The Tea Party is no fan of regulation. And now we know why. It is running a racket. In other words, it is doing what too many people seem to do, if they think they can get away with it.
The Tea Party has been active in soliciting money to back eponymous candidates in GOP primaries. But while it is hot and heavy with the bullhorn, its cash doesn’t make it to its candidates.
To date, Tea Party groups have collected $37.5 million. Only $7 million (19%) was directed to candidates. $18 million (c.50%) went to fundraising and direct mail – frequently to companies with relationships with Tea Party bigwigs. And the rest went in salaries to the self-same bigwigs and other expenses.
In this company of opportunists The Tea Party Patriots, the Tea Party Express, and the Madison Project stand out. They haven’t managed to direct even 5% of their booty to electioneering.
The Tea Party sells libertarianism, but it is its own best example of why libertarianism is a pipe dream. In particular the belief that capitalism can survive unregulated.
Consider the financial industry, energy companies, big pharma, or industrial food. All are regulated. All complain that regulation stifles their business. All make a lot of money. And all lie and cheat even with that regulation. Can you imagine what they would get up to, given a free hand.
Libertarians argue that the market will punish bad actors. That is a fact-free, historically-contradicted assertion. At best it is a matter of faith, which is a polite way of saying there is zero proof for it.
It takes chutzpah to stand as the champion of unregulated business, when your own house is an exemplar of its impossibility.
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