The General Welfare

An idea that I've picked up from others and run with is the concept of a Tenth Amendment Commission - a government body with a single purpose:  to limit the size and scope of itself by applying a strict constitutionality to the ever-expanding Imperial nanny government.  This, very simply means that if it is a power not explicitly stated in the Constitution or the Amendments, it is reserved for the States, or the people, and that federal agency must ultimately be transferred or shut down.  And while some reforms that have come down the pike approach that concept, they fall short in that they don't cite the Tenth Amendment.

But as with all great documents written centuries ago, there's a little bit of leeway in the language that has only grown as the meaning of our language has changed and phrasing that was common in 1787 is so two centuries ago today.

One of these phrases is from the Preamble, which I will reiterate (said phrase is highlighted):

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

"Promote the general Welfare" is an interesting phrase, as it has been used, on the occasion we can get an answer from a politician (rather than the arrogant exclamatory cackle "Are you Serious?"), as a justification for every single governmnet transfer program ever created.  However, I don't think welfare was what the Founding Fathers meant.

So let's clarify what is the general welfare.  First, pertinent definitions (because definitions do matter):

General - not limited to one class, field, product, service, etc.; miscellaneous: the general public; general science. 
Welfare -  the good fortune, health, happiness, prosperity, etc., of a person, group, or organization; well-being: to look after a child's welfare; the physical or moral welfare of society. 

In this case, the concept of the "general Welfare" are those things that benefit the society as a whole, not just specific groups, people, or organizations.  Which brings me to some examples:


Infrastructure such as the Interstate highway system was created as a defense measure, but also benefits the public at large, thus the general welfare, whereas payouts for state projects would be for some people and not others, therefore NOT the general welfare.


Adjusting business taxes down or eliminating overreaching regulations to allow business to grow (without the use of loopholes) is for the general welfare.  Subsidizing a specific industry or regulating an industry because of a moral, ethical, philosophical or political objection, is NOT for the general welfare.


Maintaining national parks, which preserves parts of our country that are unique and allows anyone to come and explore the majesty of our country, is, arguably, part of the general welfare.  Building shit for a specific city is NOT for the general welfare.


Fighting a pandemic (H1N1 this year) in order to keep it form spreading across the country and killing a whole bunch of people, which requires national coordination and response, is a part of the general welfare.  Providing insurance for part of the population by taking it from the other part of the population is NOT for the general welfare.

Now this is not an absolute yes/no process, but the point is simple.  Spending and programs and laws that address the citizens at large, without discrimination on the basis of class, income or geographic location are generally part of what can be called the general welfare.  Those programs however, that serve to benefit one group at the expense of another, often out of a misplaced sense of fairness, cannot be justified by the concept of the general welfare.  And if they cannot otherwise be justified by the Constitution, then it is time to consider another way to provide those things:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The Deader the Better

It's not often the wheels of justice roll quickly and efficiently.  For John Allen Muhammad, the DC sniper and evil raghead piece of human debris, they rolled over him at 9:11pm last night.  No overwhelming calls for clemency, no last-second legalistic bullshit (just the standard appeals and protesters and shit).  Goodbye and good riddance to bad life.

Now I have two minds on this subject (I know, *gasp*). 

The first is obvious.  If we have a death penalty and we have clear cases where the guilty is sentenced to death, then we need to get the executions rolling.  and if we're going to execute, then we need to get a better system than the pussy method of sticking a needle in them and putting them to sleep first.  I've always been a fan of the guillotine myself.  Simple, visual, scary as hell.  You can see a head getting lopped off.  It's got some clear deterrent value.  In fact, you set up the execution enclosure so that the top of the guillotine is visible from outside prison walls, and you detonate a small charge when you drop it.   That way, everybody knows.  I stop short of saying to televise it, because there are too many people that would get off on watching people get heads lopped off (myself among them).

But I've also listened to the reasoning of the anti-death penalty people.  And there is room for compromise.  But we have to be clear and have an ultimate punishment for the worst of the worst.

