Support for the Tea Party movement is dwindling, and that's for certain. Maybe it's because the rest of the modern world is coming to the obvious conclusion that this is a movement fueled by racism. What with the recent emails circulating from a conservative in office depicting POTUS Obama as a chimp, and the birther nonsense, well that's pretty obvious isn't it?
A Gallup Poll recently indicated that support for the Tea Party movement is decreasing drastically, with 47 percent of potential US voters having an unfavorable opinion of the grass roots movement. This is an incline from previous months. Naturally of 33 percent who do support this movement, most of them are conservatives and republican supporters.
The poll also reveals that those who support President Obama and his job in office have a very negative view of Tea Party members and the movement. Naturally, because this so called movement supports everything that strips Americans of their liberal freedoms. They want to ban abortion, and in some cases investigate women for murder who have miscarriages like this dingbat in Georgia. They're also the ones touting signs that depict the president as a native from Africa. Orly Taitz, the queen of the birthers who isn't even originally from the US, is the loudest mouth of them all alongside Donald Trump, acting racist as usual against the president. These "tea party" types are finally disappearing into the woodwork where they came from and where they belong.
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Comments: 88
However, both the 39% peak, and the current 33% drop are sharp changes in figures that have generally hovered - pretty reliably, over all - in the mid-30s.
These numbers more likely point at well-known limiitations of polling, than at changes in American voter sentiment.
What we really look for in polling-data, are "trends". Neither the 39% nor the 33% show indications of being a trend. In fact, obviously, the 39% figure has now "proven" not to be a trend.
It appears that actually, "support" for the Tea Party is not changing much, if at all.
I believe that as long as lunatics like Taitz continue to be the face of the party, people aren't going to take them seriously, (if they do, the right-wing is worse of than I thought.)
: to make more violent, bitter, or severe
— ex·ac·er·ba·tion noun
See exacerbate defined for English-language learners »
Examples of EXACERBATE
The proposed factory shutdown would only exacerbate our unemployment problems.
His angry comments have exacerbated tensions in the negotiation process.
The declining retirement security faced by growing numbers of Americans is being exacerbated by increasing longevity and quickly rising health care costs. —Jeff Madrick, New York Review of Books, 20 Mar. 2008
[+]more
Origin of EXACERBATE
Latin exacerbatus, past participle of exacerbare, from ex- + acerbus harsh, bitter, from acer sharp — more at edge
First Known Use: 1660
Related to EXACERBATE
Synonyms: aggravate, complicate, worsen
Antonyms: allay, alleviate, assuage, ease, help, mitigate, relieve
1ex·as·per·ate verb \ig-ˈzas-pə-ˌrāt\
ex·as·per·at·edex·as·per·at·ing
Definition of EXASPERATE
transitive verb
1
a : to excite the anger of : enrage
b : to cause irritation or annoyance to
2
obsolete : to make more grievous : aggravate
— ex·as·per·at·ed·ly adverb
— ex·as·per·at·ing·ly adverb
See exasperate defined for English-language learners »
See exasperate defined for kids »
Examples of EXASPERATE
The criticism of his latest movie is sure to exasperate his admirers.
We were exasperated by the delays.
Origin of EXASPERATE
Latin exasperatus, past participle of exasperare, from ex- + asper rough — more at asperity
First Known Use: 1534
Related to EXASPERATE
Synonyms: aggravate, annoy, bother, bug, burn (up), chafe, eat, irritate, frost, gall, get, grate, gripe, hack (off), irk, itch, nark [British], nettle, peeve, persecute, pique, put out, rasp, rile, ruffle, spite, vex
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See Synonym Discussion at irritate
Rhymes with EXASPERATE
abbreviate, abominate, accelerate, accentuate, accommodate, acculturate, accumulate, adjudicate, adulterate, affiliate, agglomerate, alien...
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here ya go since you don't know how to yourself. oopsie. :)
No. We aren't taxed enough. Simple as that. And if we're going to increase taxes, let's do it on those who live off of their own interest rather than working for a living. I know it may not be a popular statement, but we all need to tighten our belts a little and contribute back to the country that's paying for our parents' retirement and medical care.
We also need to adjust the programs in such a way as to deal with population bubbles like the Baby Boomers, but that won't fix our current fiscal problem. We need more revenue... as a proportion of GDP. One way to achieve that is to normalize the tax rates, take away exemptions, and generally make us all pay more taxes.
No, not really.
Support for Tea Party stuff is holding steady, in the mid-30s.
Support for Liberals is about 20%.
