The Tea Party lives, and it's called the House Freedom Caucus.
The misnamed House Freedom Caucus is a handful of federal legislators who are 10 years behind the rest of the nation and still ree about government spending while glossing over the wastefulness in programs they support. Yesterday, during the election, they were commiserating in D.C. - probably stewing that Nikki Haley and Paul Ryan weren't on the ballot. But mostly they were there to try to kill a popular Social Security bill.
This bill has overwhelming public support, and was sponsored by a huge bipartisan coalition in Congress. It would allow some public workers to finally receive Social Security benefits. As it is now, many workers such as public school teachers and firefighters can't get benefits, because the far right had earlier screeched that this would be a tax on states. The bill would remedy much of this.
The House Fascism Caucus used some strange procedural trick to block the bill. They whined that Social Security was losing money.
Government programs like Social Security do not lose money. They cost money, but they don't lose money. Social Security isn't supposed to be a for-profit business. Nobody ever dares to say the Pentagon loses money, or that bailouts for big banks lose money.
The bill was blocked even after it seemed like it was headed for quick passage.
Fortunately, Rep. Bob Good (R-Virginia), a self-described "biblical conservative" who organized the effort to kill the bill, had already lost the Republican primary and won't be back in January.
The bill might pass anyway. Congress could put forth a brand new bill that's identical to the blocked bill and vote on it.
The Tea Party is as discredited as the Democrats who sought support from Dick Cheney.
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