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On April 15 in New Jersey and across the country, there were "TEA parties" where citizens who were "mad as hell and not going to take it any more" gathered to let the government know they've had enough. They had banners and placards reading "Stop Rewarding Bad Behavior" or "Change…It's all that's left in my pocket," and of course, "TEA" which stands for "Taxed Enough Already."
Clearly, people in New Jersey are angry. The question is, what do you do with that anger? Who do you direct it toward? Who do you blame for our economic situation? If you've lost your job, you've got to be able to vent and tell the politicians you've "had enough." And if you are having a hard time finding work, it's pretty convenient to hold up a sign and chant "no tax money for illegal aliens."
I understand the frustration. I understand the anger. I am angry and frustrated when I see grotesque federal government bailouts of AIG and other bad corporate players who have done the wrong thing and now are begging the federal government to come in and rescue them. The feds are rescuing the auto industry, which continues to pay the price for years of negotiating overly generous deals with the labor unions. Countless banks are bordering on closing their doors unless the government keeps propping them up and keeping them on life support.
Many angry folks in New Jersey and across the country are saying that government has screwed things up so badly that it is time for some sort of revolt. That's why signs like "Clean House in 2010" resonated on such a visceral level. I also noticed that at some of the New Jersey TEA rallies, Republican candidates for governor like Chris Christie and Steve Lonegan were there to throw out some choice red meat to the throngs. Lonegan said, "How about we cut the size of government and take back America?" Christie railed against high taxes. Countless other speakers got up to microphones at dozens of locations across the state to say, "enough is enough."
But while I understand the anger and frustration, here is the catch. Railing and complaining about government spending is one thing; but actually doing something about it is quite another. I noticed, and I am wondering if it is just a coincidence, why is it that no one that spoke at all these TEA rallies railed against the ridiculously expensive and administratively cumbersome property tax rebate program in New Jersey? Clearly, the state can't afford it. Isn't it "pork" to send checks to tax payers with the names of politicians on them trying to score a few cheap points at election time? Obviously, it is.
But, while speaker after speaker at these TEA rallies dumped on the so-called "pork" in the Obama Stimulus Package, none of them criticized the pork that they were getting in these property tax rebate checks. So, I guess what one man sees as pork, another man perceives to be his reward from the government. When the government came in to bail out certain financial giants on Wall Street, I didn't love it, but it stopped the Stock Market from totally tanking and kept us from losing even more in our 401Ks.
When people have a flood in their community, they want FEMA to come in and bail them out. When people want to send their kid to college, they are looking for government sponsored loans, or better yet, grants, to make it more affordable. And what about municipal aid? When Corzine proposed cutting municipal aid (you might just call that pork going from one level of government to another) people went nuts. They were smart enough to know that.
These same TEA party protesters are smart enough to understand that if state government cuts back on municipal and school aid, this will mean higher property taxes for them. Well, why is that pork okay? Is it because the people at the TEA party benefit from it? So, let me get this straight. Pork is bad unless the people at the TEA party are eating the pork that they're going to wash down later with all that extra tea.
Well, like I said, I get the anger, and the rhetoric is easy. But it is a hell of a lot harder when the rubber actually meets the road and you start asking people to look in the mirror to figure out how fat they've become by eating so much pork that comes from, yes, government. I hate to say it, but is Social Security pork? I don't know; ask somebody who is living on it just to say alive. Is Medicare pork? You tell me. When the government builds a road to prop up the local economy in your town, is that pork or do you call it "economic development?"
I get the anger; but screaming, yelling and pandering is a piece of cake. Balancing a budget and getting things done is not quite so easy. I'm sure that argument will go over real well with the revelers at this week's TEA party.
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