TEA Party

The TEA (Taxed Enough Already) movement in the US has been ridiculed in the press as "right wing" and "racist." Unfortunately for the traditional press around the world, who have been trying to assign these labels, the world is very connected via the internet and the truth does find its way into our screens.

TEA party activists in the US are from all walks of life and from all races. To claim that it is a racist movement is ridiculous.  Take the example of Kenneth Gladney in St. Louis, Missouri. Kenneth, a black gentleman, was passing out Don't Tread on Me flags at a town hall meeting hosted by Congressman Russ Carnahan. Members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) - one of the most powerful unions in the States and close allies of the Democrats - savagely beat Kenneth while hurling racial epithets at him. The media ignored this as well as many press conferences and other forums where black TEA partiers have asserted their presence as it doesn't fit the media's template that conservatives by definition are racists and Democrats and Unions are not. The media spin falls apart, however, when millions can watch these events on YouTube.

The most striking thing about the TEA party movement in the US is the number of women evolved.  From women business owners to stay-at-home mothers, female faces dominate the gatherings. And, in nearly all states women make up the majority of the leadership of the local movements. You would think the world's media would trumpet women being the driving force in a new political movement as a truly remarkable moment in the history of our world.

This movement is spreading across the world to the UK, Israel, and Australia. A TEA party has recently been founded in Australia. The Australian movement (www.austeaparty.com.au) has succinctly stated the ideals of the movement:

"A worldwide movement, united for Free Markets, Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Small Governments, and Individual Freedoms"

Those are certainly words that strike fear in the hearts of Brussels!

Have we been Taxed Enough Already? I would say we have. Yes, tightening the belt on the spending side can be painful, but it is an exercise by which we can redefine what role the government should play in our lives and examining how to better allow the Individual to be an entrepreneur.

Taxpayers are only going to give me £1,200 a month for my rent?

Limiting the housing benefit to £1,200 per month for a four bedroom is considered evil by Red Ed Miliban? The benefit should be support for those in tough straights, not a permanent, large welfare handout. Labour’s hyperventilating on this issue is the worst of the left.

The housing row combined with the FBU strike set for Bonfire Night show the true colors of Labour. New Labour has been thrown out like the proverbial baby and bath water. The changes instituted by Blair to align the party with aspiration have been relegated to the dustbin.

As a society, we must create and support structures which promote the Individual.  We cannot continue, to quote someone we all know, to take from the productive bits of society in order to give to the unproductive. Aspiration must be promoted and handing out £1,200 a month does little to encourage the drive needed to better oneself.

Marching Toward the Flames

Talks Over Firefighter Strikes Break Down

A World Without America

Firemen strike on Bonfire Night: Cynical action by 'reckless union militants' will put lives at risk

That headline from the Mail Online says it all.  While listening to Iain Dale on LBC, last night, I heard the Fire Brigades Union was set to strike on Bonfire Night.  Surely my ears were deceiving me!  But, no, it was true.

The arrogance displayed on the radio by Ian Leahair who is a member of the executive council of the London FBU was unbelievable. When pressed - quite rightly - by Iain about public safety, he brushed such concerns aside as lightly as one brushes crumbs from the counter to the sink. Last Bonfire Night, London brigades responded to nearly twice as many calls as a normal night.

Then pressed on past intimidation by striking FBU members, Leahair claimed no such incidents occurred.  Iain then read out quite a long bit (way to do your homework, Iain!) about what had actually occurred. Leahair resorted to the lame retort of one proven wrong, "Well where I was nothing like that happened."

Facts are pesky things!

I hope the common sense of the fire brigades comes through and forces the FBU leadership to reconsider. Everyone of us has great respect for the life saving work our firefighters perform and would hate that work to be tainted by the actions of the FBU.