So President Obama is “amused.” He’s baffled over why those nutty Tea Party people are holding rallies to protest, of all things, high taxes. What a bunch of yahoos! After all, a lot of them got tax cuts, thanks to the generosity of Obama’s stimulus plan. Besides, he’s vowed not to raise taxes on people making under $200,000 a year, and couples making under $250,000. That takes in a lot of tea partiers, right?
So what are they screaming about, those jerks?
“I’ve been amused in recent days by these people having rallies,” the president told a fundraiser in Miami. “I think they should be saying ‘Thank you.’” Upon hearing that, members of his adoring crowd began cheering and a lot of them started yelling — “Thank you.”
Well, let’s examine a few possibilities that might explain what’s driving those Tea Parties. Maybe the tea partiers are protesting because they think that sooner or later – probably sooner — their taxes will be going up, no matter how much they make. Why would they think that? Maybe, because with all the spending going on in Washington these days, somebody’s going to figure out pretty soon that even if Obama, Pelosi and Reid confiscated 100 percent of the money the “rich” earn, that wouldn’t be nearly enough to pay for all the stuff Obama has been pushing through his Democratic Congress. And maybe, the tea partiers figure, that’s when the president and his co-conspirators in Congress will start going after the not-so-rich.
Or maybe they’ve figured out that if Obama and Company keep spending money we don’t have, interest rates will start climbing and maybe even reach Jimmy Carter stratospheric levels. So if you buy a car, a house, a refrigerator, anything on credit, it’s going to cost you more. And by “you” I mean all of you, whether you’re rich, poor, or middle class. And high interest rates will be a drag on the economy which could lead to another recession and even higher unemployment. In other words, everybody will be hurt, including Tea Party folks.
Or maybe they’re worried that their children and grandchildren will be paying for Obama’s goodies long after the protesters have gone off to the big Tea Party in the Sky.
But something else amuses me about the president’s amusement. I wonder: Would he, or any other liberal, ever dream of saying to white civil rights demonstrators, “Why are you here fighting for civil rights? No one’s discriminating against you.” Most people would get it. They’re demonstrating because they think something is wrong in America – and so what if they’re not the direct victims of discrimination?
Maybe the Tea Party people see it the same way. Maybe they don’t like high taxes even if they’re not the ones paying them. Maybe they think high taxes only encourage high, out-of-control spending. Maybe they think we’re going to go broke as a nation. Maybe they’re justifiably scared.
So maybe the president shouldn’t be so damn condescending, so dismissive of the Tea Party protesters. Because maybe those Tea Party nut-jobs aren’t nearly as dumb as he and other liberals think they are.
