WaPost Exposes the “Tea Party’s Vision for America”

Jordan Rohde — August 18, 2011 – 4:12 pm | Congress | Domestic Policy | Environment | Health Care | Republicans Comments (2) Add a comment

David A. Fahrenthold of The Washington Post published an interesting piece looking at the “Tea Party’s vision for America” through the voting record of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

Fahrenthold pointed out the regressive voting record of the House GOP, and asked, “What would America look like” if these policies succeeded in becoming laws? He suspected:

It would no longer have a far-reaching health-care law. The House voted to repeal that legislation in January. It would no longer have federal limits on greenhouse gases. The House voted to ax them in April. And it would not have three government programs for homeowners who are in trouble on their mortgages. The House voted to end them all.

Fahrenthold suggested that the Tea Party’s vision for this country is aimed at destroying progressive and Democratic priorities—without plans to replace them:

On major issues such as health care, climate change and bad mortgages, the House has affirmed that fixes are needed - if it can ever manage to repeal the old ones. It hasn’t said exactly what those changes should be.

‘The Republican Party is sort of united in terms of what they’re against. But there’s not a great deal of consensus right now in terms of what they’re for,’ said Michael D. Tanner, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute and an expert on health-care reform and recent GOP history.

The most well-known aspect of the House GOP is their extreme attitude toward government spending. Fahrenthold observed that “the House’s measures have gone far beyond the budget.”

Some of the obscure topics that House Republicans have aggressively attacked are light bulb efficiency standards, National Public Radio funding, and the Environmental Protection Agency efforts against “mountaintop-removal coal mines.”

Fahrenthold highlighted three specific instances when the GOP’s vision was simply to strike down the Democratic agenda without a replacement plan of their own:

1. On January 19, the Republican-dominated House voted to repeal President Barack Obama’s health-care law. Fahrenthold wrote:

In place of the legislation, Republicans had said they would craft their own solutions for problems involving high costs and the denial of coverage for preexisting conditions. Their slogan, outlined in last fall’s Pledge to America, was “Repeal and Replace.” No replacement has occurred.

2. In April, the House voted to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from requiring larger power plants and industrial facilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and obtain new permits. Apparently, environmental groups have said that the House’s bill would leave the nation powerless to fight an escalating global problem.

3. In March, the House voted to close down three federal programs that help burdened homeowners with payments on loans.

Click here to read Farenthold’s entire article.

 

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