Karl Rove on tea parties Tom Smith

I think he is an astute political analyst.  I think he gets it about right.

Comments

[Marek]

I don't understand the fixation on taxes. Spending I understand. Smart, reasonable people can disagree about government spending priorities and the appropriate level of spending and size of government. But the vast majority of the rhetoric we are hearing from the Tea Parties is focused on the tax side. Rove's article focuses on the increase in state and local taxes. News reports talk about "Anti-Tax Protesters" (Fox). How can people protest taxes so loudly and yet be so quiet about spending?

I don't really enjoy paying taxes. I don't particularly like to take out the garbage either, but I do it because I'm a grown up and those things need to get done. One problem I have with the conservative movement is that it has been very eager to cut taxes, but when it comes to cutting spending, the movement goes gutless (see, e.g., the past 8 years - or the past 28 years even, save for a brief period in the mid-1990's). Look, if conservatives can make a genuine, honest, specific argument about what government programs should be cut and by how much, and can sell that to the masses and the Republicans in congress, well then I guess I'd be OK with it. Until then - sorry Mr. Rove - it's hard to take the tax protests seriously.

[james wilson]

That Rove is so astute can be easily measured by his legacy-- Obama, Pelosi, and Reid.