That's why Obama is doing things that make Liberals mad.
What exactly is the IQ of people from the Appalachians? Di I detect a note of bigotry here?
the meaning of both words is to irritate, worsen, make worse, inflame, make more violent or escalate. Both words share the same synonyms and both words are interchangeable because of this. Surely you didn't just make a new Gather ID so you can make an ass of yourself? Oh wait. You did.
Tea Partiers are just a tad too liberal for lots of us country folk libertarian constitutionalists who aren't big on anything other than an occasional cohesive get together and don't believe in wasting time on politics, which are generally destructive Just like Obama is destructive and so was his brother GW Bush who made Bill Clinton look like a conservative.
unproductive, inefficient, badly managed, ill-trained teachers.. A total waste of time, my only regret was graduating from public school and not dropping out, my friends didn't get to go to public school and they have a comparative advantage because of it. I had 3 houses paid for by the time I graduated because I skipped school to pay off my house because school was a joke
It feels good to support your own family!
... I promote home education...
Homeschoolers have won 8 out of the last 10 childhood intelligence events.. HOmeschooling is far superior to public education
they are incredible and they are helping themselves help themselves and its aweinspiring..
minds are opened homeschooled and brainwashed in the public school
On every other topic, including how we deal with that challenge, I disagree with them.
It should be noted that the TEA party only seem to be unified. In reality, there is a very large split between the social conservative wing of this group and the strictly financial libertarian wing.
The polls spell out the fact that the TEA party is completely failing to win converts from liberals and moderates, and is becoming viewed by those groups in an increasingly negative light. They remain a highly important element of the electorate, nevertheless- because they actually amount to more than half of Republicans, and the other half of the Republican Party cannot undertake more realistic policies with which they disagree.
That's not a surprise or unexpected, is it?
Like, the liberals aren't winning converts from the TEA ranks, either, are they?
So that's just a wash, isn't it?
===
There was a poll awhile back, have not noticed it repeated, showing an unusual amount of "sympathy" for TEA causes/issues, by people who would "never" go to a TEA party event, themselves.
That level of (secret) "like" gives the TEA element more traction & leverage than it's already-substantial mid-30% numbers would indicate.
So yes ... I would agree that the GOP cannot ignore them, or 'shine them on' ... since lots of non-TEA GOP members are "closet" TEA-voters.
Obamanomics isn't a total flop... we aren't in a depression... that's success given how badly our preceding administrations neglected the economy.
"Obamanomics" may or may not have saved us from worse. But his approach tended to rewarded those whom many Americans regard as the real offenders; whom many view as having ripped them off - personally - for much of what they have managed to gain, across many years of diligence & struggle.
That sucks.
As for the recent explosive birther attention, that was fueled by the media -- not racism. If the media puts it in front of millions of peoples faces every night on TV, of course there are going to be people that will consider the issue based on the information provided (false or otherwise).
Are there racists out there? You bet, but not in the numbers the liberals would like you to believe. Accusing large groups as being racist is just about as bad as being a racist.... so maybe you should be more careful tossing around accusations going forward.
TEA activism was mainly a reaction against the Stimulus and Bailout funding ... and the resulting budget/deficit blowout.
It was not significantly social, and continues to discourage the 'dog-piling' on of pet personal issues ... racial or otherwise.
Anti-TEA elements are reduced to painting this woman with the chimp-pic, as the core of TEA. In fact, I'd never heard of her.
And probably never will again. ;)
Meanwhile, The Reverend Jesse Jackson lets on how he'd like to castrate Barack Obama ... and nobody is supposed to notice what a classic racist remark that is.
Good luck with that opinion.
On a side note, racism isn't any less racism when someone else does it. Jesse Jackson doesn't speak for me, nor do any other racist liberals (and I freely acknowledge that we all have racists in our organizations). It's not hypocritical to point out the faults in another when you freely acknowledge your own.
Do the tea leaves at the bottom of their tea cup say they have a dim future?
"[M]ost of them", meaning 50% +1, yes, I'm sure.
However, I do think that polls have shown a 'unusual' level of 'sympathy' for TEA-issues, by people who identfy as Liberals and/or Democrats ... and who of course wouldn't be caught dead at a TEA event.
There does seem to be a significant minority element, along the Left side of the spectrum who are secret admirers of TEA goals, and who may find it relatively easy to vote for them or their agenda items, in certain situations.
There is always a small amount of this kind of thing going on - both ways - at the ballot box. When it becomes large - double digits - and it's not both ways, then the Carvilles and the Roves really start to earn their paychecks.
I have to hit the rack now, for a big work-day-away tomorrow. Will resume with interest, then. :)
become a loser.
become a loser. "
That's supposed to be a funny?
Gallows humor, maybe?
This sounds like the Jetsons.
"I just find it absolutely ridiculous that people like you just flat-out shun education."
Yeah well ... how actually unedjumacated can he actually be?
He's obviously running a computer. Exploiting cyberspace. He strings words together as well as he cares to. He reads other people's stuff, and barks back like he knows the game.
I didn't like school. It was painful. I wanted out.
Is the only way to be educated, to be locked in the box for 12 years?
Sometimes, being subjugated to an institution is going to be the only way something is going to happen. I liked the military even less than I did school, but it was ... irreplaceable.
School, tho ... it was a nuisance. I could have done as well, very possibly much better, without any sort of school system whatsoever.
Full disclosure: I'm an introvert. I do extremely well on my own. Others like me made up a noticeable element in classrooms. Of course, a like-sized element were strong extroverts, and they tended to thrive in the "benevolent prison" of the schoolhouse.
Indeed, Chelsea, many successful writers are introverts (and bellyache about school). ;)
Pls tell me why you see it as funny or ironic?
Re: education being a negative:
There's so much cynicism that generates a self-fulfilling failing system.
When really qualified and effective teachers are not paid commensurately; when kids all join in the chorus of "boring" because they don't listen, don't want to be there, don't do their homework; when parents default on getting their kids to do their school work and
When the culture for a large part doesn't deal with addressing the prob other than resentfully keep paying for the unproductive schools except in an active/passive way
We get what we're allowing.
I do have hopes that US Sec. of Ed. Duncan will be successful in making some headway, reportedly getting teacher unions to go along with what has not been the case historically and instituting good ideas.
The New Yorker Magazine ( 2/1/10 ) has an article about Sec. Duncan that speaks to what he's been up to, worth looking into.
For viewers & ease of reading, here is Frank's original comment, in whole:
"Americans who want to live decently and not have to go on the dole have to make that choice: get a decent education, pay attn in school, get a college degree and enter the work force or
become a loser. "
I looked at these words, for signs of irony or satire, which I thought 'must' be involved ...
One angle on how I react to this, is the well-known prominent cases of sensationally successful people in contemporary society who washed out of the education system, 'shined-on' the college-degree paradigm, and went on to become paragons of accomplishment & contribution.
These example (Gates, Zuckerberg, et al) are of secondary importance to me, on this matter.
A much bigger deal for me - and I believe for "many" - is the virtually 'hackney' case of the over-qualified, over-educated person filling every sort of humble & modest role in society.
I am, myself, Frank, a fully qualified & experienced nuclear power plant operator. These days, my prodigious mechanical & engineering skills are lovingly doted on my lawn mowers, chainsaws, wood splitter, and an enviable collection of simple hand tools. I am in fact the local 'go-to guy' for severe brutish manual tasks.
And I am not exceptional. No! I am in fact a familiar, these days virtually "iconic" figure. I am the shining example of "what it is", today, in America.
Get an education? A degree? The American Dream?
Oh - stop! Have mercy! Yer killin' me, Frank! ;)
No, Frank, I and others like me, are the ones who are envied in America today.
Not those who stuck with the system and did it the 'right' way. Those people are screwed, insecure and scared. Not meaning to be cruel; through no fault of their own - they are the real "losers".
That's why I thought you must be joking.
I stand by my comments as they are generic for public school kids. They're a pushback to kids and a general attitude re: public ed that's useless and stupid. I submit that the choices are the two I mentioned--show up, pay attn, try to understand, and get to college if you can or wind up on welfare or in jail.
I hope the erstwhile Sec. of Ed. Duncan's efforts will bring some changes and improvements to the system as it now stands. Let's hope so or the US will surely not be able to stack up to other countries where the kids and their parents take education seriously as the key to success.
Were your folks behind your success in school or were you on your own?
Coming from a Chinese family and with siblings successful in school, my father even went so far as to reward me with my good report cards with cash ($10).
I will say that I feel really lucky that the elementary school I went to really set me up to love learning and has done me in good stead. That was in the 40s. I do feel that though there are still outstanding schools that education as we see seems to have been down-graded unfortunately.
Then there's so much distraction for the kids to focus on school. Maybe computers will give interest a spike.
