By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
President Obama and Congress will not solve America's problems unless the people force them to. Washington is America's problem. We are the solution.
It has been more than three years (1,112 days, to be precise) since the U.S. Senate last passed a budget. The last time Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid fulfilled his legal responsibility, Conan O'Brien was still on NBC, Tea Parties hadn't come together, and the iPad hadn't yet been introduced.
It's tough for Tea Party supporters these days. The movement's members find themselves under increasing attack as their challenge to the status quo grows stronger. Democrats, still sour from losing the House, have lost their cool. "As far as I'm concerned, the Tea Party can go straight to hell," proclaimed ethics-challenged Rep. Maxine Waters, California Democrat, at an Aug. 20 community meeting.
Two years after it burst onto the political scene, the tea party is getting a critical eye from political science academics who say the movement generally is populated by knowledgeable and religiously devout voters, but they are hypocritical and more likely to be motivated by "racial resentment."
The Tea Party movement has proved itself a political force in the primaries leading up to November's election. Republicans correctly see the widespread dissatisfaction and disappointment with President Obama as promising the off-year elections will favor the GOP - to what degree is uncertain, but handsomely so by most estimates.
