Which party do you most closely affiliate yourself with?

Gasically Viking, all that you list there I see in the opposite light. I see More government waste and spending. Higher taxes. More, not less government involvment in our personal lives? Less personal responsibility. Less personal freedom. Less government accountabily.

The whole Tea Party movement is pretty much the exact opposite of what I want in a government. I want all the things you list, but see it as the opposite. And Sara Palin? Please. Don't even get me started.

LopingAlong wrote: Gasically Viking, all that you list there I see in the opposite light. I see More government waste and spending. Higher taxes. More, not less government involvment in our personal lives? Less personal responsibility. Less personal freedom. Less government accountabily.

The whole Tea Party movement is pretty much the exact opposite of what I want in a government. I want all the things you list, but see it as the opposite. And Sara Palin? Please. Don't even get me started.

Forget Sara Palin. I really want to know how you see the exact opposite of what they stand for. I know the media likes to portray them that way but if you really look at what they are fighting for, then you would see that they stand for exactly what you want. This is why I hate the mainstream media. They totally misrepresent things they don't like and too many people believe it.

Here is one definition I found. I know there are better ones.

The issues and ideas that are at the core of the Tea Party movement:

1) All forms of government must abide by the boundaries set forth in state and federal constitutions.

2) All pork and earmarks in the stimulus, omnibus bills, and bailouts must be reversed and repealed. The national budget must be balanced. Spending cuts, not increased taxation should be used to balance the budget.

3) Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of happiness implies personal responsibility, not handouts, free-enterprise and capitalism, not government controlled economies. Some people choose to be irresponsible (and of course some fall on hard times due to circumstances), but it is not the responsibility of the general public, vis-a-vis government intervention, to guarantee or bailout irresponsibility and failure. Private individuals and organizations give out of compassion and generosity, not compulsion through taxation. laws, and pork barrel projects.

4) ALL elected and appointed officials are under the employment and serve at the will of We the People.

5) Excessive tax burdens kill prosperity.

6) Excessive national debt is generational theft, and stealing the future of our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

7) Neither major political party is "clean" on these issues. Both Democrats and Republicans have taxed excessively and neither have restrained the hand of government effectively. There are certainly individual representatives who have been faithful to their constituents and to the Constitution. However, too many are engaged in protecting their congressional positions and turf. The majority of government officials have insulated themselves from the people they serve, and hold themselves above the law. We are simply saying, "No, you aren't above the law".

8 ) The American public at large is ignorant of the purpose of government, the founding documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Federalist Papers. As a result, they allow politicians to sell them false hope and "rights" and "entitlements" that are not guaranteed by the Constitution. By educating the American people on the foundations of our history, we hope to bring sanity to the election and legislative processes.

9) As a group, we are appalled at the audaciousness and arrogance of our government in the last few years, particularly the proposals and bills passed in the last few months, despite massive public disapproval.

The Tea Party is a wake-up call to all Americans.


Do you see anything wrong with any of those so far?

Here is another mission statement. They stand for everythign I stated above.

Tea Party Patriots Mission Statement and Core Values

Mission Statement
The impetus for the Tea Party movement is excessive government spending and taxation. Our mission is to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize our fellow citizens to secure public policy consistent with our three core values of Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets.

Core Values

* Fiscal Responsibility
* Constitutionally Limited Government
* Free Markets



Fiscal Responsibility: Fiscal Responsibility by government honors and respects the freedom of the individual to spend the money that is the fruit of their own labor. A constitutionally limited government, designed to protect the blessings of liberty, must be fiscally responsible or it must subject its citizenry to high levels of taxation that unjustly restrict the liberty our Constitution was designed to protect. Such runaway deficit spending as we now see in Washington D.C. compels us to take action as the increasing national debt is a grave threat to our national sovereignty and the personal and economic liberty of future generations.

Constitutionally Limited Government: We, the members of The Tea Party Patriots, are inspired by our founding documents and regard the Constitution of the United States to be the supreme law of the land. We believe that it is possible to know the original intent of the government our founders set forth, and stand in support of that intent. Like the founders, we support states' rights for those powers not expressly stated in the Constitution. As the government is of the people, by the people and for the people, in all other matters we support the personal liberty of the individual, within the rule of law.

Free Markets: A free market is the economic consequence of personal liberty. The founders believed that personal and economic freedom were indivisible, as do we. Our current government's interference distorts the free market and inhibits the pursuit of individual and economic liberty. Therefore, we support a return to the free market principles on which this nation was founded and oppose government intervention into the operations of private business.