So here's how we end the death penalty.  First of all, the death penalty people do not get simply reduced to life without parole.  We create a new designation, called dead to the world.  Then we ship them off to a special prison (in either Alaska or some isolated island).  In this prison, there are no amenities.  Nutritionally acceptable but bland and shitty food.  Minimum human amenities (enough heat in the Alaska prison to keep people from dying, clothes, a blanket). Reading material is limited to the Bible, Koran, etc, history texts, educational stuff.  No TV, no music (except for what the warden wants to play).  No visits (except by counsel), no phone calls, letters only (all letters in and out are transcribed into type by other prisoners).  Work is 12 hours a day for 6 days (including the fun of breaking rocks).  Sunday is a day of reflection and isolation.  Routine medical to keep communicable diseases under control, but no major medical help (comfort care only).  Public display in stocks for troublemakers.  Repeated troublemakers get a shock collar.  Any attempt at escape is a killable offense, and guards are trained to shoot limbs first.

In short, a life of continuous suckage with almost no contact with the outside world.  This satisfies those who oppose the death penalty on moral (and/or religious) grounds, those who oppose it for social reasons (racial inequities in the condemned population, execution of the innocent, etc), as well as those who want these monsters to want death rather than a life of no hope whatsoever with no reasonable chance of getting it.  And a prison that saps any hope of getting out, ever, achieves that.  It has to be bad enough to make death a release, not a punishment.

The fact is that we have evolved to a point where locking people up forever is now feasible.  In prior centuries, killing was clearly a reasonable punishment for the worst of the worst.  But we have to have an absolute punishment to deal with those that deserve no right to live ever again in our world.  And as they throw the shell of the piece of shit DC sniper in a hole or cook him to ash (but not throw him to dogs to be torn apart), let's consider what punishment would be more fitting.

A Mixed Bag of Tuesday

There are a few things in the news, and I don't havethe focus to put a whole post on anything.  So I'm going to just get my thirteen cents (two cents before inflation) on the page.

Justification for the Patriot Act Illustrated

The Fort Hood situation is a perfect example of a system failing.  There were indications that the shooter was a threat, a history of association with radical Islamic elements, and yet he slipped through the cracks.  As to culpability of the people charged with keeping pieces of shit like this under control, that has yet to be determined.  But it's also a reminder why things like the Patriot Act were passed in the first place.  This is not to argue the specifics of it, but to clarify why, in fighting a war, you do what you need to win.  And with an enemy who will use our political leanings against us to attack us....

All I wish is that the military still used firing squad.

I'd Still Do Her

(and not just because I'm really horny)

When the Carrie Prejean controversy (over gay marriage) began, many of the social conservatives held her up as a paragon of Christian virtue.  I think I made a sex joke or two about her.

Now, of course, after her star rose, she finds herself back on damage control, with what appears to be a sex tape, supplied by an ex-boyfriend.  At this point, it's only a matter of time before it comes out.  Her defense is that she's alone in the tape.  For those of you who haven't seen masturbatory porn, there are fingers, fists, dildoes, machines, and various inanimate objects that can be clicking with three increasingly hardcore orifices.  And that doesn't include pissing or squeezing a Cleveland steamer on plate glass.  Now I doubt that scat will come into play in this particular tape, but it's a lame excuse, on par with the Clinton denials. 

Two points here:  First, if you make a sex tape and become famous, people will eventually be watching you fuck.  Second, the "Christian" label is getting awfully beat up.  You all need to live your shit before you can come back preaching your shit.  And be on top of your fuck vid collection.

Why Was Abortion the Turning Point on the PelosiScare Bill?

One thing that has annoyed the shit out of me (besides the passage of it) is that the Rape of Health Care bill that passed Saturday gained its votes by making a compromise by not funding abortions.  How the language will change, and how effective the language is is not important.  Because if the bill passes and we get the Monstercare system, then it will be a minor battle to fight again.

The point here is simple:  This is political calculation at its worst.  Lawmakers who were on the fence who didn't want the piece of shit but did want something to take back to the single-issue dolts who put them in there got the relatively irrelevant part of the bill.  It's this obsession with a small part of the political landscape that costs us in the long run.

In short (because we're not having a discussion on the subject of abortion (and I will delete)), ending abortion has to be done in the hearts and minds of people to work.  If the pro-life forces keep this issue at the forefront for legislation, they will lose, because there are far too many people who are in the middle on this issue, and it will cost too many votes and too many elections.

