Tea Party Celebrates Lehman Anniversary
What better way to celebrate the two-year anniversary of the government's decision to allow Lehman Brothers to fail then by having a party? I know, let's have a TEA PARTY! After all, one of the core tenets of the Tea Party is that "bail-out and stimulus plans are illegal."
Two years ago today, the government drew a line in the sand and watched Lehman Brothers go down. That decision set off a disastrous chain of events that nearly plunged the global economy into a multi-year depression. Ultimately, the decision to allow the Lehman bankruptcy forced the government's hand in creating a fire wall around the remaining financial institutions to secure the nation's financial system. Maybe Tea Party folks think that was a mistake, but if you ask pretty much anyone who was close to the action two years ago, they all say that no intervention would have left us with an economy that would make the past couple of years look like a walk in the park.
But I digress. What's important today is the Tea Party, which has done a remarkable job of tapping the underlying anger and financial anxiety that Americans feel. The proof can be see clearly by today's election results across the country.
A number of Tea Party-endorsed candidates shocked the establishment by winning upset victories. The two garnering the biggest headlines this morning are Christine O'Donnell, winner of the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in Delaware and Buffalo multimillionaire Carl Paladino who will be the Republican candidate for governor of New York.
Besides the anti-bailout message, most Tea Party candidates call for reducing taxes and government spending. That's a tall order, especially considering this statistic via this morning's Wall Street Journal: "Nearly half of all Americans live in a household in which someone receives government benefits, more than at any time in history." I wonder how many Tea Party candidates will get elected by talking about reducing Medicare or Social Security benefits?
While I believe that the Tea Party has identified voter frustration, I have yet to hear a single candidate espouse credible policies. For now, the easy-to-recite platitudes seem to be enough, but it would be terrific to hear how a candidate hopes to maintain a strong military, cut taxes and balance the budget without making some tough choices.
Image by Flickr User peppercorn_pixie, CC 2.0
