For being so smart, as you say you are, Mr. Trump, you sure are ignorant of what's really going on in the political sphere

Trump says Tea Party is irrelevant

On Thursday, Donald Trump tweeted what amounts to his analysis of the latest five years of the Tea Party movement: “Remember, it was the Republican Party, with the help of Conservatives, that made so many promises to their base, BUT DIDN’T KEEP THEM! Hi DT” (February 11, 2016, 10:14 am) Sorry, Mr. Trump, I don’t remember it that way. It was the Republican leadership in the House and Senate that BLOCKED the efforts of conservatives and those affiliated with the Tea Party from accomplishing their goals in Congress. Conservative House members that resisted the big-spending business as usual of Speaker of the House John Boehner were removed from committee leadership posts, and others abandoned their conservative promises to avoid being punished.

The Tea Party movement represents people’s dissatisfaction with overbearing federal government and uncontrolled spending. Senator Cruz was one of the few Tea Party-supported Senators who actually carried out his promise to fight bloated, over-regulating government. Republican leaders Senator Mitch McConnell and Representative John Boehner continually caved in to Senator Harry Reid and President Obama on spending matters and disparaged those who opposed their appeasement. Senator Cruz led the effort by conservatives to oppose spending on Obamacare, and in essence, said to the President, “If you want to stop us in our efforts to cut out-of-control government, you’ll be responsible for shutting down parts of the government until we resolve this issue.” As we’ve seen since the first opinion polling showed Senator Ted Cruz ahead of Donald Trump, leading up to the Iowa caucuses earlier this month, Trump has gone all-out against Senator Cruz. Trump says how Cruz is hated by everyone, and is stupid and worthless besides. He neglects the fact that Cruz has a record of following through on what he was elected to do - take a stand against Obama’s policies. So when Donald Trump accuses Cruz of being hated by everyone, besides telling us that any time someone opposes him they’ve suddenly become the worst person in the world, it also shows his lack of understanding of the political forces at work in Washington, D.C. And as his February 11 tweet shows us, he is also saying about himself that he has no understanding of the conservative movement that he is attempting to co-opt. As further evidence of his ignorance, now he is talking about how he will be the opposite of Cruz and get along with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and Senator Chuck Shumer. Get along with them like Boehner and McConnell did?

Boehner was driven out of his position of Speaker of the House because he wouldn’t stand up to them! And Harry Reid’s primary role as Senate Majority leader was to block legislation for President Obama so he wouldn’t have to veto it after it passed. That is who Trump brags about as being someone whom he can get along with? The only thing you can get along with Harry Reid on is blocking conservative legislation! We need to look at the candidates in the context of what is actually going on in the political world. That means assessing the political forces at work in Washington, D.C. and understanding what part the candidates who are currently elected officials there have played in that realm. We need to remember that a movement arose that brought about the election of numerous people across the country who had campaigned on shrinking the size of a bloated government, getting out-of-control spending under control, and freeing us from the burden of government over-regulation that is stifling economic growth. But instead, we got a Congress that continued to do business-as-usual, whose Republican leadership derided and opposed those who were serious about making the changes in government they had been elected to make. The reason Senator Cruz is so hated by the Republican leadership is not because he’s hated by everyone, it’s because he took a stand against their failed leadership! Now, the Party establishment, in retaliation, feels obligated to try to stop Cruz from ever becoming President. For being so smart, as you say you are, Mr. Trump, you sure are ignorant of what’s really going on in the political sphere.

Rolf Yungclas -- Bio and Archives Rolf Yungclas is a recently retired newspaper editor from southwest Kansas who has been speaking out on the issues of the day in newspapers and online for over 15 years

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