“The Tea Party that arose in 2009 seemed initially focused on bailouts, health care, and taxes. But new research suggests that concerns about cultural change and distrust of distant elites, the same themes that drove Trump supporters, were also central to the Tea Party—not just in the electorate but among activists and even for aligned Members of Congress.
What made the Tea Partiers in Congress different from your average Republican, the so-called establishment Republicans, was not their position on fiscal or economic matters. Instead, it was they had different positions on civil rights and social policies.
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In the book, Change They Can’t Believe In, Chris Parker and Matt Barreto had previously shown that the Tea Party’s mass supporters stood out for their racial concerns, not their economic views. Gervais and Morris finds that it was not just voters, but legislators who stood out mainly on cultural concerns
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In terms of the Tea Party organizations, I think they were absolutely interested in lots of fiscal conservatism, and this is really what their ultimate goals were, were to see fiscally conservative policy passed, but they saw in the Tea Party movement, or the feelings of resentment in the electorate as an opportunity, and I argue it was the same case with House leadership as well. Going into 2010, Paul Ryan, Eric Canter, Kevin McCarthy and John Boehner as well, saw an opportunity here, saw an energy that could be utilized to retake the House and perhaps pass fiscally conservative legislation. It’s sort of a means to an end, sort of this latent resentment here, is there to be mined and utilized, even if they don’t necessarily agree with the rhetoric or agree with the goals of the Tea Party in the electorate.
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the Tea Party wasn’t just a group of angry people wearing three quartered hats and waving flags. It was and is this sustained alternative energy within the Republican Party.”
“Trump’s overall job approval held steady at 43 percent, with 54 percent of voters saying they disapprove of the president’s job. That’s almost identical to Trump’s figures from April, when 42 percent of voters approved of his job and 54 percent disapproved.”
“We’re seeing more evidence for this adage as the government shut downs following Democrats’ refusal to vote for a spending bill that did not include an extension of “temporary” Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare, subsidies passed during the pandemic.
Those enhanced subsidies were passed as a temporary measure as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act in March 2021, and then extended through the end of 2025 by the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
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Making these subsidies permanent would not be cheap. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that it would cost $340 billion a year.
On the flip side, letting the tax credits expire would result in about 1.6 million higher-income earners losing subsidies completely. Millions more would continue receiving a smaller subsidy and see their premiums rise as a result.”
“Certain benefits will continue to be administered: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and assistance for Veterans. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will not be affected initially, but could be if the shutdown goes on for a long time. The federal Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program will not be able to accept any new applicants starting today. In the past, “inspections of chemical factories, power plants, oil refineries and water treatment plants were disrupted because the Environmental Protection Agency furloughed most of its employees in charge of monitoring pollution and compliance,” reports the Times. “Some routine food safety inspections also stopped.”
National parks have previously had their operations hobbled; open-air sites will probably stay open but visitors centers or other areas that need staffing will shut down. The Department of the Interior says that restrooms will be cleaned and garbage will be collected”
“The biggest challenge is political. Without a congressional majority, Milei has relied on vetoes to block deficit-boosting bills. By conceding targeted increases, he hopes to blunt those challenges while courting centrists who dislike Peronist populism but remain wary of his radical cures. The October 26 legislative elections will decide whether he grows his foothold in Congress or stays boxed in.”
Charlie Kirk thought the Civil Rights Act should never have been passed and that MLK was a bad guy. He agreed with that description of his views. He absolutely should not have been killed. But, let’s stop pretending he was a good actor politically. He had bad ideas.
He said Joe Biden should be put in prison and/or given the death penalty.