More on the Health Scare Debacle and AOTW

I'm going to start with AOTW, because, very simply, the list below detailing the contents of the POS health care "reform" is really damned long. It's also a clear illustration of how to sickeningly fuck up something that needs fixed.  And since the House passed the bastard, my Asshat is already chosen, because I'm betting on the Senate to kill this travesty and I was waiting for its passage to do this.  So...

Satyavati Devi Dasi is Asshat of the Week!

Satyavati and I have mixed it up on almost every subject.  That shit happens when you get a near-libertarian carnivore and a socialist Hare Krishna in the same chat.  But out of the myriad of conversations, I know we have something in common:  We want the best for everyone, including each other.  For example, she's starting a new (and good) nursing job today.  Happy happy joy joy.  The problem is that we often violently disagree on the way to solve the problems.

On the health care debacle, for example, she's an advocate of the single[government]-payer system, whereas I advocate the absolute opposite, what I will term the individual-payers system, because the solution to our mess is to cut out the third-party payers as much as possible.

But what the House passed Saturday night will do everything we don't want.  It grows government control and mandates over the individual to the point that choice will be rubbed out.  It adds layers of bureaucracy to every transaction.  It hobbles any innovation by tying up more and more of our system into a political process.

And yet, in an attempt to achieve something like the government-payer system she seeks, she's willing to go for the bloat bill.  She's willing to accept tons of mandates to empower special interests.  And she's willing to turn over control of health care to a Republican-led government (which will happen at some point in the future). The result of this is that, inevitably, the levels of health care in this county can only get worse for all in the quest to help some.

So for being the most knowledgeable of my blogger buddies on the subject of actual health care and somehow not understanding that increasing size decreases health care quality (like BIG INSURANCE has done according to everything from the left I've heard), no matter how good the nurses are (intentional asskiss insert), asshattery doesn't begin to cover it.  But asshattery is what I have to give.

And now, back to the Obama/PelosiScare bill:

The following is a list of 'bureaucracies' created by the travesty that the House cursed us with, as compiled by the House Republican Conference.  And while we can probably debate on the purpose, size and scope of individual items on the list, it's still a list of 111 items!  I'm still waiting for someone who supports government health care to come along and tell me how this bill will do anything good.

Seriously. Try to justify it.  I need a laugh.  I'd laugh now if it weren't for the list below (and the Saturday passage of it).

Some gems I noticed.  There are 7 "pilot programs," 6 "funds," 3 "Ombudsmans," 3 "advisory committies," and 31 "grant programs."

The most ridiculous is #4: Program of administrative simplification. You've got to be shitting me. Is this a joke? Coming in second is #58: Center for Quality Improvement.  Because government run has always been soooooo synonymous with "quality."

And now, boring-ass reading.

