It’s time to dump the Tea Party overboard

In a recent NBC News/Wall StreetJournal poll, most Americans said they want the President and Congress to compromise rather than take the hard partisan party approach.  A strong majority of Independents want compromises by Democrats but almost 70 percent want Republicans to find a middle ground.  Nearly 60 percent favor Obama’s $4 trillion proposal whereas only one-third prefer the Republican’s lower figure of $2.5 trillion.

But then the Tea Party introduced a laughable bill called “Cut, Cap and Balance” that “demands deep spending reductions and congressional approval of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in exchange for raising the nation's debt limit,” according to the Associated Press.  Obama calls it “duck, dodge and dismantle, and vows he will veto it if it comes to his desk. 

As an example, in Arizona, Tea Party backed Republicans voted for the House bill.  They are Trent Franks, Jeff Flake, David Schweikert and Ben Quayle.  These four supposed congressional leaders wasted precious time to meet the Aug. 2, deadline because of the pressure from Tea Party wackos.  The bill passed the House 234 to 190.

The most important finding in the NBC News/WSJ poll is the fact that Americans are more favorable toward raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy to balance the budget than cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  Some 52 percent oppose the latter.  Considering the major thrust of the GOP is to protect corporations and the wealthy, isn’t it safe to assume the grand old party has completely lost touch with its American constituency?