Angry Old White Republicans

Commentary By Ron Beasley

So who are the teabaggers?  Many of the interviews we have seen make them look like undereducated half wits but are they?  Maybe not!

Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated

Tea party supporters are wealthier and more well-educated than the
general public, tend to be Republican, white, male, and married, and
their strong opposition to the Obama administration is more rooted in
political ideology than anxiety about their personal economic
situation, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The 18 percent of Americans who identify themselves as Tea Party supporters look like Republicans in many ways, but they hold more conservative views on a range of issues and tend to be older than Republicans generally. They are also more likely than Republicans as a whole to describe themselves as �very conservative� and President Obama as �very liberal.�

And while most Republicans say they are �dissatisfied� with Washington, Tea Party supporters are more likely to classify themselves as �angry.�

As I reported a few weeks ago while the teabaggers are in favor of smaller government and lower taxes they don;'t want to cut any programs.

In some ways, Tea Party supporters look like the general public. For instance, despite their allusions to Revolutionary War-era tax protesters, most describe the amount they paid in taxes this year as �fair.� Most send their children to public schools, do not think Sarah Palin is qualified to be president, and, despite their push for smaller government, think that Social Security and Medicare are worth the cost. They are actually more likely than the general public to have returned their census forms, despite some conservative leaders urging a boycott.

So just like the rest of the country what the really want is a free lunch.  But they are far more pessimistic about the future.

They are far more pessimistic than Americans in general about the
economy improving. More than 90 percent of Tea Party supporters think
the country is headed in the wrong direction, compared with about 60
percent of the general public. About 6 in 10 say America�s best days are
behind us when it comes to the availability of good jobs for American
workers.

These people have every right to be angry but their anger is misdirected.  The destruction of the American Dream began the day St. Ronnie of Reagan took office and the coporatocracy began.  They don't realize those dreaded liberals are on their side as opposed to the corporate interests of the Republicans and the DLC Democrats.  They don't realize that 53% of the taxes they pay goes to the pork laden defense industy - that what is referred to as national defense is more about the defense of the bottom line of defense contractors than keeping them safe.

And they believe the modern snake oil salesman who are really good at making money for themselves by selling lies.