Hypocrite Judson Philips Votes Plutocracy

Tea Party Nation President Judson Phillips said denying the right to vote to those who do not own property "makes a lot of sense" during a radio program.

"The Founding Fathers originally said, they put certain restrictions on who gets the right to vote," Phillips said. "It wasn't you were just a citizen and you got to vote."

"Some of the restrictions, you know, you obviously would not think about today," he continued. "But one of those was you had to be a property owner. And that makes a lot of sense, because if you’re a property owner you actually have a vested stake in the community."

"If you're not a property owner, you know, I'm sorry but property owners have a little bit more of a vested interest in the community than non-property owners."

Except, not really Phillips. That kind of thinking is awful. It’s why the Tea Party is labeled the way it is. Approximately 33% of Americans are renters. To say that these people don’t have as much vested interest is nonsense. Some of those people have children and they care deeply about their community. They care about the public education their children are receiving. They also pay taxes. When you pay taxes (in any form-not just property taxes), you deserve to have your voice heard. You deserve to have the right to vote. Elderly people in nursing homes are no longer property owners, but does Phillips think they no longer count? What about our young soldiers? Overseas- fighting an old man’s war that is more about greed and oil than freedom and terrorism. Not all of those kids have had the chance to become home owners yet. If Phillips thinks those brave people don’t have a right to vote because they don’t own property- well then they shouldn’t be fighting the war. Phillips and his crew can do that. What do we do about people who lose their property? As in- they go bankrupt? I’m sure Phillips would be for giving them some sort of break, considering that he himself went bankrupt just a few short years ago.

What about people that have lost their homes? What about people that have mortgages? Technically, they don’t own the property yet, the bank or lending company does. Is Phillips suggesting that we become a Plutocracy? Seems that way to me. I had to smile when Phillips referenced the founding fathers. The Tea Party seems to enjoy referencing the founders. They claim to know exactly what our founders were thinking- they even know that the founders did it all in the name of Jesus. (Ha not really, if they would just refer to the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli, article 11…)

The founding fathers thought that black people should not have the right to vote. Women also got two thumbs down on the voting issue. The Tea Party claims to be all about freedom and stopping “big government”. Do they want the Statue of Liberty torn down? It has that awful phrase on it: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

Perhaps Phillips wants it to say: “Give me your money, jobs, your simple servants blindly paying me. I love corporations, they can go tax free. If you have some land, you can be free. Have lots of cash, stomp on those you can- Tea is the place to be.”

No taxation without representation. That’s what the original Tea Party was all about wasn’t it? Do we move ahead or take a giant leap back?