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| Definition of a teapublican |
Since President Obama took the oath of office in January 2009, Teapublicans have reversed their stances on several different policies and beliefs. Here is just a smattering of them.
1. Health Care Mandates - Prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act by Democrats, Teapublicans widely supported the idea of an individual health care insurance mandate, Newt Gingrich being perhaps the chief supporter. Teapublicans have always preached about how people need to take responsibility for themselves, and now that a law exists that makes people take responsibility, the GOP is rejecting it simply on the grounds that President Obama and the Democrats passed it.
2. The Nuclear START Treaty - Teapublicans shamelessly filibustered the ratification of the Obama START Treaty for quite a period of time and criticized it tremendously and continue to try and find ways to circumvent the treaty today. What Teapublicans conveniently forget is that Ronald Reagan, the man that Teapublicans worship like a God, negotiated the very first START Treaty which was signed by yet another Teapublican, George H. W. Bush in 1991. That treaty expired in 2009 so President Obama negotiated a new one to continue the Reagan legacy. But since President Obama negotiated this treaty, Teapublicans retreated from Reagan’s policy faster than the decade it took to create the START Treaty in the first place.
3. Dream Act - Immigration reform has been touted by Teapublicans for decades now. Reagan granted amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants in the 1980′s. Most recently, Teapublicans worked on immigration reform under the Bush Administration and failed. President Bush and Senator John McCain both supported immigration reform and were willing to cross the aisle to work with Democrats, most notably Edward Kennedy. All of that work and bipartisanship ceased after the 2008 Election. Staunchly opposed to President Obama and anything his administration supports, Teapublicans turned their backs on immigration reform in favor of militarizing the border and laws that violate the civil rights of Hispanics. Obama’s Dream Act would do much that Reagan would approve of, but Teapublicans refuse hear anything of it.
4. TARP - Teapublicans supported TARP when they helped pass it in response to the economic collapse in 2008. President Bush even signed the legislation into law. But since it’s been up to the guiding hands of President Obama to deal with TARP, Teapublicans have since revoked their support and have been highly critical even as they take credit for it when presenting stimulus checks to their local constituents. The fact is, TARP is successful because President Obama oversaw it and Teapublicans hate that fact.
5. Bail Out of Auto Industry - Teapublicans once supported this too but abandoned it once President Obama called for it. The auto industry is a vital manufacturing sector that supports millions of American jobs and Teapublicans WANTED the industry to fail simply because President Obama wanted the bail out. If it had failed, Teapublicans would have blamed President Obama for not supporting the American auto industry. The bail out has been a resounding success with most of the money plus interest paid back to the taxpayers. Mitt Romney has since tried to take credit for the idea because it has been so successful.
6. Israel Going Back To Pre-1967 Borders - Many Presidents have suggested this, even George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. But once President Obama repeated it, Teapublicans immediately denounced the President and threw their support to Israel’s President. This action by Teapublicans is totally unprecedented. It is reprehensible for American politicians to support a foreign leader more than the American President. Imagine if the Teapublican Party had overtly supported Hitler over FDR during World War Two. The only reason Teapublicans are rejecting President Obama’s plan is because they cannot bring themselves to endorse any idea he suggests, even if it is a Teapublican one.
7. Gun Control - Teapublicans overwhelmingly reject any and all gun control measures today. Which is very strange considering Ronald Reagan himself supported the Brady Handgun Act. But, it’s still true. Teapublicans did indeed support gun control measures in the past. It’s different now. Today’s intolerant, prejudiced, and extremist Teapublican Party is only against gun control now because they believe there needs to be a war against liberals and minority groups. It’s all about fear and war.
8. Public Education - Even the Founding Fathers believed in education for all. Every teapublican President in United States history has been supportive of the public education system in this country. Ronald Reagan campaigned on axing the Department of Education but not only did he NOT eliminate it, he amped up its budget. It is only now that President Obama seeks to improve the education system that Teapublicans are against public education. When President Bush sought to improve public education, Teapublicans were on board but now that Obama is President, Teapublicans have decided that all public schools are evil liberal institutions that must be destroyed.
9. Infrastructure Spending - Teapublicans have always believed in strong infrastructure, until now. Teapublicans used the power of the federal government to build the railroads in the 1860′s and 1870′s, the Panama Canal in the beginning of the 20th century, and the interstate highway system in the 1950′s. Yet when President Obama called for new infrastructure spending to improve America’s crumbling roads and bridges and to improve our rail lines, Teapublicans immediately reversed their long-held belief in a strong American infrastructure. Why? Because they hate President Obama and oppose everything he believes in, even if it was once a part of the Teapublican platform.
10. Child Labor Laws - This one is surprising. Teapublicans were the ones that championed child labor laws in the first place. Starting in 1852, in the once Teapublican state of Massachusetts, child labor laws have been fought for by both parties. The only opponent of child labor laws has traditionally been big business. Teapublicans tried to pass a Constitutional amendment in 1924 and it didn’t succeed. It wasn’t until Democrats passed the Fair Labor Standards Act that child labor laws became federal law. Teapublicans oppose child labor laws now because of their deep ties with corporations. The goal of the corporate world is to find cheap labor and because President Obama is against huge corporations, Teapublicans must stand with the corporations, even if that means killing child labor laws.
11. Civil Rights - Teapublicans were once the champions of civil rights as well. They ended slavery and adopted the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. They splintered over the Civil Rights Act in 1964, although it was a Teapublican led Supreme Court that ruled in the Brown v Board of Education case, and have become more and more opposed to civil rights ever since. President Obama has called for increased civil rights and because of that, Teapublicans now oppose civil rights for everyone except Christian white males.
12. Environmental Protection - Originally championed by Theodore Roosevelt, Teapublicans used to support efforts to protect the environment. Over the last century, however, that support has reversed. Teapublicans even once supported the environment in the 1970′s when Nixon created the EPA, but no longer. Teapublicans are now in complete support of the irresponsibility of the oil and coal industry and want to open the entire American coastline and even federally protected lands to drilling and mining.
Teapublicans even used to support cap-and-trade. The first George Bush signed legislation in 1990 that implemented the cap-and-trade system and many Teapublicans still do support cap-and-trade. But because President Obama supports it, most Teapublicans are now against it.
13. Deficit Spending - This one is huge. Teapublicans have employed deficit spending since the Reagan years and abused it during the Bush administration to pass the conservative agenda and to fund wars. Reagan doubled the national debt and George W. Bush proceeded to double it again. But because Democrats controlled the White House and the Congress from 2008 to 2010, Teapublicans completely reversed their stance on deficit spending and still oppose deficit spending solely on the grounds that a Teapublican isn’t President. If a Teapublican were President right now, you can bet the farm that they would abuse deficit spending once again to slam the destructive anti-middle class, anti-poor, anti-women, and anti-America agenda through Congress with no thought about fiscal responsibility whatsoever.
14. Federal Reserve - The Federal Reserve is now a target for most Teapublicans, which is puzzling because it was a Teapublican idea. Proposed by Teapublican leader Nelson Aldrich to organize and regulate the banking system and to enforce monetary policy, and thus stabilize our financial system, the Federal Reserve Act was signed into law by Democratic President Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Teapublicans now want to dismantle or weaken the Federal Reserve because President Obama needs it to enforce Dodd-Frank which will make banks more responsible and accountable, and will protect consumers.
15. Women’s Rights - The women’s rights movement was born in and grew with the Teapublican Party in the mid 1800′s. Many Teapublicans supported voting rights for women although to pass the 19th Amendment it took women threatening to cause Teapublican losses in the 1920 Election to persuade them to help pass it in Congress. As women gained more equality, they also demanded equal pay for equal work and reproductive rights. Ronald Reagan legalized abortion as Governor of California in the 1960′s and a moderate conservative Supreme Court handed down the Roe v Wade decision in 1973. Today’s Teapublican Party is now waging a war against women and the harder Democrats and President Obama fight for women’s rights, the harder Teapublicans will fight to eliminate them because of orders from white Christian extremists.
16. End Of Life Counseling - Teapublicans referred to this as “death panels” in 2009 in response to President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. But Teapublicans wholeheartedly supported end of life counseling in their own 2003 Medicare bill. Both of the Bush Presidents supported end of life counseling and even Sarah Palin herself supported it before she suddenly turned against it. In fact, Teapublicans had supported end of life counseling for decades. So what happened? Easy. President Obama supports it, so Teapublicans are now against it. It’s really that simple. And petty.
17. Financial Disclosure - Teapublicans were all for this in 2002 when they passed and President Bush signed McCain-Feingold into law. Campaign financing laws have always been supported by Teapublicans and Democrats alike, until now. Because of their hatred of President Obama, who supports campaign finance laws, and their desperation for absolute power and authority, Teapublicans are now completely against financial disclosure. They have allied themselves with the corporate world over the American people in their effort to steer elections their direction and do that, campaign finance laws must not exist. That is why the activist conservative Supreme Court struck down the laws to begin with.
