Let's Tea Party!!!

I admit it's exciting! The House of Representatives, the legislative body from which all spending bills come, has been overtaken by fiscal conservatives. Never one to discount the collective wisdom of large crowds, I'll take the bait and accept that this might be beneficial. Let's light this candle.

1. Defense spending. The largest single chunk of spending goes to fighting two wars, maintaining our arsenal and paying for benefits to soldiers and veterans. Without addressing these expenditures, the House will fail in it's self-appointed edict to balance the budget.

2. Health care. To a person, the Republicans running for office this cycle have decried the cost of health care reform. If this is true, then what parts of the reform bill will they repeal first? the provision of insurance for kids up to age 26? the prohibition against dropping folks who get sick? the prohibition against denying insurance for pre-existing illness? the expansion of insurance to the working poor? the mandate that all Americans get health insurance? Which one goes first? If everyone is not required to have health coverage, then the House should also repeal EMTALA laws that require hospitals and doctors to treat people for free. That worked when there were 5 million uninsured, but not when that number is 42 million, 1 out 4 adults. Just think how much money we'll save.

3. Tax cuts. Republicans buy into the Laffer curve school of economics that says that lower taxes will increase tax revenues. So lower my f*&king taxes!! Did lowering taxes in 2001 increase tax revenues? It must have because Art Laffer is always on CNBC talking his book, and we all know that he would have been laughed out of the economics community if he had been wrong (snark).

4. Entitlements. How many times have we heard that Social Security is bankrupt? Okay, well now those same screamers are in control of the House of Representatives. Let's repeal Social Security altogether and just sign grandma's monthly check right over to Goldman Sachs-- they own the place anyway.

5. The best part: rumor has it that Michele Bachmann is going to run against John Boehner for Speaker.

What could possibly go wrong? [Last week I wrote about "sentinel events", I would suggest searching that term and taking appropriate safeguards.]