Angry Tea Partier Blames Liberals, recycles discredited lies

This is a "letter to the editor" of the Rochester MN Post-Bulletin newspaper. It was written by a tea partier who is bitter at the shellacking her beloved party received at the ballot box. My response to this bitter woman is below the link.

Liberal voters have ruined our nation

Dear Mrs. Friemann,
Reading your letter to the editor on 11/9/2012, I was disappointed to see just how much you've latched on to partisan spin. The election is over, thankfully. It's time to get off the partisan train and move on as a country.

In your first paragraph, you chastise 'liberals' for the 'blame game', yet in the very next paragraph you recycle the tired spin of the religious right's version of the blame game. Hypocrisy much?

Blaming 'liberals' for the ills of this country is just silly. Liberals didn't cause the economic collapse of 2007, nor did we cause the recession. Both parties had a role to play in the actions that led to the collapse. The fact is that President Bush promoted policies that encouraged, protected, and turned a blind eye to the shenanigans that led to the disastrous collapse. President Bush had an opportunity to scotch the serpent in the egg before the whole thing exploded. The fact that he didn't clearly demonstrates that his laissez-faire worldview blinded him to the dangers building in the housing market. Those dangers were clear to the 'lame stream media' as early as March, 2004.

You complain about the high number of people on food stamps. Why is it so horrifying to you that people who cannot find work should need to eat? Forgive me for the historical inaccuracy, but you sound like Marie Antionette's solution to peasants having no bead: "Let them eat cake". They aren't on food stamps because they're lazy. They're on food stamps because they have no other choice.

As for your complaints about being an ATM card, let me clarify something. I am a small business owner and my domestic partner (soon to be husband) is a physician. As such, we don't benefit from the loopholes or tax breaks that tycoons and venture capitalists get. We also don't benefit from the tax cuts which (rightfully) benefit middle income Americans. In fact, in 2011 on top of our already high taxes, we had to pay income tax of $3000 extra on the health insurance benefits my partner's employer provided for me. That happened because we couldn't get married. So, forgive me if I find your ATM complaint laughable. I don't complain about taxes because I like to have roads, schools, and national defense. I also like to know that my fellow Americans aren't starving to death when the economy slumps. I know there is waste to be eliminated, but partisan bickering makes such progress impossible. While we're on the subject of taxes, Gov. Romney says that low capital gains tax is because of double taxation of corporate earnings. Take a look at the numbers, my dear. Most of the 'double taxed' corporations are pass through entities. As such, they pay zero taxes. This is a tax hoax played on the American people far too long.

Until this summer, we lived in Rochester. I love Minnesota. I love the people, the culture, and niceness, and the beauty of the state. We decided not to 'settle down' in Rochester because we knew of this place where we would be free from discrimination and afforded equality under the law and dignity as individuals and as a loving couple. That place is Washington State. As of this morning, I am fully an equal citizen of my new home state. Question 74 passed, which means that the gay marriage law has been approved by voters. What you see as a catastrophe, I see as something different: democracy.

In closing, I would like to address the 'depression' you believe the country is headed toward. There certainly is depression on the horizon, but it isn't economic. The depression we have to worry about is the negativity of vile partisanship causing depression and division among the American people who used to be united. Let's stop this negativity and move on as a nation. If you don't like the president, that's ok. But his success is tied to the whole country's success. Let's root for our team, and come together to find bipartisan solutions to the massive problems that face our country. We've overcome far worse things, and we've always come out stronger. Let's renew that determined American spirit that was wounded through this nasty election. If we don't come together, your economic depression concerns will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

- Frank Frost