November 2 could mark a significant sea change in the American political landscape. A major source of opposition to the current administration has been the eclectic and often confused Tea Party. Composed of mostly middle-class and working Americans, they are rightfully concerned about the direction this country is taking. Unfortunately, their legitimate fears have been manipulated and co-opted by cynical reactionary forces threatening to retake power. These forces include such popular conservative demagogues as Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck and Fox News as a whole. The conservative elites have been enormously successful in convincing average Americans to consistently put the interests and prerogatives of the rich and powerful ahead of their own.
The debate over the budget deficit is an excellent case in point. There has been a great deal of protest over wasteful government expenditures. It’s hard to deny that this country is facing some serious issues in that regard and major changes are going to be necessary going forward.
However, just what sort of changes do those who purport to speak for the disaffected Tea Party members propose? Not including war expenditures (which have totaled more than 1 trillion cumulatively since the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts), the U.S. will have spent $685 billion on the military for the 2010 fiscal year. That’s more than half of the approximately $1.2 trillion budget deficit. Any serious debate about the budget deficit and about the national debt begins and ends with a discussion on military spending. How can the war pigs justify a military budget, which is greater than that of every other country in the world combined? There are no enemies on our borders or even in our own hemisphere. There is no major external threat and no great power that threatens imminent invasion. Despite these obvious facts, the idea of cutting the military budget is not on the table for conservative elites and it is, thereby, never discussed.
In place of an honest discussion regarding some of the root causes of the budget shortfall, reactionaries have somehow convinced the populace that government pandering to ‘special interests’ is largely to blame. In this case, special interests are defined primarily as labor unions and environmental groups. Paradoxically, working Americans are expressing their fear over the growing influence of popular based organizations that represent a large numbers of ordinary middle and low-income workers in the political process. Labor unions are the reason we enjoy eight-hour workdays, vacation benefits and sick pay. If groups that represent the interests of working people should not be allowed to participate in the politics, then who should? Should we give business and the wealthy even more power over the political process than they already have?
The reactionary right wing and the misguided Tea Party that represents it will have a big impact on the upcoming election. Unfortunately, they will likely leave untouched those elements of government that are in most in need of change while curbing and curtailing some of the rights and benefits that are vital to their most ardent supporters.
Sterling Harris a graduate student in electrical engineering and a columnist for the Daily 49er.
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