Ron Paul (and most Tea Partiers) would happily support drastic cuts in defense spending. He spoke out at length before the illegal invasion of Iraq, and has said that he would close all American overseas bases. That's a pretty substantive cut.

I think you're right that what appeals to people about Rand and Ron is that they seem to stand by their beliefs. Both were very much against the wars because it fits with their philosophy.

However, I also think that their philosophy is a very corporate philosophy. Why? Because I feel that government is needed to balance the needs of corporations and individuals and to regulate corporations from dishonest practices. (See BP and Massey Energy for the 2 most egregious examples.)

In a Ron/Rand Paul world, these companies have no responsibility except making money.

But I do agree w/ you that corporate influence is probably the number one issue facing our country today. This is one of the reasons Democrats have had a difficult time passing legislation w/ some teeth. Because so many elected Democrats feel they need corporate donors to re-elected. This is why so many people within the Democratic party believe in electing better Democrats.

So I can see why the Tea Party is popular. But I also believe that their philosophy will simply aid the corporate agenda.

Cheers
-David

p.s. You might be interested in a book called "13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown".

http://www.amazon.com/13-Bankers-Takeover-Financial-Meltdown/dp/0307379051/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274966591&sr=8-1

It talks about how much of the battle around the financial crisis has been going on since Jefferson vs. Hamilton. Am not finished yet, but so far it's one of the best books I've seen discussing both the economics and the politics of the situation.

[Note: For those interested, there's an excellent tool over at the New York Times site which allows you to see graphically the relative size of all federal programs in this year's budget, color-coded by whether the program got an increase in budget or shrank. You can use this to see what I mean about most of these programs having a constituency which cares deeply about them. Without taking an axe to the Pentagon, it's extremely hard to pick out what exactly Tea Partiers would cut to balance the budget, without causing an outcry among certain groups of voters.]

Check out this handle little gadget... :D

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

A real time National Debt "clock"....

Michale

During first 36 days of Katrina, Bush made 7 visits to Gulf Coast...

So far on Day 36 of BP oil leak, Obama has made 1 visit to disaster area...

Can't say that surprises me...

Michale.....

You're a real card, Michale and you ought to be dealt with!

Yea, but as usually happens with many, MANY Democrats, they stick their heads in the sand and hope the "problem" goes away... :D

Be sure and tip yer waitresses, I'll be hear all decade... :D

Michale......

:-)

{{{chhiiiirrrrppp}}} {{{chiiiirrrrrpppp}}}

Oh, wait..

I know the Democrats' answer to spending gone wild...

MORE SPENDING!!!

"We have to spend more money to avoid bankruptcy"
-Joe Biden

This is why we are going to see a repeat of 1994. Democrats simply don't know how to govern or lead.

Michale....

Ron Paul (and most Tea Partiers) would happily support drastic cuts in defense spending. He spoke out at length before the illegal invasion of Iraq, and has said that he would close all American overseas bases. That's a pretty substantive cut.

Yet every spending cut is unpopular with someone. What appeals to people about the tea party is the believe the candidates will actually cut spending.
Even if there were a halt to spending increases, that would probably be sufficient to pointing the country back in the right direction. Neither party has shown any capability of doing that however.

The real enemy of course are the parties themselves, who keeps us polarized. Ralph Nader was right when he said "Republicans and Democrats are competing to server their corporate masters." Now that corporations have "free speech" it's really becoming true.

Voter are waking up to the fact that Republican's and Democrats have been conspiring to keep it a two party country. http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Gerrymandering/70136042

You don't have to "make fun" of the tea party. You just have to point a camera at it and let it talk.

But that would be the "liberal" media! Letting the Tea Party talk in front of cameras. Just another example of "gotcha journalism"!

Poor Rand Paul. If only his ideas didn't sound so crazy when he talks about them.

"Tea Partiers and libertarians have some radical ideas, which most of them are convinced would be quite popular among the public -- meaning they may be eager to talk about them. Getting them to do so is going to be the best way to show the voters exactly how radical these folks are. The Tea Party candidates think that their economic stance is what makes them so popular, and they should be encouraged to explain these views in great detail. Because when voters hear these details, my guess is that they're going to think twice about supporting them."

Which is exactly what I've been saying since February 2009, Chris! You don't have to "make fun" of the tea party. You just have to point a camera at it and let it talk.

Rand Paul is going to be a gift that keeps on giving. He's turned into a lightning rod that will draw attention to the cognitive dissonance at the heart of tea party activism. Even if he wins, the GOP loses.