One Cheer For The Tea Party

by Conor Friedersdorf

Good news:

"The widely held sentiment among Tea Party Patriot members is that every item in the budget, including military spending and foreign aid, must be on the table," said Mark Meckler, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots. "It is time to get serious about preserving the country for our posterity. The mentality that certain programs are 'off the table' must be taken off the table."

They'll get two cheers if the Republicans they've just sent to Washington actually vote for cuts in military spending. And three cheers if they manage to meaningfully shrink government without impinging on civil liberties. In fact, there's always talk about completely eliminating a federal agency – and why not, if it's the DEA? I'm not saying there wouldn't be any negative consequences, but overall I think we'd be better off.

2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan