Reality Check: There is no Liberal equivalent to the Tea Party!

Anyone who tells you there is a progressive equivalent to the Tea Party is either outright lying to you or is a well-intentioned idiot. There is none. There isn't a single group in Washington that literally was advocating to destroy the US economy by defaulting, in part because of their obstinate belief that it wouldn't happen. That's what happens when you deny reality, and when you are so uninterested in things like facts that you are willing to deny what is both blaringly obvious and potentially disastrous.

Bill Maher did a 'new rule' about this on his show which illustrated very clearly why there ISN'T a group like that. If there WAS there would be a vocal and obstinate portion of the Democratic party that would be staunchly attaching amendments to every piece of legislation that would repeal DOMA. There would be staunch supporters of public funding for reproductive services like those provided by Planned Parenthood, including abortions. There would be a refusal to give in on things like repealing tax cuts for the super rich and corporations, slashing funding on programs truly necessary or poor and working poor Americans, and the policy moves that have been disastrous to education. They would have refused to budge on a real publicly funded universal health care program, and we would have a sparkling new infrastructure that included all the green technology available.

None of that has happened.

The fact is that the Democratic party has become a watered down version of the moderate Republicans of past decades. They've become Bob Dole. They've failed in the messaging war to both uplift and educate the American public in a way that encourages middle and working class people to be engaged in the political process AS WELL AS make voting decisions that truly represent progress on issues that affect them. There is nothing like that. Even people who would have just been considered moderates in past decades are now being branded as ultra-liberal. If THAT were true, Denice Kucinech would be a hell of a lot more influential in his party than he is.

The reality is that the current incarnation of political system has reverted back to the pre-FDR era where corporations dictate the outcomes of elections and then their interests control politicians in Washington on both sides of the aisle. Until we begin restricting the flow of unlimited funds from corporate interests, we won't have a government interested in truly effective reforms. We won't have a Democratic party that even recognizes policies that benefit the middle and working classes or that promote a growing economy.