Tea Party Should Separate From Republican Party

Ted Cruz photo/salon.com

Ham on Wry has followed the proceedings during the 16-day government shutdown with deep interest and much research to separate fact from fiction by studying information presented by both sides. This blogger now concludes that a fundamental flaw exists in the Republican Party of today: the inclusion of the Tea Party in its roster. The Tea Party has radical views that one doesn't find in the Republican platform. That faction introduced the inclusion of the fight over the Affordable Care Act as part of the strategy to avert a shutdown and force President Obama to negotiate. That law passed in 2010 and the Supreme Court upheld it, yet Republicans wait until the brink of disaster to negotiate change. The government is operating again, but for just a few months.

The Tea Party strategy, heavily influenced by Heritage Action, damaged our nation in myriad ways. Globally, industrialized nations view the entire shutdown debacle as evidence that the United States can no longer claim leadership in either political process or economic security. Standard and Poor's estimates that the shutdown reduced the flow of money in the economy by $24 billion, and the Fitch rating agency announced that it might downgrade the AAA rating on US debt after a thorough review. People have lost their homes, their jobs, and face great uncertainty in their finances. Thanks to ill-informed House members like Ted Cruz, our nation appears financially ignorant and deeply divided, but reality shows a different view altogether.

A recent study showed that 51% of Americans fall in the middle politically and don't believe either party reflects their views. They feel disenfranchised with no one representing their beliefs in how government should run. The majority of them feel that the government should offer health care and emphasize citizens' interests over that of business. In addition, they express concern about the government consistently operating with budget deficits and believe financial matters should take priority along with basic human issues. It seems that neither party represents those of us who want reason and sanity to prevail.

The Tea Party's callous disregard of the negative consequences surrounding their stubborn refusal to deal with the issues other than the ACA reveals an entirely different focus than that of the mainstream Republican Party. Therefore, it should establish itself as a separate party and develop a platform congruent with its followers. It will make voting easier and allow Americans an alternative to the two-party system.

Ham on Wry also calls for those who believe no party represents their interest to form one that does. Perhaps then voters would engage more actively in the selection of candidates by means of independent thought rather than political ads designed to denigrate opponents rather than to inform about ideology.