18. Minimum Wage - The way Teapublicans have been talking about abolishing the minimum wage, you would think they’ve always been against it, right? Wrong. 82 House Teapublicans and 39 Senate Teapublicans joined the Democratic majority in passing the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. President Bush signed the bill into law. It is only now that President Obama stands with the American workers that Teapublicans oppose the minimum wage on behalf of their corporate masters, most notably, Koch Industries. If Teapublicans were so against the minimum wage, they would not have voted to raise it. Three times.
19. Military Intervention In The Middle East - This should really convince you that Teapublicans are simply opposing policies because a black President supports them. Reagan, Bush 41, and Bush 43 all supported military intervention in the Middle East yet when President Obama uses the military to intervene in Libya, Teapublicans all of a sudden become doves? They’ve really revealed themselves with this policy reversal. The fact that under President Obama, Libya successfully overthrew their dictator without one American life being lost must infuriate the GOP.
20. Abortion - It may sound really far-fetched but there are many pro-choice conservatives out there and some politicians are part of that group. Take Ronald Reagan for instance. He made abortion legal in California as Governor of the state. And most recently, it was discovered that extreme right-winger Rick Santorum’s wife had an abortion to save her own life. In my opinion, that means Santorum is for the procedure when his wife’s life is on the line, but every other woman needs to die rather than exercise their right to an abortion which was ruled to exist in Roe v Wade by a conservative leaning court in 1973.
21. Economic Development Administration - Never heard of this you say? This program provides grants to local projects which have created jobs. Teapublicans such as Susan Collins, Chuck Grassely, and even John Cornyn have supported it in the past. Cornyn stated in March 2010 that funds from an EDA grant “would pave the way for the creation of new jobs and business opportunities, which will strengthen the region’s economy,” according to a local East Texas NBC news affiliate. But now that the GOP plan to crash the economy on purpose is in full swing, Teapublicans are now calling for an end to the EDA.
22. Lower Taxes - Teapublican do support lower taxes, except they only support them for the wealthy, NOT the rest of us. Even as they crusade to eliminate taxes on corporations and the wealthy, Teapublicans fully support a new proposal that would actually raise taxes on the rest of us. And guess who opposes it? That’s right. President Obama. Teapublicans usually crusaded for lower taxes for everyone, but since they support class warfare now, they have partly reversed themselves.
23. Medicare - I’m aware that Teapublicans initially opposed Medicare when it was passed, but since its passage into law, Teapublicans have largely defended it, especially when they try to pander to senior citizens for votes. But if Teapublicans really wanted to kill Medicare, they would have actually done it when Ronald Reagan was in office. Reagan opposed Medicare when it was created but then did something quite unexpected as President. He saved it. By saving Medicare, Teapublicans practically endorsed it. Even Theodore Roosevelt supported national health care. And now the GOP has come full circle once again by opposing it, and are trying to slaughter it and the millions of seniors that rely on the popular health care program. Why? Because President Obama is in favor of keeping Medicare around for a very long time and Medicare represents just how popular government-run universal health care can be. So technically speaking, Teapublicans were against Medicare before they were for it before they were against it.
24. Social Security - Social Security is popular with everybody, even the staunchest right wingers. Ronald Reagan and Milton Freidman supported the New Deal programs of the 1930′s and even Ayn Rand collected Social Security up to her dying breath. Ronald Reagan even saved this program too by raising payroll taxes. This action also saved Medicare as it is part of the Social Security Act. The idea to privatize Social Security has popped up many times but has been met with negative reactions by a majority of the people so those ideas usually die in infancy. President Bush wanted to privatize it, but never did. Teapublicans had control of Congress and the White House from 2001-2006. If they had wanted to kill Social Security, they would have done so. But now all of a sudden they feel now is the time to privatize it, even as big bankers have proven that they are untrustworthy with money - and it just happens that President Obama supports Social Security. Just another reason for Teapublicans to hate it.
Undoubtedly, one could add even more to the list. We now can see what policies teapublicans once supported and why they are now against those very same policies. If we take teapublican claims to love America and their claims that the Founders were teapublicans seriously, we could also now say that teapublicans were for America before they were against her.
I was challenged on my facebook page today regarding a bitch about teapublicans and their galactally stupid mentality. I was asked "why do I not see a solution for your problem"? - the answer is easy Bob, don't vote teapublican.
NFTOS
