# Tea Party = treason **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 30, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-party-treason/590861 "2011-07-30T21:09:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-party-treason/590861/201 "2011-08-03T01:05:34Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > No, Democrats just _wish_ it were a procedural thing. It’s more than a bookkeeping task. It’s meant to be a reminder that “Hey, this is really getting out of hand here. Perhaps we should do something about this.” And then when the Republican house passes two bills that 1) avert disaster by raising the debt ceiling and 2) do something to address the problem, Democrats cry that 1 doesn’t count because 2 is part of the deal. > > That just makes it obvious that Democrats aren’t actually concerned with the debt ceiling at all. They don’t care if it’s raised or not. The only thing they care about is spending the US into bankruptcy. Historically the Democrats have been the party that lowered the debt and the Republicans have been the party that raised it. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-party-treason/590861/202 "2011-08-03T02:44:21Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > Again… it hasn’t been that long since the Republicans were in control, during which time they were delighted to spend the US into oblivion, making sure to shift the burden for their ludicrous spending onto those who could least afford it. > > It was entirely unsurprising that their “spend every last penny we can and send the bill to the middle class” plan cratered the economy. > > What IS surprising is that, a couple years later, you have completely forgotten the whole thing. You seem to be forgetting that most of the deficit was due to two temporary wars. And you also seem to be forgetting that the Republicans of the current Congress aren’t the same as the Republicans of 2000. Finally, you seem to be forgetting that Bush tax cuts were made in order to counter a recession. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Historically the Democrats have been the party that lowered the debt and the Republicans have been the party that raised it. Then why isn’t that trend continuing? Why won’t they cut more spending than the Republicans? Why the “no strings attached” attitude with the ceiling? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-party-treason/590861/203 "2011-08-03T02:49:25Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Finally, you seem to be forgetting that Bush tax cuts were made in order to counter a recession. Refresh my memory; how’d that work out, employment-wise? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-party-treason/590861/204 "2011-08-03T03:13:00Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Finally, you seem to be forgetting that Bush tax cuts were made in order to counter a recession. Yeah and the Reagan tax cut was to halt the spread of AIDS. Funny how the Republicans have the same solution to every problem. Including the problems caused by tax cuts. Here’s a good Republican idea. How about we go back to the last Republican President who lowered the deficit - Eisenhower - and try his tax plan. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-party-treason/590861/205 "2011-08-03T03:17:24Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > My wife made that observation this morning as we heard the news. They are seriously trying to overthrow the government and much more likely to succeed than the pathetic American Communist Part ever could have imagined. Someone runs for office on a platform of voting for lower taxes, cutting government spending and a balanced budget. At least 50.1% of the voters agree with him and elect him. He goes to Washington and amazingly enough, he doesn’t sell out and actually votes the way he promised to. Please explain how that is treason or trying to overthrow the government. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-party-treason/590861/206 "2011-08-03T03:45:24Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Finally, you seem to be forgetting that Bush tax cuts were made in order to counter a recession. Actually, they were not. They were packaged and sold with that explanation, but the actual cuts had little, if any, connection to the recession. To counter the recession, the country could have used a steep reduction taxes for a short duration. The slight rollback in income tax accompanied by the tiny (although much ballyhooed) “rebates” was the token effort in that direction. The rest of the tax cuts addressed longer-term taxes that had no effect on that recession, although they certainly went a long way toward setting the conditions to create the next one. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-party-treason/590861/207 "2011-08-03T11:35:09Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Refresh my memory; how’d that work out, employment-wise? Relatively well. The unemployment rate peaked in June 2003 at 6.3%. In March 2007 it bottomed out at 4.4%, about .2% higher than when Bush took office. > [@](#): > > Despite growth levels below previous levels, a March 2006 report by the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee showed that the U.S. economy outperformed its peer group of large developed economies from 2001 to 2005. (The other economies are Canada, the European Union, and Japan.) The U.S. led in real GDP growth, investment, industrial production, employment, labor productivity, and price stability. [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_policy_of_the_George_W._Bush_administration#Unemployment). Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-party-treason/590861/208 "2011-08-03T12:06:40Z")
There was a bubble. It burst. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-party-treason/590861/209 "2011-08-03T13:27:54Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Finally, you seem to be forgetting that Bush tax cuts were made in order to counter a recession. George Bush proposed the tax cuts in order to get rid of the surplus. He famously justified the cuts by saying “It’s your money. You paid for it.” And in that sense, his tax cuts worked like gangbusters. Or surplus-busters. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-party-treason/590861/210 "2011-08-03T13:37:41Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > You seem to be forgetting that most of the deficit was due to two temporary wars. This is simply not true. Discretionary spending rose, entitlement spending rose, and new entitlements were created. The wars contributed significantly, but they are/were a fraction of our current deficit. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-party-treason/590861/211 "2011-08-03T14:52:16Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > You seem to be forgetting that most of the deficit was due to two temporary wars. Calling them “temporary wars” makes them seem so… benign. George Orwell would nod approvingly. But your notion of “temporary” doesn’t conform to mine. How long has the Afghanistan war been going on? Ten years? How would you describe WWII… transitory? Provisional? Short-term? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-party-treason/590861.md?page=10)