Taxes and Tea Parties

I must confess to being less-than-enthralled with the idea of the tea parties that sprang up all over the place yesterday, mainly because there's a certain disjointedness about the historical analogy.

It's a relatively minor quibble, though, since most people aren't trying to make a thoroughgoing analogy. Besides, I'm not one to join the snarky classes who are currently holding down the "you're just stupid" chorus very ably by themselves and looking pretty mean for their troubles.

But then again, there are really good analogies to be made if one steps back a bit and considers. Iain Murray did a pretty good job, I'd say--in fact, I don't think I can offer any improvement on it.

So, instead of asking why people are so stupid, one should ask why so many people are upset about taxes in a general sort of way. That's exactly what...[hold on a sec while I cue the ominous mood music for the 'evil genius']...Karl Rove did before he wrote today's column. Here's the main conclusion he drew:

But the center of the debate is in Washington, not the states. The fear of future federal tax hikes is fueling the tea-party movement.

There is a portion of the American population that doesn't believe the government can incur record expenses, cut taxes, and meet all its obligations. Tax hikes are coming. When and what shape--well, it's to be determined.

And as Rove so aptly observes, whether or not the Republican Party (as the only viable organized opposition party) benefits from the tea parties is a very open question. That it would like to surge back into power on the current of tax-induced protest is certain, but I have heard with my own ears a feisty objection to attempts by various political figures to "co-opt" the tea parties. Republican policymakers had better beware that they don't try merely to harness this event.

They'd better listen well.

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Update: I knew I was forgetting something. I had meant to include a link to this story from March. It illustrates that "tea party" is just a popular form of protest and that strict historical analogizing isn't the point. That, and the interesting and salient point that right wingers aren't the only ones doing this sort of thing.