Tea Party is the foundation for change (County Press Viewpoint)

[William Gavette]

 

The debate over raising the debt ceiling and the subsequent downgrade of the credit rating of the United States has given rise to certain commentary that, while interesting, is fallacious. I have heard and read what essentially amounts to blaming both political parties. If one argues that both political parties contributed to the creating of the unsustainable debt, it is a fair argument.

Both parties spent money like a sailor on shore leave. However, I believe it is not accurate to claim all members of the current congress are responsible for our current financial meltdown. An election was held in 2010 and a large number of congressional candidates campaigned on the promise to cut spending and not raise taxes. For those persons to fail to honor their pledge to their voters would be a breach of faith with the public. That it is almost a given that things said during campaigns are known lies that will never be adhered to does not give elected officials a pass to continue to do so.

If it wasn’t for the principled stand by those members of the House of Representatives that hold the fiscally responsible views espoused by the Tea Party there never would have been any discussion about controlling the spending. Washington would have gone merrily along, as in years past, building more and more debt until one day the entire financial world came crashing down.

Congressional Tea Party members are not to blame. They are to be congratulated on what they have accomplished which is to awaken the public to the danger of the unrestrained spending appetite of the president and his cohorts. They are to be congratulated for their efforts in making the first small step towards turning this ship around and getting it headed towards fiscal sanity. They are to be congratulated for making the national debt a national issue. What is the response of President Obama? He blames George W. Bush. He blames the tsunami tragedy in Japan. He blames the economic crisis in Europe. He blames the Tea Party. He blames the Arab Spring. He blames ATMs. He blames democracy. He blames everyone and everything… but he is blameless.

The Tea Party and its members are the foundation upon which these changes can be built.

John L. Lengemann