1. Retiree Reserve Trust Fund (Section 111(d), p. 61) 
2. Grant program for wellness programs to small employers (Section 112, p. 62) 
3. Grant program for State health access programs (Section 114, p. 72) 
4. Program of administrative simplification (Section 115, p. 76)  You've got to be shitting me. Is this a joke?
5. Health Benefits Advisory Committee (Section 223, p. 111) 
6. Health Choices Administration (Section 241, p. 131) 
7. Qualified Health Benefits Plan Ombudsman (Section 244, p. 138) 
8. Health Insurance Exchange (Section 201, p. 155) 
9. Program for technical assistance to employees of small businesses buying Exchange coverage (Section 305(h), p. 191) 
10. Mechanism for insurance risk pooling to be established by Health Choices Commissioner (Section 306(b), p. 194) 
11. Health Insurance Exchange Trust Fund (Section 307, p. 195) 
12. State-based Health Insurance Exchanges (Section 308, p. 197) 
13. Grant program for health insurance cooperatives (Section 310, p. 206) 
14. "Public Health Insurance Option" (Section 321, p. 211) 
15. Ombudsman for "Public Health Insurance Option" (Section 321(d), p. 213) 
16. Account for receipts and disbursements for "Public Health Insurance Option" (Section 322(b), p. 215) 
17. Telehealth Advisory Committee (Section 1191 (b), p. 589) 
18. Demonstration program providing reimbursement for "culturally and linguistically appropriate services" (Section 1222, p. 617) 
19. Demonstration program for shared decision making using patient decision aids (Section 1236, p. 648) 
20. Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicare (Section 1301, p. 653) 
21. Independent patient-centered medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302, p. 672) 
22. Community-based medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302(d), p. 681) 
23. Independence at home demonstration program (Section 1312, p. 718) 
24. Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research (Section 1401(a), p. 734) 
25. Comparative Effectiveness Research Commission (Section 1401(a), p. 738) 
26. Patient ombudsman for comparative effectiveness research (Section 1401(a), p. 753) 
27. Quality assurance and performance improvement program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1412(b)(1), p. 784) 
28. Quality assurance and performance improvement program for nursing facilities (Section 1412 (b)(2), p. 786) 
29. Special focus facility program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1413(a)(3), p. 796) 
30. Special focus facility program for nursing facilities (Section 1413(b)(3), p. 804) 
31. National independent monitor pilot program for skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities (Section 1422, p. 859) 
32. Demonstration program for approved teaching health centers with respect to Medicare GME (Section 1502(d), p. 933) 
33. Pilot program to develop anti-fraud compliance systems for Medicare providers (Section 1635, p. 978) 
34. Special Inspector General for the Health Insurance Exchange (Section 1647, p. 1000) 
35. Medical home pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1722, p. 1058) 
36. Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1730A, p. 1073) 
37. Nursing facility supplemental payment program (Section 1745, p. 1106) 
38. Demonstration program for Medicaid coverage to stabilize emergency medical conditions in institutions for mental diseases (Section 1787, p. 1149) 
39. Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund (Section 1802, p. 1162) 
40. "Identifiable office or program" within CMS to "provide for improved coordination between Medicare and Medicaid in the case of dual eligibles" (Section 1905, p. 1191) 
41. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Section 1907, p. 1198) 
42. Public Health Investment Fund (Section 2002, p. 1214) 
43. Scholarships for service in health professional needs areas (Section 2211, p. 1224) 
44. Program for training medical residents in community-based settings (Section 2214, p. 1236) 
45. Grant program for training in dentistry programs (Section 2215, p. 1240) 
46. Public Health Workforce Corps (Section 2231, p. 1253) 
47. Public health workforce scholarship program (Section 2231, p. 1254) 
48. Public health workforce loan forgiveness program (Section 2231, p. 1258) 
49. Grant program for innovations in interdisciplinary care (Section 2252, p. 1272) 
50. Advisory Committee on Health Workforce Evaluation and Assessment (Section 2261, p. 1275) 
51. Prevention and Wellness Trust (Section 2301, p. 1286) 
52. Clinical Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 1295) 
53. Community Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 1301) 
54. Grant program for community prevention and wellness research (Section 2301, p. 1305) 
55. Grant program for research and demonstration projects related to wellness incentives (Section 2301, p. 1305) 
56. Grant program for community prevention and wellness services (Section 2301, p. 1308) 
57. Grant program for public health infrastructure (Section 2301, p. 1313) 
