Had tea party; nobody came

Remember a year back, when the tea partiers were going to have a big Las Vegas convention, but canceled it (well, moved it to October, which didn't happen either) only two weeks before it was supposed to happen for vague, never-quite-adequately explained reasons?

One of the official reasons they gave at the time was that Las Vegas in July was just too darn hot. Why they didn't figure out before booking their convention that Las Vegas would be hot in the middle of July remains an unanswered question, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that incident really seemed to sum up tea party planning skills. I know I for one felt better at the prospect that these people were going to have a major say in national political decisions.

Well, it turns out the incident also shows a lot about what conservatives think fiscal responsibility means, too:

[T]he Venetian Casino Resort in Las Vegas has just sued a Tea Party group for allegedly ducking out on a more than $600,000 tab. According to the lawsuit, the Tea Party Nation Corporation of Franklin, Tennessee booked more than 1,000 hotel rooms, conference suites and other services for a five-day convention in July last year. Two weeks before the event, however, the Tea Party group canceled, leaving a balance of $554,148 due to the Venetian. "Despite numerous requests for payment," the Venetian's lawyers claim, the Tea Party Nation "has refused, and continues to refuse, to make payment."

(And now the yearly interest agreed to in the event contract has raised the original amount due by over $80,000. Which is a good lesson on credit cards and interest rates for all you kids out there.)

Who would have thought? It turns out the tea party conservative idea to dealing with high levels of debt is to just not pay it! Problem solved!

This is the kind of wisdom displayed so effectively by presidential candidates like Michele Bachmann and debt "negotiators" like Eric Cantor. Talking about how a family should pay its bills, get its financial house in order, or all that other homespun advice is great and fine, but when push comes to shove, just skipping town is also a good option. Or maybe if Newt Gingrich really wants to get in the tea partier's good graces, he can cover their tab with a $600,000 necklace from Tiffany's. I hear he's got excellent credit there.

