Between a Silly Tea Party Candidate and a Really Clever Liberal Democrat, I Choose the Tea Party Candidate Every Time

I read where Jews tend to be "rational policy-oriented voters." This per Colby College political scientist, L. Sandy Maisel. He goes on to say that "the Tea Party candidates generally do not fit into that category. It's very clear Jews don't go for anti-intellectual politics, which is what we're seeing in a lot of states."

Well, Mr. Maisel, I'm Jewish and I, as one Jew, will be giving my votes to Tea Party types. Here's why.

The contending political parties in the U.S. have lots of issues to sort out. There's women's rights, there's the gun issue, there are the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there's the balance of trade with China, there's our porous southwestern border. And, that's only a partial list. But, the biggest problem we're facing is one of national monetary liquidity. In brief, America has been spending a lot more than it takes in. We've gotten away with it for so very long because we're a key player in the global economy. But, we've taken this game about as far as it will go. The debt is killing our growth and it's killing off American jobs.

The Tea Party movement came into being largely because both Democrats and Republicans have done a poor job of keeping our economy on an even keel. The politicians in both parties, who have brought us to this sorry state, include lots and lots of intellectuals. These intellectuals have never say been able to say "no" to spending.

Tea Party types might well be carrying around some misguided notions, but almost all see that our first priority must be cutting spending. Pork for the folks back home and "good causes" can no longer be accepted as reasons for spending more than we make. When accountants, working for the government in highly secure jobs, earn more than accountants in private industry and, when government accountants get better retirement and medical plans than accountants in private industry, something has gone terribly wrong.

I don't begrudge the government worker a good life. But, there has always been, in the past, a trade off. Jobs that were risky always paid more than equivalent jobs that carried virtually no risk. When that balance changes, it means that the government has grown far too large. Tea Party people get it. The intellectuals don't.

My favorite intellectuals are Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. I am quite serious when I say that Representative Barney Frank is truly one smart dude. Not only that, he's got a big heart for the least among us. Nevertheless, by forcing banks to give Ninja mortgages (mortgages to people with no income, no jobs, and no assets), he undermined the entire housing market. Keep in mind that he and Sen. Dodd wield enormous power over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, not to mention American banking in general. When these two legislators say "jump, " banks jump.

Of course simple economics, would have ended these idiotic mortgages quite early except for our genius American bankers. They kept the mortgage game going far too long by introducing the concept of bundling the mortgages, creating derivatives, and using other techniques to obfuscate the game. The natural laws of economics would have caused these mortgages to go into default quite early thereby inflicting relatively minor damage to our banking system. Instead, major banks stitched together a system that allowed the mortgage bubble to expand into something so humongous that it very nearly brought down the entire global banking system

Were the bankers evil? I don't think so. They did what bankers do; namely, find opportunities to make money. When they saw the government promoting these crazy mortgages, who were they to blow the whistle on people (intellectuals) like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, politicians famous for being truly vicious, political infighters? No, far better to go along and play the game set up by these intellectuals. The bankers did not fail to see the new opportunities now available to them, opportunities to collect lots and lots of fees. Note: Bundling this crap allowed them to sell its derivatives to foreign banks; banks that should have known a lot better than to buy this kind of pig in a poke. In the process, American banks reaped handsome commissions.

And, what of the great thinkers at the Fed? They had themselves a great snooze.

It might be argued that Tea Party people aren't sufficiently educated to understand all this mortgage stuff. They don't have to. That was then. This is now. And, now they are the only ones in sight who understand that you can't spend more than you earn. Hopefully, some day intellectuals, Jewish and otherwise, will come to understand the same thing.