Tea Partiers at Public Trough

Our local Tea Party People holds rallies to inveigh against the evils of big government programs. But these extremists and hate mongers hardly practice what they preach.

Many TPP gladly collect their federal Social Security checks and let Medicare pay their health costs. They keep their money safe in FDIC insured bank accounts and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. guarantees their pensions. They freely invest in the stock market under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. I don’t believe any TPP earning below $250,000 returned the federal tax cut they recently received.

Some of our Tea Party People are collecting federal and state funded unemployment benefits. Some have sought federal bankruptcy protection. This is sad because a few TPP are military veterans whose lives were made better by taking advantage of the GI Bill of Rights. This program paid for their education and enabled them to buy their first house.

Tea Party People communicate via the U.S. Post Office and drive to their meetings on the federally built and maintained interstate highways. TPP love to appear on TV, utilize the Internet, and spend a lot of time on their cell phones. These innovations are a direct result of our Federal Space Program.

I wish our local Tea Party People could be more specific about their dislike of big government. They seem to love the benefits of the above-mentioned federal programs. Are they really against big government or do they just want to keep the benefits to themselves?-Bob Smagula