Forum Post: Tea Party and Occupy are brothers in arms.
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 12, 2011, 12:20 p.m. EST by Constitutional
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We all want to go back to the uncorrupted views of our forefathers. The constitution is a pure document that has been destroyed by big government. Both the Occupy movement and the Tea Party desire a return to the state of limited government and the success of this counrty back in the hands of the people. The Democrat and Republican parties would both paint a picture of these movements as enemies. We need to come together as unified movements and regain the country that we love.
No they are not. You are defending the fatcats that rape this country and the world, we are opposing them. Big difference.
The Tea part is astroturf. Is is financed by the Koch brothers and organized by Dick Army.
How does that make them brothers with OWS?
Speak for yourself. You've biased everything towards the right, then will bitch that the movement is too progressive. Limited government benefits the 1%, ask the Koch brothers. You're carrying their water.
First of all Republicans don’t view tea partiers as "enemies", they support there cause in many ways. Second is that the Tea Party is NOT fighting for socialism, and occupy movement is promoting socialism. DTOM
Tea Party ideology tends to favor the 1% whether they mean to or not.
Busting unions gives corporations more leverage to drive wages lower, busting regulations frees corporations from accountability, except to the fantasy they've build up of a "free market." On top of that, the fair tax and flat tax are both regressive.
If you eliminate the Tea Party, and you eliminate the Republicans and you eliminate the Democrats, how do get to 99%?
I'm not saying the TP is bad, I'm just saying they're misguided. They may mean well, but their policies heavily favor the 1%.
Jah Love. We pray for a Constitutional Federal Government to reflect the legislature of their 50 states. We pray for a government that is not funded by a Ponzi scheme, the Federal Reserve. Grow with us. End this strife.
End the occupation. End the corruption. End the Greed.
The only thing that Occupy needs to learn from The Tea Party is that if you vote you make a difference. The only thing that has shaken the ho hum business as usual polictics of the US Congress is that the Teaparty could upset the "Gravy Train". Since the only thing that is important is getting re-elected the Republicans are more that willing to adopt the tennets of these swing voters with out regard to what they are saying or what ramifications their NAY SAYING actions have. The Tea Party is the proverbial "smoking gun" who though ackowledging the 500lb Gorilla in the room does not know how to deal with him.
They may have made a difference initially, but then most of the b@stards went on to reinstate the Patriot Act.
So the Tea Party went one step further - they got who they thought would represent them into Congress. But then they went back to sleep, and the Koch bros. came in to grease the wheels. Now they're screwed just like everybody else. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. In other words, you can't trust anybody once they get in to the DC den of thieves.
I think we should strip the feds of all powers not enumerated in the Constitution, and throw them back to the states. I don't say that recklessly; I really think we need to move to a more local government, economy, leadership, currency, laws, etcetera. It's the only way government is accountable and responsive to the people.
The only thing that Occupy needs to learn from The Tea Party is that if you vote you make a difference. The only thing that has shaken the ho hum business as usual polictics of the US Congress is that the Teaparty could upset the "Gravy Train". Since the only thing that is important is getting re-elected the Republicans are more that willing to adopt the tennets of these swing voters with out regard to what they are saying or what ramifications their NAY SAYING actions have. The Tea Party is the proverbial "smoking gun" who though ackowledging the 500lb Gorilla in the room does not know how to deal with him.
I hate to say it but i do not trust the Tea party members at all. I don't want to exclude any one because they are part of the 99% also. I would accept them but only with a lot of caution. Here is a great discussion on the OWS movement and it is a very good one in my opinion. It also gives some insight into the minds of the Tea Party members, along with some colorful descriptions of OWS protesters.
The interview starts at the 3:00 mark and there is a 5 minute commercial in the middle that you can skip, it's not 25 minutes long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO9oMV-RXRU&feature=m
The Tea Party is completely sold out to Wall Street.
The leadership is, but just like OWS - all of those people who showed up to Tea Parties weren't paid shills. They were frustrated, regular Americans like everyone else.
The common ground with OWS and the Tea Party is, for a start, 1) stop the wars; 2) stop the corporate money into Congress; 3) our government should have to obey our own laws (the Constitution)
I'm not saying you're doing this intentionally, but this is just the Tea Party trying to co-opt the Occupy movement.
Anything that Occupy has in common with the Tea Party, they have it in common only because they are both in the lower tax brackets. But ideologically, they have very little in common. Tea Party policy is retrograde, Occupy policy is progressive. Tea Party organization is professional and funded, Occupy organization is grassroots and decentralized. Tea Party uses economic concerns as an excuse for social regress. Occupy uses economic concerns for - well, they haven't figured that out, yet, but I doubt very much they're going to end up pushing for social regress.
So, no. They are not "brothers in arms." Just because it is possible to draw a line that puts them both on one side doesn't mean that's the line that should be drawn.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Tea Party and the 99% are using different methods to arrive at the same primary objective; i.e. to rid Washington of the undue influence of Wall Street. Right now the 99% is being branded as Young Democrats, so the 99% are perceived as future Democratic leaders. Once a movement allows itself to be branded and defined in such a way, its message is hijacked.
No, no, no. The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy. NOTHING MORE. Resist facile short-term cliches that leave you exposed to long-term tragedy.
Occupy must resist being branded - either as Democrats or Tea Party sympathizers. The Tea Party's primary objective is not and never has been "ridding Washington of undue influence."
My bad. To be more accurate: I agree the enemy of my enemy sometimes is simply my enemy's enemy and sometimes the enemy of my enemy is my friend. In this case, the Tea Party appears to be more of a friend. If the 99% reaches out to them and is rebuffed, then the 99% knows exactly where it stands.
Checkout the Tea Party's website: http://www.teaparty.org/about.php. Under the core beliefs: note items # 4 - Special Interests Eliminated and # 9 - Bail-Out And Stimulus Plans Are Illegal. To me, that means ridding Washington of undue influence. The fact of the matter is many of the issues that the Tea Party and the 99% support overlap. How do you propose the 99% not being identified as Democratic Party adherents? No one is suggesting the Tea Party and the 99% merge under one banner.
Reaching out to someone else isn't being 'branded'.
"...ridding Washington of undue influence." Their primary goal? No, but i'm willing to bet a hell of a lot of them can get behind it. Is there a reason that we shouldn't pool our support together for a mutual gain?
Enemy? It's that's kind of nonsensical, Us vs. Them sports team rivalry nonsense that got us here in the first place. Take some responsibility.
I have no problem reaching out to people who happen to be Tea Partiers.
I have a problem with reaching out to the Tea Party qua Tea Party. I have a problem with using Occupy's efforts to legitimize the demands of the Tea Party outside of the policy we both support.
By all means, recruit people who also happen to be Tea Partiers.
But reach out to them because they are the 99%, not because they are the Tea Party. The distinction matters.
I'll be blunt. The Tea Party doesn't need our legitimacy. They've had candidates in office for years, the point of which is that they got people out in significant numbers to vote.
The rest of your post: exactly.
Agree. How is the 99% gonna reach out to Tea Party? Does the 99% agree to do so. If so, how will that be accomplished? Or will the 99% simply allow the Democrats and the Republicans to brand the #OccupyWallStreet movement as the Tea Party of the left? It's time to move and try to find solidarity with the Tea Party and drive a huge wedge between the establishment politicians of both political parties. Marginalize the two parties and replace them.