WHY DO THEY CARRY THE WATER FOR THE WEALTHY?

It is well known that the Tea party members and conservatives in general are against increased taxes of any sort even those which benefits the wealthy more than anyone; yet, the Tea Party members are not particularly wealthy. It appears, however, that nearly 47% of Tea Party members polled pay no income tax (http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/04/47-of-tea-partiers-pay-no-federal-income-taxes/38924/). In addition, "Many lawmakers reported unpaid student loans or hefty credit-card balances. One cash-strapped freshman put himself on his campaign payroll to make ends meet last year. (ttp://azstarnet.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/article_244e838f-d8c2-5c45-958b-c3231a5385d7.html#ixzz1SqVYpXfo) And where did all this opposition to Medicare come from? After all, it was Republican accusations that the Democrats wanted to form "Death Panels" for the aged and ration health care that played a major role in Tea Party Members getting elected in the first place. Is it that they are afraid their taxes will be raised? The only talk, however, is to return the taxes of the wealthy to the pre-Bush levels. I can't help but wonder why their main interest is to preserve or increase the fortunes of the wealthy. "42 percent of financial wealth is controlled by the top 1 percent." (http://www.mybudget360.com/top-1-percent-control-42-percent-of-financial-wealth-in-the-us-how-average-americans-are-lured-into-debt-servitude-by-promises-of-mega-wealth/)

They also have a distorted opinion on the level of taxes people pay. "As noted earlier, federal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since Obama became president. And given the economic circumstances, it's hard to imagine that a tax increase would have been enacted last year. In fact, 40% of Obama's stimulus package involved tax cuts. These include the Making Work Pay Credit, which reduces federal taxes for all taxpayers with incomes below $75,000 by between $400 and $800." "According to the JCT, last year's $787 billion stimulus bill, enacted with no Republican support, reduced federal taxes by almost $100 billion in 2009 and another $222 billion this year. The Tax Policy Center, a private research group, estimatesthat close to 90% of all taxpayers got a tax cut last year and almost 100% of those in the $50,000 income range. For those making between $40,000 and $50,000, the average tax cut was $472; for those making between $50,000 and $75,000, the tax cut averaged $522. No taxpayer anywhere in the country had his or her taxes increased as a consequence of Obama's policies." (http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/18/tea-party-ignorant-taxes-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html).

Tea Party members tend to believe that too much attention is devoted to blacks "Fifty-two percent believe too much has been made of the problems facing black people. Far fewer Americans overall -- 28 percent -- believe as much. Among non-Tea Party whites, the percentage who say too much attention has been paid to the problems of black people is 23 percent." "Thirty percent of Tea Party supporters believe Mr. Obama was born in another country, despite ample evidence to the contrary. " (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20002529-503544.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody).

Curiously, Tea Party members believe taxes have increased under President Obama whereas they have decreased for nearly everyone.