Our Philosophy
Tea Party Patriots, Inc. as an organization believes in the Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government, and Free Markets. Tea Party Patriots, Inc. is a non-partisan grassroots organization of individuals united by our core values derived from the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States of America, the Bill Of Rights as explained in the Federalist Papers. We recognize and support the strength of grassroots organization powered by activism and civic responsibility at a local level. We hold that the United States is a republic conceived by its architects as a nation whose people were granted "unalienable rights" by our Creator. Chiefly among these are the rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The Tea Party Patriots stand with our founders, as heirs to the republic, to claim our rights and duties which preserve their legacy and our own. We hold, as did the founders, that there exists an inherent benefit to our country when private property and prosperity are secured by natural law and the rights of the individual.
Source(s):

http://www.teapartypatriots.org/mission

The best way to explain why I am not in favor of the Tea Party is that they promote Fear and Hatred--especially of our current President.

I see the movement as being not For anything, but rather Against Obama.

They tout their views against things like the Dept of Education, Social Security, the EPA, etc., but do not offer any solution except to tell lies like Obama wants to ban fishing in the US, which is simply not true. They are happy to say that Obama is a communist, that CNN stands for Communist News Network, that the government in office now is raising taxes when in reality, Obama has lowered taxes for about 95% of working Americans. I am against their views that Healthcare should not be changed and made available to those who can not afford it and that since Obama is for this, then he is a Socialist, communistic fool.

I am not in favor of any group that tells me how to think or what I should believe is right. I am not for the promotion of fear and hatred based on lies about others and that is my perception/interpretation of the Tea Party.

I should also mention that if we'd get rid of ALL political parties and work on how to fix the problems we have, we'd get a lot farther a lot faster. The very idea of "Parties" promotes angst--"I'm red", "I'm blue", "I'm a Republican", "I'm a Democrat" Choose a side and then stand by that no matter what; don't think independently, think what your party tells you to think. That is what I get upset about the most and the Tea Partiers are very vocal about telling me what I need to think and believe and hate and fear.

LopingAlong wrote: The best way to explain why I am not in favor of the Tea Party is that they promote Fear and Hatred--especially of our current President.

I see the movement as being not For anything, but rather Against Obama.

They tout their views against things like the Dept of Education, Social Security, the EPA, etc., but do not offer any solution except to tell lies like Obama wants to ban fishing in the US, which is simply not true. They are happy to say that Obama is a communist, that CNN stands for Communist News Network, that the government in office now is raising taxes when in reality, Obama has lowered taxes for about 95% of working Americans. I am against their views that Healthcare should not be changed and made available to those who can not afford it and that since Obama is for this, then he is a Socialist, communistic fool.

I am not in favor of any group that tells me how to think or what I should believe is right. I am not for the promotion of fear and hatred based on lies about others and that is my perception/interpretation of the Tea Party.

I should also mention that if we'd get rid of ALL political parties and work on how to fix the problems we have, we'd get a lot farther a lot faster. The very idea of "Parties" promotes angst--"I'm red", "I'm blue", "I'm a Republican", "I'm a Democrat" Choose a side and then stand by that no matter what; don't think independently, think what your party tells you to think. That is what I get upset about the most and the Tea Partiers are very vocal about telling me what I need to think and believe and hate and fear.

Can you show me where Obama has lowered taxes for about 95% of Americans? And do you think that all of these stimulus packages, bailouts of banks, the auto industry and other things and also this health care bill will have to be paid for? If so almost every economist and even most Democrats agree that our taxes are all going to go up to pay for it. And not just a little. So I don't see how you can say he has lowered taxes at all.

And how is saying that we are sick of bigger government, wasteful spending, more social programs and all of these bailouts, which we will never be able to pay for, promoting fear and hatred? It is reality. It truth, if you read what they stood for, I think most all Americans including yourself would agree with what they believe in.

And you say you don't see them as being for anything. You really need to read my posts above. Here are just a few core issues that they stand for......

* Fiscal Responsibility
* Constitutionally Limited Government
* Free Markets

Are you for or against these three things? I think you agree with their core issues.

With all the new members, I thought I should bump this one up again.

I have changed between Democrat and Rebulblican so many times I cannot count them. I usually register for the party that is not in controll of the white house unless the person in the white house is in their second term. This allows me to vote in the primary that acually means something. I then decide between the two main canidates in the general election. I have never voted straight party lines.

None of the above. Used to be Republican. More Libertarian lately. If/When the Repubs come to their senses and walk the talk, I may come back. Doubt it will happen. Prepare yourselves, we are following history, the fall of the Roman Empire Act II