Paul Ryan Hypocrisy: 44 Percent of Tea Party Members Are on Medicare

Tea Party hypocrisy knows no bounds. They’re all for personal freedom – as long as you’re a white, straight male with more money than brains. They insist that the government is interfering far too much in people’s lives, but they demand governmental control of women’s bodies. They want smaller government, but they insist on governmental oversight in my bedroom.

And now, with the selection of Paul Ryan as Romney’s VP offering, there’s more! The Tea Party wants to balance the budget and loves what Ryan offered in Congress to do so, but ... just to start, there are pundits out there (Faux News) who say the Ryan budget will increase (not decrease) the deficit by $3 trillion. This is balancing the budget? But wait, there’s more! 

This Tea Party darling has a history too. Has Ryan always been about balancing the budget? Uh – No. There were many factors that took the Clinton era surplus and turned it into the deficit we have today, and Paul Ryan voted for every one of them. But he’s a Tea Party favorite. 

The ground of this hypocrisy is so fertile, I could go on for days. But there is one more example that shines out so blindingly it has to be described.

One of the biggest complaints of the Tea Party faithful and the right in general is that America is becoming a socialist democracy, a “nanny state” that will “take care of us” whether we want it to or not. This is amazing hypocrisy on the part of the Tea Party, considering that some surveys place as many as 44% of Tea Party members on Medicare. That’s kind of how things work when the majority of your membership is over 55. It should be noted that all Medicare cuts as proposed by the Tea Party take place only for those under 55. Yes, lets make some sacrifices – Oh wait, lets have someone else make sacrifices so we don’t have to. And sure enough, that’s what the Ryan budget proposes to do with Medicare. No changes for anyone over 55, but anyone under 55 gets to have vouchers to help pay for private insurance. Once again, redistributing wealth from the poor to the wealthy by means of taxes that are given to major corporate interests. Now why didn’t I think of that?

This attitude is best expressed by a quote I saw on a Tea Party protest sign during the 2010 election: “Keep your filthy government hands off my Medicare.”