Big Dog Feels Your Tea Pain

Taegan Goddard talks to Bill Clinton about the Tea Party, and once again the Big Dog says he feels "sympathetic" to the movement and its anger.

Nonetheless, the anger they feel is very real. Clinton made the point that "big business has done well and people who caused the financial turmoil are already back in the saddle -- they're doing fine. And the government that gave them the TARP bailout -- you're doing fine; you've got a job, you can send your kid to college, you've got healthcare. The middle class squeeze is basically occurring to non-government private sector workers... They've been squeezed by both big business and government."

In short, Clinton said, "I'm sympathetic with these Tea Party folks. American public and private systems need to be modernized and changed so they're more accountable to people and they help the middle class more. I 100% agree with that. They're right." 

The reality is that the Tea Party wants the elimination of public systems period, and to give all those resources to big business so that they can squeeze what's left of the dwindling middle class more.  I understand what Clinton believes the Tea party anger really is, but their reaction is being stoked in order to fuel much more nefarious purposes.

Just as it is foolish to completely dismiss the anger behind the tea party movement, it's also foolish to disregard what the movement's astroturfing big business leaders and media figures are trying to accomplish with the power of that anger.

I agree that the Dems need to provide an alternative that works.  Unfortunately as long as 41 GOP Senators are able to effectively hold the government hostage, it will never improve.