Is the Tea Party Really Just a Profit Center?

Next week in Nashville the Tea Party faithful are scheduled to attend their first national convention which will feature a big speech by Sarah Palin. The national news media pointedly not invited to attend except for a few favorites.
However the word out of Nashville is that the convention is being presented by a 'for profit' company which is charging attending $546 a head, nearly double the price of the other national conventions. The organizer of the event, a Nashville attorney, says he doesn't plan to make a lot of money on the tea partiers, but registering as a for-profit gives him more flexibility in monetizing the movement later on.

Look Who's An Activist Judge Now

One of the grander American political myths is that liberal and progressive federal judges are 'activist' judges while conservative jurists rule closely to precedent. Political myths are those clichés that bad political journalists and columnists recite without question off mental three by five cards when they are thrust into political situations they know nothing about.

The truth of the matter, as observed by legal scholars during Sonia Sotomayor's nomination hearings, is that much of the liberal or progressive agenda is now "settled law." In fact, if conservatives are to achieve their agenda they will have to rely on activist judges to overturn many precedents set by the U.S. Supreme Court over the last four decades.

Of course, this is in stark contrast to the plainsong chant we have heard from conservative appointees to the court Samuel Alito and John Roberts and their senatorial supporters. NBC news recalls the quote: "Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules; they apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules. But it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ball game to see the umpire... I will remember that it's my job to call balls and strikes and not to pitch or bat."

Well, guess what sports fans. When the Roberts edition of the US Supreme Court overturned a list of federal laws some dating back to 1907 and striking previous court decisions as recent as four years ago, that's judicial activism. In fact now that the 5-4 split on the court has been fully cemented, many court observers expect the court to start rolling back other federal laws and court decisions that validate the power of the federal government. Heck, it is said that Justice Clarence Thomas advocates a return to days just after the passage of the Constitution in the late 1700's.

If you are a First Amendment absolutist – a place where many civil libertarians reside, you might somewhat agree with the decision that adds more voices to the 'marketplace of ideas' even if they are carrying a fire hose. But, please, don't shovel any of that poo that conservatives are not 'activist judges.'

Earthquake in the Bay State

The election in Massachusetts is scary on many different levels. It's very interesting politics, but after that the back that a Republican was won statewide in the Bay State is just plain weird. Obviously the biggest reason for the reversal of fortune is the Democrats are taking way too long to pass the health care bill. Most of the bill isn't very controversial, and almost all congressmen agree that many provisions deserve passage. However, a few folks have held up the bill by insisting on their own causes to the bitter end. Objectively speaking, most Americans aren't too crazy about a public option of any kind and trying to shove it down their throats just makes them crazy. They are less crazy about the idea of the government forcing them to purchase health insurance.

Most political observers calculated that the bill passed out of the Senate finance committee without a public option was the form of the bill that would be the most passable in the end. But Harry Reid, probably pressed by the Democratic constituency groups, caved and put the public option and the exchange back on the table wasting a month and giving liberal House members the illusion they had a chance. Many Washington DC types praised Reid for the way he hammered out the 60 vote majority to ultimately pass the bill. But viewed from out across the country, most folks thought many of the deals to reach 60 votes stunk. The new political lexicon now contains the phrase 'the Nebraska Purchase' courtesy of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb). Nelson stuck his head up at the last minute to assuage his mostly-Republican state, only to have it cut off by the folks back home. He then allowed himself to be portrayed as the Lincoln, Nebraska, village idiot.

Even now every day Congressional leaders are still trying to hammer the bill out, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the clock is ticking on their tenure. Oops, there goes another seat in a purple state.

You'd never know it by reading the papers or watching TV but it's a basic political science, as defined by the US Constitution, the Congress is in charge of the country. That is unless the country is being run by Republicans. Then the Congress caves and abrogates all of its authority to the President. Witness George Bush. Only in a Republican presidency could a GOP congress run up a federal debt to monstrous proportions and trash the federal budgeting process, then turn around and become the party of fiscal responsibility. Talk about your party discipline.

Another political science concept: because seniority is a major component in determining Congressional leadership and because the most liberal Democratic congressmen come from safe seats, most of the Democratic leadership is much more liberal than the rest of the country. The sad thing is that they never have figured it out. Rep. Jim McDermott thinks he represents America.