Our government, in the form it exists in now, exists to protect our population from unscrupulous persons who would abuse wealth and power in order to accrue more wealth and power. It happened in the Gilded Age, it happened again in the 1920s, and it can happen again. Unions, as onerous as I personally may find their practices and the degree to which they've overshot their original value, exist to protect workers from abuses that they (as a class) have suffered before.
So of course we need government. And of course we have to pay for it. So of course we need taxes. The question is where do we find the balance between being taxed enough to pay for things we want to exist (Federal protections, education, military, etc) while being taxed little enough for us to get along, improve our personal financial situations, and eventually retire. I'm not sure where that balancing point is, but with revenue at under 15% of GDP compared to the 'norm' closer to 19-20%... I'd say we don't have a 'taxes are too high' problem, we have a 'taxes are too low' problem.
Whether the taxes are fairly apportioned or not is the question.
Shouldn't we have a flat tax and everybody pays a portion of what they earn, period? Our tax system is decreed to favor the rich and keeps working folks at a disadvantage.
Our legislators, all of them rich, legislate to perpetuate that unfair tax system, no?
Now that's a broad brush example and I understand that noone is suggesting the tax be 10%, but you get the idea. Flat taxation benefits most those who earn so much that they can't spend all that they earn. It hurts most those who must spend all of their money to survive and then have no money for taxes (except they have to pay taxes, so they suffer on food, housing, or transportation).
I have the feeling that for a 'serious' element of the TEA movement, the tax dollars are a proxy fight.
The theme of government "intrusion" is huge, 'never mind the money'. This is shaping up a bit like Viet Nam II, in that ... "All right then: we'll see how well you continue to do what we don't you to do, without the funding to do it".
There seems to be a certain component of this, in the untraditional support from the Leftie ranks. I.e., some see the government itself as fundamentally ill-Liberal. Beyond a few key issues that have kept them on-side for years & decades ... the government has become too much about 'crap'.
Any taxpayer who spends such a big percent of their income would not be required to pay taxes.
That does not mean corporations or heaters who have smart lawyers who can finagle to show little profits.
You also start to get into a realm where activists can start targeting what is or is not a necessity. Is internet access something that should or should not be taxed? How about utilities? Car payments? Different interest groups would fight their own products being taxed and would lead to a lot of weirdnesses that would be latched onto by opponents as either corporate activism or new forms of welfare, depending on the issue and the audience.
Ultimately, I don't see systems other than a progressive tax system working in America. Not of the choices that have been explored, anyway. I think a narrowed system with five or so brackets and a highest marginal rate around 45% might work. Especially if you have the corporate tax rate low and significant tax incentives for small business (ie your rate gets significantly lowered if you claim business activity on your personal taxes - encourage entrepreneurs by giving folks in the top two brackets the rates from the bottom two brackets if they have successful businesses that employ people). Not sure how that last suggestion would work out, but I think that incentivizing small business by having the regular marginal rate for high personal income be high while adding an exception for small businesses that pushes the rate significantly lower, should be very effective at spurring the growth of the private sector.
Six hundred years ago, we still had the 'divine right of kings'. Monarchs appointed by God and armies who fought for those kings. Let's not forget that we went through holy wars and Crusades (like the Albigensian Crusade where Frenchmen killed their own for being too hedonistic - interestingly enough the source of the quotation "Kill them all, God knows his own").
We have 600 years of cultural evolution that their particular brand of monotheism had rejected because it was foreign. Now they are coming to a point in their growth where the violence of a conjoined religion/polity is becoming unacceptable. I hope that the 'Arab Spring' corrects much of this.
The Quran does not prohibit democracy any more than does the Bible (a claim made by monarchists for centuries before the late 19th century).
The hard working people I work with might not be the smartest but they are the most honest, sincere, genuine, patriotic, people and is something you won't learn in public education is honesty, sincerity, loyalty, etc...... Not hard feelings Chelsea... I just don't like it when the people providing America's food get discriminated against for being uneducated...
Public Schools don't teach you how to grow carrots and plant trees!!
Their silence is now deafening.
May 9, 2011
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[7 min 48 sec] Add to Playlist
Download text size A A A May 9, 2011
A bipartisan group of senators is trying to work out a deal to bring down the federal deficit. All their approaches share the stated goal of reducing dependence on borrowing. Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz tells Steve Inskeep that those approaches miss the point.
------------
What I took away from Mr Stiglitz's so-insightful comments was to ask "What kind of society do we want?" Should we reduce the deficit and have that trump all the work governments should do to maintain our American values?
This deserves your attn; check it out: access online (NPR > Morning Edition)