A Tea Party Letter, in its entirety. Not to be ignored

"This letter sums up the essence of the Tea party's position on much of what is happening in America today! You should not ignore, defame nor minimize the Tea Party's values as they apply to a return of our civil institutions towards a majority concern for a conservative and a more cohesive method of governance."

Dear Senator McConnell and Congressman Boehner,

Last Monday, a small group of non-Tea Party, non-conservatives, released a letter, trying to claim leadership of the Tea Party movement and purporting to tell you what the Tea Party movement wants.

We, the undersigned, are leaders of mainstream Tea Party groups. We are the people that helped get conservatives elected on November 2. While we do not speak for this movement as a whole, we are a large cross section of this movement and we want to tell you what this movement wants.

First, we want Obamacare defunded. There is no compromise on this issue and it is not negotiable. We do not want Obamacare lite. We do not want it “tinkered” with. We want it repealed. We realize the chance of Obamacare being repealed before 2013 are slim, but it can be defunded. That is the next best thing.

Second, we want serious reductions in spending. A spending cut is not simply a reduction in the amount of the increase. It is a reduction in spending. America cannot afford Washington’s spending sprees any more.

The question is where to start. Here is the answer. Let’s start by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse from the budget. Billions of dollars are wasted through programs that are unneeded, unnecessary and exist only to benefit special interests. Let’s go through the budget line by line and eliminate these programs.

We in the Tea Party are ready to help on this one. We know you have staffs. We have thousands of volunteers who are prepared to rip the budget apart and help you. All you have to do is ask us.

The left will whine about every spending cut, coming up with some story about how horrible it will be. Americans are very charitable but cannot stand the thought of their tax dollars being wasted. This is the proverbial low hanging fruit.

Third, we must dismantle the liberal-political complex. Liberal groups such as Acorn and Planned Parenthood receive millions of dollars in federal monies every year. This must stop. Most of the members of this movement would probably describe themselves as pro-life. Regardless, abortion is a multibillion-dollar business. Why is the government paying Planned Parenthood anything, much less almost $1 billion from 2002-2009?

Fourth, if the debt ceiling is to be raised, this is the last time. Uncle Sam’s credit card must be cut up. America cannot afford Obama/Pelosi/Reid’s spending spree. We urge you to raise the debt ceiling only if a spending reduction plan is in place prior to that time. We do not want to see the ceiling raised in exchange for a promise to cut spending later. We Americans now regard those promises as credible as those emails we get telling us we have won the lottery.

Fifth, taxes must be reduced. The Bush tax cuts must be extended for everyone, made permanent and the burden the government places on small businesses must be drastically reduced so that small businesses can grow and start hiring unemployed Americans.

Sixth, there can be no amnesty. America has always welcomed immigrants. Legal immigrants. We want you to oppose the DREAM act and any other effort for amnesty. In 1986, President Reagan agreed to amnesty, in exchange for the promise the border would be secured. We got amnesty then and twenty-five years later, the border is still not secured. This time, we have to insist the border be secured and illegal aliens leave and then reapply like everyone else. We need to change our immigration laws and require that before specialized workers are brought in, there must be conclusive proof that no American is available to do that job. We also need to change our immigration policy so that the top criteria for someone immigrating to America is what they can do for America. The diversity immigration lottery must be eliminated.

Seventh, we want you to fight the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The policy has worked well for the last fifteen years. There is no reason to change. While there are many ways to debate an issue, sometimes you can judge the validity of a proposal by who supports it. Various radical leftist groups such as Code Pink support the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. These groups have one goal. They want to weaken the United States Military. If these groups think this is a good idea, that is a pretty good indication, it is not.

We, the members of the mainstream Tea Party movement have a lot of expectations for you in this Congress. We realize the limitations you face. But we also realize the tools you have at your disposal. America is a conservative country. We expect conservative leadership from our country. The Republican Party had its head handed to it in 2006 and 2008 because it departed from its conservative base. Now is your chance to return to your roots and govern, as we the people want you to.

We are here with you, we are here supporting you and we have our eyes on you. Do not disappoint us.

Sincerely,

Not sure I agree with raising the debt ceiling but otherwise generally agree with all points. Good post!

The question remains, is anyone listening????

The national level of the Tea Party does hope someone is listening. I also agree that increasing the debt ceiling only gives a green light to more spending. But, when you look into the details of the letter, it truly does encompass mainstream America's values for smaller govt., less excess in spending, and qualifies the expectation that the American people are the ones who set the direction of their representation.

What more could a guy ask for? Except for a Happy Ending?

:thumbsup:

When you say "Not to be ignored," you can bet I will ignore it.

Just kidding.

You could hope for respect in the morning!

I agree with TG about the part about one more debt ceiling increase, that it is the one part, that I don't like the sound of. Other than that, it is a great post.

Add another for not supporting a higher debt ceiling. We need to stay way under budget and begin paying down the debt.

Nmysys wrote: You could hope for respect in the morning!

I agree with TG about the part about one more debt ceiling increase, that it is the one part, that I don't like the sound of. Other than that, it is a great post.

Scruffy...love to hear what solutions you have for our long term deficit issues...

I don't want the debt ceiling raised, but I understand the macro economic reasons for doing so. I'm ok, if this is the last time. The impact of not raising it could cause massive economic waves....

RenegadeCJ wrote:

Nmysys wrote: You could hope for respect in the morning!

I agree with TG about the part about one more debt ceiling increase, that it is the one part, that I don't like the sound of. Other than that, it is a great post.

Scruffy...love to hear what solutions you have for our long term deficit issues...

I don't want the debt ceiling raised, but I understand the macro economic reasons for doing so. I'm ok, if this is the last time. The impact of not raising it could cause massive economic waves....

Since, I'm not an economist, I don't have a solution. Sorry to disappoint, but I don't believe I've ever stated that I know what to do when it comes to our federal budget.

Reducing spending is obviously helpful, but I have no idea what programs to cut. Everything is precious to someone. Do we cut welfare? Defense? Bridges? I don't know. That's why we elect people to make these decisions on our behalf.