58. Center for Quality Improvement (Section 2401, p. 1322) 
59. Assistant Secretary for Health Information (Section 2402, p. 1330) 
60. Grant program to support the operation of school-based health clinics (Section 2511, p. 1352) 
61. Grant program for nurse-managed health centers (Section 2512, p. 1361) 
62. Grants for labor-management programs for nursing training (Section 2521, p. 1372) 
63. Grant program for interdisciplinary mental and behavioral health training (Section 2522, p. 1382) 
64. "No Child Left Unimmunized Against Influenza" demonstration grant program (Section 2524, p. 1391)
65. Healthy Teen Initiative grant program regarding teen pregnancy (Section 2526, p. 1398) 
66. Grant program for interdisciplinary training, education, and services for individuals with autism (Section 2527(a), p. 1402) 
67. University centers for excellence in developmental disabilities education (Section 2527(b), p. 1410) 
68. Grant program to implement medication therapy management services (Section 2528, p. 1412) 
69. Grant program to promote positive health behaviors in underserved communities (Section 2530, p. 1422) 
70. Grant program for State alternative medical liability laws (Section 2531, p. 1431) 
71. Grant program to develop infant mortality programs (Section 2532, p. 1433)
72. Grant program to prepare secondary school students for careers in health professions (Section 2533, p. 1437) 
73. Grant program for community-based collaborative care (Section 2534, p. 1440) 
74. Grant program for community-based overweight and obesity prevention (Section 2535, p. 1457) 
75. Grant program for reducing the student-to-school nurse ratio in primary and secondary schools (Section 2536, p. 1462) 
76. Demonstration project of grants to medical-legal partnerships (Section 2537, p. 1464) 
77. Center for Emergency Care under the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (Section 2552, p. 1478) 
78. Council for Emergency Care (Section 2552, p 1479) 
79. Grant program to support demonstration programs that design and implement regionalized emergency care systems (Section 2553, p. 1480) 
80. Grant program to assist veterans who wish to become emergency medical technicians upon discharge (Section 2554, p. 1487) 
81. Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (Section 2562, p. 1494) 
82. National Medical Device Registry (Section 2571, p. 1501) 
83. CLASS Independence Fund (Section 2581, p. 1597) 
84. CLASS Independence Fund Board of Trustees (Section 2581, p. 1598) 
85. CLASS Independence Advisory Council (Section 2581, p. 1602) 
86. Health and Human Services Coordinating Committee on Women's Health (Section 2588, p. 1610) 
87. National Women's Health Information Center (Section 2588, p. 1611) 
88. Centers for Disease Control Office of Women's Health (Section 2588, p. 1614) 
89. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Office of Women's Health and Gender-Based Research (Section 2588, p. 1617) 
90. Health Resources and Services Administration Office of Women's Health (Section 2588, p. 1618) 
91. Food and Drug Administration Office of Women's Health (Section 2588, p. 1621) 
92. Personal Care Attendant Workforce Advisory Panel (Section 2589(a)(2), p. 1624) 
93. Grant program for national health workforce online training (Section 2591, p. 1629) 
94. Grant program to disseminate best practices on implementing health workforce investment programs (Section 2591, p. 1632) 
95. Demonstration program for chronic shortages of health professionals (Section 3101, p. 1717) 
96. Demonstration program for substance abuse counselor educational curricula (Section 3101, p. 1719) 
97. Program of Indian community education on mental illness (Section 3101, p. 1722) 
98. Intergovernmental Task Force on Indian environmental and nuclear hazards (Section 3101, p. 1754) 
99. Office of Indian Men's Health (Section 3101, p. 1765) 
100. Indian Health facilities appropriation advisory board (Section 3101, p. 1774) 
101. Indian Health facilities needs assessment workgroup (Section 3101, p. 1775) 
102. Indian Health Service tribal facilities joint venture demonstration projects (Section 3101, p. 1809) 
103. Urban youth treatment center demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1873) 
104. Grants to Urban Indian Organizations for diabetes prevention (Section 3101, p. 1874) 
105. Grants to Urban Indian Organizations for health IT adoption (Section 3101, p. 1877) 
106. Mental health technician training program (Section 3101, p. 1898) 
107. Indian youth telemental health demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1909) 
108. Program for treatment of child sexual abuse victims and perpetrators (Section 3101, p. 1925) 
109. Program for treatment of domestic violence and sexual abuse (Section 3101, p. 1927) 
110. Native American Health and Wellness Foundation (Section 3103, p. 1966) 
111. Committee for the Establishment of the Native American Health and Wellness Foundation (Section 3103, p. 1968)\

