Just declare victory

The Tea Party has won. That seems pretty clear.

What began as a grass roots movement a couple of years ago has been transformed into an institutionalized political force that has set the agenda in Congress.

The agenda, of course, is cut the budget and reduce the size of government. Both political parties are now singing that song, and one party, the Republicans, seems to have ceded control to the Tea Party and its 85 or so members in the House. The Republicans can't seem to do a thing without clearing it with the insurgent Tea Partiers.

And the Democrats? With a divided Congress, they can't seem to get anything done, which leaves us where we are today: in a stalemate with a ridiculously dysfunctional government.

The irony is that both parties have adopted the Tea Party's agenda--cut, cut, cut--but that's apparently not enough. The Tea Party wants slashing, burning, and destruction of much of government, and if it takes bringing the government and our financial system to its knees, so be it. Such a result would only confirm what the extreme right wing has said all along--that government is inept.

One other irony here that simply defies logic: The Tea Partiers oppose an increase in ANY taxes, even on the millionaires and billionaires, the Wall Street gang, the hedge fund managers, the gigantic corporations making record profits.

And yet, if you talk to most of the Tea Partiers, you'll find they're not at all fond of those groups; in fact, they harbor a deep dislike and distrust of them. So why are they defending them and their right to rake in enormous incomes and profits?

There's not really a good answer, except that they signed a pledge never to raise taxes on anyone, and they don't want to violate that pledge. I can understand upholding a principle, but there's also the business of governing a country, insuring stability, and making certain that your fellow citizens don't get abused.

Seems to me the Tea Party has already won. Can't they just declare victory so that we can get back to running our country?

Is there anybody out there who thinks Rick Snyder won't be Michigan's next governor? Anybody?

Okay, understandably, Virg Bernero and his family are out there enthusiastically waving their hands in the air, but there's nobody else.

The latest poll on the race says it all: Snyder 53%, Bernero 29%. Snyder doesn't even need the Undecideds to win this contest.

Snyder seems to be the right man at the right time in the right place. He's running as a Republican in a state that's been run by a Democrat during miserable economic times. He's also a businessman--the anti-politician when most of us have come to distrust politicians of asll stripes. And he seems moderate at a time when some Republicans seem to be veering further and further to the right.

Of course, none of this means he'll be a good or even capable governor, but it sure looks like he'll be a successful candidate.

It would take a remarkable turnaround and a major misstep by Snyder for Bernero to even make a contest of the governor's race.

The same could be said of the race to replace First District Congressman Bart Stupak. The Republican is a political novice, Dr. Dan Benishek, while the Democrat is political veteran Gary McDowell. Voters this fall are in the mood to try something new, and that would be Benishek, a favorite of the Tea Party.

Benishek's slogan, "Enough is enough" says it all.

A Benishek victory could be the one that puts the Republicans over the top in their effort to reclaim the majority in the House of Representatives. Most polls and analysts now tell us that's a likelihood.

It's remarkable how far we've come since the early days of joy and optimism of the Obama Administration in January of 2009. What that tells us, of course, is that over the next two years, the mood could easily swing back again.

The state of the economy will probably determine that. Here's hoping that the Republicans and Democrats can cast all their partisan concerns aside, and actually do something that helps the American people rather than furthering the politicians' narrow agendas.

How about a little civility, as well? I think most of us in the hinterlands are well ahead of our leaders in that respect. Politics for most of us is not about Good versus Evil. It's about the Republicans and the Democrats, working together, searching for solutions.

That seems to be such a quaint, naive notion in this age of name-calling, demonization, and negativism. Still, is that too much to ask?

Giant Credit Card

I wouldn't say I'm undergoing a political conversion, but I would say my views, which have always trended toward the liberal, are evolving about government spending.

Clearly, as a nation, as a state, and as communities, we're spending more than we're taking in, and it doesn't look like that balance is going to shift anytime soon. And increasingly, I think, we need to worry about another possible financial disaster looming ahead of us.

The giant credit card is coming due.

One caveat: This doesn't mean we need less government regulation. Inadequate government regulation, mixed with a healthy dose of greed, is what got us into the financial mess of the last two years, and also into the mess in the Gulf of Mexico.

A second caveat: The Tea Partiers, who've made government over-spending one of their guiding principles, lose credibility because they didn't say a thing about our rising debt until President Obama took office.

But, regardless, we can't afford to keep spending money the way we've done over the last decade or two.

Of course, we all seem to agree with that principle, but then where do you start?

With the schools? Michigan teachers say you can't do that--they spent a full day protesting the cuts earlier this week. Could we eliminate sports programs or the extra-curriculars? Nope, those are too important. Forest Park parents objected loudly to any such cuts at a meeting on Monday.

Should we let the roads and bridges go without repairs? No, can't do that. It's unsafe.

How about reducing the police forces? Heavens, no. Just look at what happens every time Michigan tries to close State Police posts.

Reduce prison costs by letting out some of the less dangerous inmates? No! Absolutely not.

Close libraries or museums? This might draw some support because probably only about 20 percent of us regularly use them, but what would their closure say about us as a society?

Put off Medicare and Social Security eligibility for a few years? Reduce government and teachers' pensions? Good luck on that.

Bottom line: We all want to reduce government spending, just as long as it doesn't affect us. It's another version of NIMBY---Not In My Back Yard.

But we've got to grow up, we've got to make difficult choices. Our county, state and federal governments can't do everything for us.

You want sports in schools? Pay for it. You want the extra courses, beyond the basics? Pay for them. You want city parades? Pay for them. Teachers aren't happy that they have to pay more for their benefits? Tough. That's the way it is in the private world. You like your Medicare benefits just the way they are? So would we all, but the times have changed.

Unfortunately, despite all the heated rhetoric out there about government overspending, there doesn't seem to be the political will out there to do anything about it. Nobody wants to be the first to make a serious and drastic cut.

And we continue marching inexorably toward financial catastrophe.

News Capital, USA

We in the Upper Peninsula had our moment in the national spotlight last week. Reminded me of my days at CNN.

CNN was here, along with Fox and NBC and several newspapers covering, first, the arrival of the Tea Party Express, and then the sudden, unexpected resignation of Congressman Bart Stupak. It was a front page story in the New York Times the following day.

The Tea Party, of course, boasted that they had forced the resignation, which Stupak, of course, denied. There was probably some truth to the Tea Party's claim but the fact was, Stupak had been hammered by both the left and the right over the last several weeks, and he was just weary, burned-out. He was a moderate Democrat, reasonably representative of the U.P. over these last 18 years, but he got to a point where he couldn't please anybody.

To say nothing of the fact that he and his family were receiving vile threats.

Lovely.

You can hardly blame the man for wanting to change careers.

You've got to wonder whether this is the apex of the Tea Party's influence and the decline starts here, or whether, in fact, this is only the beginning, and before too long, we actually have viable Tea Party candidates.

My bet would be on the former.

The big question now is whether the Republicans can harness and corral all this Tea Party anger and enthusiasm in time for the November elections. The Republicans need the votes, but some GOP candidates clearly aren't comfortable with some of the Tea Party rhetoric.

And here in the UP, we'll get an up-close view of the political maneuvering over the next several months and we'll probably return to the national spotlight at times because the First Congressional seat that Stupak is vacating will be hotly contested.

The New York Times, NBC, Fox and all the others will be watching us closely.