Should the Tea Party Compromise its Position on the Debt Ceiling?

Bill O'Reilly Talking Points: Is Tea Party Self-Destructive?



Fox News Commentator Bill O'Reilly on the O'Reilly Factor was posing the question on his Talking Points Segment is the Tea Party self-destructive?  He stated that he has supported the Tea Party since its inception because it empowers individuals along with the fact that it calls for fiscal responsibility in government.  O'Reilly was making reference to the current debate in Congress about whether or not Congress or the president should raise the debt ceiling in order to prevent the nation from "defaulting on it's financial responsibilities to Senior Citizens and Medicare patients."  The Tea Party has been staunchly opposed to any compromise on raising the debt ceiling.  The Tea Party has encouraged Congressional Republicans to "say no" to raising the debt ceiling.  The Tea Party's position is that government is too large and it's spending its way into an oblivion.  It believes that raising the debt ceiling will just enable President Obama and the Democratic Congress to continue it's spending ways as usual.  Some Tea Party officials say if Republicans support raising the debt ceiling, then the Tea Party will campaign against those Republicans in the Republican primary next year, including House Speaker John Boehner.  The Tea Party says Republicans could stand to lose seats if they don't stand firm and hold their ground on this debt ceiling debate.

O'Reilly was beseeching the Tea Party to reconsider their position on the debt ceiling issue for the "good of the country."  O'Reilly was citing Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), who is considered a fiscal hawk in the Senate who is a member of the "Gang of Six."  O'Reilly was stating that as staunch a conservative as Coburn is on fiscal issues that if Coburn saw the need to compromise then the Tea Party needs to do likewise. O'Reilly stated the Tea Party could evaporate if it doesn't use any sense and recognize that sometimes compromise must take place for the good of the country.  He stated the consequences could be quite severe if the debt ceiling isn't raised such as the stock market plummeting or our nation goes into default on its debt obligations.  He also mentioned that Standard & Poors could downgrade America's Triple A rating if Congressional leaders don't strike a deal soon which includes raising the debt ceiling and major spending cuts.

I don't know for sure if all this hysteria about the consequences of not raising the debt ceiling by August 2nd is true or not.  However, it befuddles me how Congress's priorities are backwards.  We have Senator Mitch McConnell who is willing to give President Obama the authority to raise the debt ceiling if an agreement isn't reached by Congress.  That doesn't make sense.  Ever since the Republican takeover of the House, there hasn't been any serious effort to whittle away all the unconstitutional spending taking place in Washington.  The Republican leadership is all talk but no results.  They have the power in the House of Representatives to defund unconstitutional spending and they refuse to do so.  They will try pass bills in the House that has virtually no chance in passing the Senate, such as the "Cut, Cap, and Balance" bill.  The House can refuse to fund programs that are unconstitutional.  I'm tired of hearing Congresswoman and 2012 Presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann speak of repealing Obamacare and she won't gear her efforts towards defunding Obamacare in the House.  The Tea Party needs to encourage new candidates to oppose the incumbent Republicans in next year's primary.  Most of the Republicans have proven they don't have the backbone to stand against unconstitutional spending.  They don't even use the right strategy to stop Obama's agenda.  They are all corrobating together in this debt ceiling issue.

Should the Tea Party compromise its position on raising the debt ceiling?  It's puzzling that Mr. O'Reilly encourages raising the debt ceiling before he demands that Congress rein in federal spending first.  It's backwards to raise the debt ceiling without making spending cuts.  Raising the debt ceiling enables the president and the Democrats in Washington to continue their wild spending spree.  Under no circumstances should Congress raise the debt ceiling before unconstitutional spending is eliminated.  What should've happened is all unnecessary spending should've been eliminated first.  Then they can determine with the spending cuts is there enough revenue coming in to meet all their obligations in Washington without defaulting.  That's how it should work.  You can call it extremism if you desire but it's insanity to allow the Obama administration to be allowed to borrow another $4 trillion and there hasn't been any significant spending cuts.  The Obama administration is all about destroying the economy of the United States.  China holds over a trillion of our nation's debt and I've been hearing reports they are demanding some of America's land such as the national parks as collateral for China's purchasing America's treasury bills.  We don't need to continue borrowing and spending and become more and more enslaved to China and other countries.  We're just about to the point of no return economically if we aren't already. 

It's always right to stand by priciple.  The Tea Party should stand by it's principles and speak out against raising the debt ceiling.  You can't trust Congress to rein in federal spending.  There will probably be a deal struck where there'll be promise of spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.  Consequently, Congress will raise the debt ceiling and continue its wild spending.  Nothing's going to change.  That's sadly my prediction.