discriminating against a group of people, you discourage growth in the area because you are discouraging investors and people to come to your state. Not only does it deter people from moving to the community and creating a positive and stable economy, it also deters potential employers from coming to that area because they do not see any potential of growth in the community. So far organizations such as Eli-Lilly (one of the largest employers in Indiana) and Indiana University (one of the biggest and most accredited public schools in the Midwest) have openly opposed the bill HJR-6 (bill defining marriage in Indiana) because they understand how much it will hurt Indiana's economy by opposing a large population in the country and saying "we don't want you here". There are also many legal ramifications creating much dispute in insurance claims as well as wills that would hurt the economy further by not allowing certain tax incentives to gay couples. It is essential that a state like Indiana as well has many other states do not follow the idea of defining marriage in their state because it will not only create similar social problems like those in the 1960s, but it will also be hurtful to the economy by setting a standard that people are not created equal. It is a standard by the United States Constitution that we are all created equal with the same rights and discriminating against a minority and claiming them as unequal is both unethical and hurtful to the economy.

Is the Keystone XL Pipeline actually good for us Americans?

Recently, the Keystone Pipeline has been approved by President Obama as a way to help the economy and provide new jobs, but is it really helping Americans all that much? For those of you who aren't familiar with the Keystone Pipeline it is a large pipeline that will begin in Canada and transport tons of tar sands all the way down to Texas. When the idea was first presented, it was told to common everyday Americans that this would give the economy a huge boost providing thousands of new jobs and creating an oil supply for us that would reduce gas prices. We only later found out that this was not the case at all. As a matter of fact, the pipeline will cause more problems than it will create opportunity.

With the development of the Keystone pipeline, many people have concerns about the environment. Now I know many of you are thinking "here goes another crazy environmentalist rant", but I've done some research into this and the pipeline would truly cause great impacts on multiple states. Several states have already declined the development of the Keystone pipeline for very good reasons. Their main concerns is the extreme amounts of water that it takes to move tar sands. The states that declined the development stated that tar sands traveling through their states could greatly reduce their water supplies causing concern for the people living their. In terms of environmental issues, the Keystone Pipeline would also have multiple leaks as many oil rigs/pipelines/plants have that would cause tremendous damage to the environment. This is also a reaction to what is called "fracking". Fracking is a drilling technique that goes deep into the Earth to extract oil or natural gases deep in the Earth. When this is happening a lot of this is simply released into the air or causes terrible damage to the environment as well as destroying pipelines. A lot of this is occurs around the Keystone Pipeline.

Besides environmental issues, the Keystone Pipeline will not hold up to many of its promises made. A majority of the job opportunities that were suppose to help the United States economically are only temporary and will not have much impact on the economy at all. Many of the people that got the jobs that were suppose to help the economy will simply be told that they are no longer needed and "good luck finding a job somewhere else". This is a terrible move that would lead me to suspicions about the Keystone Pipeline and why exactly we need it.

The biggest impact that the Keystone Pipeline will have is on rich oil industries both here and in Canada. The pipeline project will have little or no effect on average Americans nor on a national scale. I say this because most of the money being had is by Canadian oil companies that have claim over the tar sands which is being sold to us. The oil that we get from Canada will not even be used here in the United States and gas prices and energy efficiency will not be effected at all causing prices to stay the same and possibly even increase. The reality of it is the United States would be selling all of the oil extracted from the tar sands to foreign countries/refineries and will not have a large impact on average Americans, unless the "trickle down" economy works (which last time I checked it didn't). The biggest debate that is happening now is where fracking is going to happen and if people want it allowed in their state. I encourage you to look further into this as you explore more information about the Keystone Pipeline, get involved at your state house, and learn about the impacts the pipeline will have on your area.

Expansion of Medicaid in Indiana

Currently, Indiana is having a big (or maybe not so big) debate on the expansion of Medicaid and if Indiana should go through with it. This of course being a state that is predominantly Republican, it is unlikely that they will agree to take such actions. Currently, the state of Indiana runs a program called the Healthy Indiana Plan. If Republicans were to agree on any form of expansion, it would most likely be on this. This would be a mistake. The Healthy Indiana Plan, although seemingly smart, is a failed program in the state that does not help many people. Let me explain what all HIP is. It is more or less a health savings fund that low-income people pay into each month. The program typically takes 2%-5% of the money they make and that money is put into an account in order to pay for doctor's visits and some medications. That seems nice and all, but this is a lot of money to ask from someone if they need that for groceries. Second, the Healthy Indiana Plan does not cover emergency room visits, maternity care, some medications, and even some doctors/hospitals. Also, if you happen to miss a payment for the month, you will be removed from the program and you lose the money that you've been paying into that account. That isn't even the worst part. The worst part is the amount of people that are on the "waiting list" and/or turned down from receiving benefits of the Healthy Indiana Plan. With over 30,000 on the waiting list and untold numbers turn down, the underfunded medical system that Indiana aims to use is not doing well for the people that are in desperate need of medical attention. Indiana has one of the largest uninsured/low income populations in the country with over half a million people uninsured and our leaders are not doing much to fix it.

There are many reasons to expand Medicaid for the state of Indiana. One being the reason I just listed that many people in this state do not receive much help from their leaders and are left to fend for themselves. Two, a law in Indiana states that nobody can be turned down at the emergency room so many homeless and low income people are simply going to the emergency room for very basic things causing health care to be more expensive in the area since their bill will typically be written off. Three, the state would receive billions in funding to help get the program started and taxes would not increase for several years for taxpayers. Four, thousands of new jobs would be brought to the state where most people who graduate from school move away because it is too hard for them to find work here. Five, by providing health insurance/coverage to those who can't afford to go through private companies would mean a competitive market thus reducing health care premiums for people in the state. So even if taxes would eventually go up it would not make a significant difference on the fact that health care for the state would be significantly cheaper.

Many people in the state of Indiana believe that Medicaid would just be taken advantage of and it wouldn't help anyone, but the system would provide health care for half a million people who don't have it otherwise. It is important that the state pushes this initiative forward and I hope this article sheds some light on those who are thinking about it or if you were simply curious and wanted some information. If you would like to help push the initiative forward contact your local representative at 1-800-382-9842

For more information on Medicaid/HIP check these websites:

http://www.unmc.edu/publichealth/docs/2013_Stimpson_Indiana_Medicaid_Expansion.PDF

https://www.mdwise.org/hhw-hip/member-handbook/ebook/pageflip.html

Here is a link to letters that Lafayette Urban Ministry (the people I currently work for) that were sent to the governor urging the expansion of medicaid in Indiana http://lumserve.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/letter-to-governor-urging-the-approval-of-medicaid-expansion-1-of-3/