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Joan King wrote that the tea party movement is not for anything. As I have never attended a tea party function, nor have I donated a dime to the movement, I will not pretend to speak for them. I, however, can tell you that I voted for a candidate primarily because he was endorsed by a tea party group.
I can tell you that I am for a fiscally responsible government. I am for government helping out those less fortunate, but not to the point of financially breaking the country. I am for us slowly reducing the federal debt.
It is pretty obvious that our current representatives are not going to do that. We have many problems because of Congress, but continuing to run up the national debt eventually will destroy us.
The main problem is that congressional winners get significant amounts of money and political pull from their political party. They are then beholden to their party. Washington has been reduced to a team sport.
Their primary objectives are for their party to win and to keep their jobs. The media and even most of us have fallen into the same trap and our children are the ones that lose.
Bottom line, I will not vote for a tea party candidate, but their endorsement will carry a lot of weight for me. Hopefully, some of them are not as tied to the team sport and will act responsibly. Their current irresponsibility is not sustainable many more years.
Mike McConnell
Gainesville