The wasted power of the Tea Party

The disorganized, organized organization known as the Tea Party threw a monkey wrench into midterm elections this year. Former Alaska governor,Sarah Palin and our own, South Carolina freshman "Senator No," Jim DeMint campaigned for and gave money to candidates who supported their views. Some of their choices won, some lost but they and the rest of the country missed a golden opportunity.


President Abraham Lincoln told us at Gettysburg we have government of the people, by the people and for the people. Will someone please tell members of Congress?


We, the people, no longer have any power to effect change, even at election time. Individually, we're impotent. In small groups we're invisible. Even in larger groups, we're ignored. Money, for the most part, has proven the magic elixir that gets incumbents re-elected whether they're good or bad.


The Tea Party really could have made a major impact on future elections by demanding that everyone elected or re-elected sign a pledge to serve only two terms; twelve years in the senate, four years in the house of representatives. Nine out of ten Americans want term limits yet we, the people, can't effect that change. A movement like the Tea Party could have...and they still can.


They could have also demanded that Congressmen and women be eligible for social security instead of the sweetheart deal they now have and their health care would come under medicare when they were eligible. Until then, they had to buy health care from an insurer just like we do. Overnight, any problems with medicare and social security would have been fixed.


I want to write to the leadership of the Tea Party and ask them to effect these changes to the way Congress does business. Unfortunately, unlike Michael Steele and Howard Dean, there is no chairman of the Tea Party to contact.


We need multiple political parties in this country to give us a true choice. Out of 300 million citizens we winnow the field so at election time we have to choose between two candidates, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. That's insane!


Please, if anyone hears of someone emerging as the "leader" of the Tea Party, let me know. This person and I need to get together and have a heart to heart talk.