Interesting Week: Tea Party and Steve Forbes

It was an interesting week. Tea Party protests went on in every city and some in the media decided the story was that some of them were not as big as last year. Nevermind the fact that there were probably more protests than last year. I got to attend the Chicago Protest in Daley Plaza the epicenter of the Democratic Party Machine.

It was a group that likely exceeded one thousand, filling most, if not all of the plaza. All this in probably one of the five most liberal democratic cities in the country. There were tons of posters, flags, colonial hats, and of course a couple party crashers. An anti-war protest tried to butt in with a banner indicating war is the biggest wasteful spending. In another oddity, a professionally printed and distributed sign said war makes up 57% of the budget, something that is VERY off. Defense spending is roughly $600 billion (less than 20% of the budget). Just goes to show that liberal protestors feel that any and all strategms, including blatant lies, are morally justified as long as the ends are just. It includes infiltrating non-liberal protests with inflammatory and idiotic signs and chants. The ends justify the means. Truly sad.

Others said No to war, and there were a couple signs that were anti-semitic, blaming Israel for all the problems of the world. Tea Party organizers and fellow protestors confronted these people asking them why they were there and arguing that the protest had nothing to do with either issue. Instead of physical confrontation, which is a common result of battles with left wing protestors and "anti-war" activists, a couple of people made signs indicating "plant" or "liberal" or "NOT part of the Tea Party". They stood next to these infiltrators with their own signs so that any idiot CNN or MSNBC camera would catch both the silly sign and the sign indicating the Tea Party Movement has nothing to do with it.

Earlier, a man was walking around with a giant swastika on a poster. The sight disgusted many, Chicago Police asked him to leave, at least I believe that is what happened. I had to leave to meet friends at the train station and bring them back to the Plaza. Either way, that guy was not there when we returned.

The speakers included a former gubanatorial candidate, five candidates for Congress, a couple activists, a doctor, a health insurance salesman, and the two individuals that were accosted by a CNN reporter over a year ago at a similar protest. That incident probably did more for the Tea Party than any other of these major BS media stories.

There were posters responding "we are NOT racist" or "I don't give a ___ that Obama is Black, it scares me to death that he is RED". The speeches were about government spending, taxes, corruption, greed, and the various offenses to the Constitution that President Obama and other Democratic leaders are responsible for.

There were no Neo-Nazis, no Klan members, no one advocating that all illegals should be rounded up and kicked out, no one calling Obama a fascist but plenty calling him a socialist, this was a regular political protest with nothing radical to speak of. No one called for revolution or violent overthrow of the government, much to the disappointment of Bill Clinton. His "fear" of these anti-government protests is really just fear that Democrats will lose power in November.

One of the speakers had an interesting comment: When asked by a reporter what the Tea Party was, where is its website, and who is its' leader, this woman laughed answering "we are not some top-down movement with some sort of demi-god at its head. This is as grassroots as you can get, decentralized, spread out, and very large. No professionally made signs, no corporate or political money bringing us together. In fact, if any insurance companies were paying these protestors, she feinted anger that she didn't get a check."

Later in the week, I attended the Republican Association of Princeton's Lincoln Day Dinner, rescheduled due to a snow storm in early March. The lead speaker was Steve Forbes. Forbes, a former Presidential candidate, and CEO of Forbes Inc. and Forbes Magazine, spoke strongly against the constant painting of corporations, corporate leaders, and the free market as evil, fat, greedy, with hands rubbing-together trying to kill puppies and destroy the environment. Capitalism seems to get rewarded in some areas but blamed in others.

Forbes continued: No one seems to mind the development of laptop computers, the internet, iPods, the iPad, and cellular phones - even when prices are quite high. People pay ridiculous amounts of money for designer jeans as well. These products all exist because someone somewhere saw a need or a market and made something people wanted, then brought it to the marketplace where people bought it! MY GOD THOSE EVIL BASTARDS!

Yet, when it comes to electricity, gas, oil, or health insurance - we expect it to be almost free. When prices go up or some new treatment comes around, we expect to be available immediately at no additional cost. When rent goes up, the tenant is very angry, yet when a new computer or Ipod has a similar high cost, they gladly pay it.

Capitalism and free market principles is about turning scarcity into abundance, according to Forbes. Scarcity is not something to be feared or bring us to rationing, it is opportunity. In almost every other area of the economy, scarcity brings opportunity for innovators to find something that can fill the void, provide a product or service, and essentially create new wealth and jobs in the process. Yet, when it comes to healthcare, that same scarcity has pushed us to horde what little we have and ration it out, completely controlling the marketplace, discouraging innovation, and eliminating opportunity for anyone to make money by filling that void.

A smart man, a funny man, Forbes is truly a gem. When asked who were his heroes or exemplary public figures, he shamelessly listed his wife first. Being single myself, it seems like a cheap brown-nosing compliment, but what do I know. :)

Scott Sipprelle also gave a speech about Lincoln's role during a period of economic crisis, political division, and deep national debt (sound familiar?). Sipprelle is an excellent speaker, even if mechanical and dry at times, but clearly has energy and determination. After he is done, you begin to believe he can and will win in November against the heavily favored Rush Holt.

Overall, interesting week that makes me feel more hopeful about November and later 2012.