If you're still here, and you read the whole list, why the fuck?  Don't have anything better to do, like watching paint dry?  I resorted to searching to come up with most of my info, and that was so I could find something funny in the chaos.

Making Good Tea

In my discussions with my buddy from New Zealand, I learned something I did not know.  Namely, that the reason the British drink their tea with milk is that their tea often sucks.  This came up because he hadn't had any good iced tea in a while.  And I pride myself on making an excellent iced tea. 

This didn't just magically come about.  Rather, it was some experimentation that yielded a fine tea.  I'll give you the simple recipe, for 1 gallon.  Take 8 tea bags (generic store brand is fine, the $1 cheap-ass don't work),  pour on a quart of boiling water (the kettle is your friend).  Steep, dump to your pitcher (I filter this to trap extra sediments), then pour on another quart of boiling water and steep again.  Then add the other 2 quarts of water, sweeten to taste (I go Sweet & Low, since I developed a taste and don't need the sugar on my fat rolls), refrigerate.  Easy as can be.  And if you only want half a gallon, use half the tea bags, half the water, half the sugar, and only steep once.

The reason I share this is that it reflects what has begun with the Tea Party movement.  There's some experimentation and some shitty tea coming out of the whole process.  But if the angry and disparate coalition can get things straight, then something really good can come out of it. 

This is because this coalition of diverse voices appeared twice before in my lifetime:  The Reagan revolution and the Contract with America.  Essentially, a statement of principles that propelled a party to power with a blueprint on how to govern.  And even if both fell short in some areas, the idea is where it all begins.

So this is mainly to those out there who saw Tuesday's gains and are now looking to 2010 to remedy the current clusterfuck of non-representation by liberals, mindless moderates, self-serving hacks, and big government "conservatives."  We now have a year to build on what started this year.  Here's how to win:

Find Positives:  First of all, saying "this tea tastes like shit" is a start, but it doesn't make a good cup of tea. You have to get a basic recipe for making it, then do it right.  Likewise, government policy has to hold to specific principles for it to work. And in this movement, the key is to shrink the size and scope of government to a reasonable and Constitutional level.  Smaller is NOT always better, but in general it is.  The secret is to take slogans and find responsible policies that support them. 


Find Commonality:  There are all kinds of tea in the world.  The important thing to remember is that they're all tea, even if they don't work for everything.   What makes a big tent work is that there are specific pillars that everyone can support.  And on the size and scope of government, we can all agree on certain things.  A massive spending bill that will funnel tons of cash to our state specifically, or to our industry specifically, or to our class of people specifically, is mighty tempting.  But it's the ability to look at it dispassionately and decide whether it is a proper function of government that separates the real conservatives from the social pretenders.  This is specifically the social conservatives.  It makes for a hard sell when we preach smaller scope of government, yet want the government to control behavior.  So while there is still room for the social issues, the prize is a less intrusive government overall.


Do Your Homework:  In making tea, I did experiment with several basic bagged teas, from the Lipton branded to the generic store brand, to the bargain dollar shit.  Having done so, as well as looked at other variants (like green and Earl Grey (had to, being somewhat of a Trekkie)), I possess at least a rudimentary knowledge of the subject of teas.  I add this for the people standing with the badly misspelled signs.  Here's a hint:  "NObamaCare" signs are fine, "Keep the Goverment out of Medicare" signs prove you're an ignorant slut.  The fact is that the opposition, which refers to us derisively as "teabaggers" because they'd lose in a straight-up debate, always looks for the lowest common denominator to discredit us.  When you can hold up an idiot birther with a misspelled sign that says something along the lines of "Impeach the Miscegenated President of Kenya" on it, the movement loses focus.  So make sure what you write on the sign is intelligent, SPELLED CORRECTLY, and preferably conveys a positive suggestion (like the FairTax (yeah, I was due for it)) rather than just Obama bashing.  And if you're going to be committed to video, know what the hell you're talking about rather than just parroting the talking points.

Hold the Elected Officials Accountable:  If you mess up your pot of tea, do you keep drinking and making more of the shitty tea?  No, you pour that shit out and correct your error.  This is something we can learn from the MoveOn folks.  They have a large number of people hammering Congress daily with calls to pass government health care.  And they surely threaten the blue dog Dems to pass it or get the boot.  And this is all done with simple damned emails.  Likewise, no incumbent politician should be getting your vote if they're not sticking to principle, even if it means electing the opposing candidate.  And while there is always some room for compromise, a little ideological purity is necessary.  Especially when a leader goes back on a promise (George HW Bush and "no new taxes") or grows government like a bastard (George W Bush, with No Child left Behind and the Mediscare Prescription Drug benefit).  Adding goodies or programs to "fix" certain things sounds good, but when you expand the scope of the government doing so, the movement suffers.

So now you have simple formula for good iced tea and turning the tea parties from pissed off protests to anti-"progressive" political progress.