Tea Party stymied Obama’s efforts

Diane Kremser, Las Vegas

Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011 | 2:03 a.m.

A great number of us watched with frustration and disgust at the goings-on in Washington over the debt-ceiling and budget talks, two items that should have been addressed separately.

What a lot of people have forgotten or didn’t notice is that 2 1/2 years ago, after President Barack Obama took office, the economy slowly but surely began to recover. America’s automobile industry was saved, a stimulus helped boost the economy, an extension of unemployment benefits kept food on the tables of citizens out of work for months, and jobs were created steadily — until the 2010 elections, when some Americans decided things weren’t improving quickly enough and the Tea Party was born.

Since the Republicans were given control of the House of Representatives, employment has declined steadily. No attention to job creation has come out of the House. Instead, the “Teapublicans” have successfully stymied the economy by working to slash government programs.

The Tea Party, in its determination to see the president fail, has joined the Republicans in protecting tax cuts and subsidies for corporations, millionaires and billionaires. All the while they want to “take their country back” by effectively taking it back to George W. Bush’s economic policies that brought this country to its knees.

Meanwhile, it is being said that Obama’s policies are failing. What policies? He hasn’t been able to enact any policies since the 2010 elections. Also, pay attention to what comes out of the 12-member panel in Congress that will determine future deficit reductions. I have no doubt more jobs will be destroyed, the poor will get poorer and the rich will get richer, and the Tea Party will boast as to how they’ve changed the way Washington works.