Page 24 - Flathead Beacon // 1.22.13

24 | JANUARY 22, 2014
OPINION FLATHEADBEACON.COM

LIKE I WAS SAYIN’ Kellyn Brown
TWO THOUGHT
FOR Same Topics,
Opposing Views
Getting Weird

The Future of the Tea Party
in Winter

O
By Tim Baldwin
By Joe Carbonari
N A RECENT VISIT, A RELATIVE ASKED WHY
Christmas lights were still hanging over the

Understand irst, the tea party is not a So, where is the Montana Republican Par- streets in Whiteish. I explained that they would
party. It is a faction of the Republican Party. ty headed? Will it be tea party tempest as the stay up a while and that the Winter Carnival is approach-
It has no organization, platform or leadership. 2014 primaries unfold, or tea party tepid as ing. I then explained what that is, which didn’t explain
The tea party consists of anarchists and theo- they run out of steam? Are the upcoming bat- anything at all.
crats and everything in between, so their con- tles going to be good for the state or will they It went something like this:
cepts and terminologies are not even consis- set us back? It seems to me that it will depend “It’s a month-long celebration, maybe longer. The
tent. Their commonality: they are extremely on how the “war” is waged.
town chooses a king and queen. There’s a parade and,

dissatisied. This alone does not create long- If acrimony and name-calling are the key- um, there’s people dressed like yetis and penguins and
standing political power.
notes, my guess is that the Republican Party they run around the streets and stuf. And women kiss
While “enthusiasm” may seem noble, it overall will sufer. This is likely true nation- your cheek and it’s all good, clean fun.”
can be damaging if used incorrectly. Since ally as well. If, on the other hand, reasoned, Blank stare.
1787, only two parties at a given time have rational debates actually take place – on mat- Clearly, someone else could better describe this un-
dominated American politics, with hardly ters of substance – the Republican brand and usual event, but, to my credit, I’ve attended the festivi-
any exceptions. The tea party seems to act as the state’s general well-being will likely im- ties for the last several years and they aren’t easy to de-
if this reality of human nature and experience prove. We have a two-party system, and both scribe. So when this same relative asked how it could last

does not apply to them. They refuse to form a parties must be healthy and functional for so many weeks, I continued:
political party; rather, they rely on the Repub- the system to work well.
“Well, there are diferent events each weekend. Like,
lican Party to serve as its political host. Natu- The diiculties of the Great Recession uuuhhh, the World Ski Joring Championships.”
rally, if the Republican Party is weak, the tea dealt us a serious blow. Conservatism and “What’s that?”
party will likewise sufer in general elections. austerity became our watchwords. The tea “Oh, that’s when someone on a horse pulls a person on
Both Ron and Rand Paul – icons of the tea par- party’s enthusiasm was welcomed and em- skis through the snow over large jumps. I think someone
ty – admit this.
braced. Now, however, it is time to disengage.
times them or something.” I then tried to paint a picture

Yet, the tea party, in some ways, works A foot on the brake and a hand on the horn of what this looks like.
against the Republican Party and thereby as- made some sense during the downslide, but This, too, made little sense to my visitor. And to her, it
sists the Democrats. Something has to give: now that we are ighting the uphill battle for only got weirder from there. I told her about the Penguin
either the tea party has to become (1) its own a return to economic normality, and eventu- Plunge, where everyone jumps into the frozen lake, often
political party, or (2) more cooperative with ally even prosperity, we need to cut the psy- wearing costumes. Then, there’s the beer barter, where
the Republican Party. Otherwise, expressly chological and economic drag that they have participants ofer gifts, like yaks and broken-down Volk-
non-conservatives will increasingly dominate become.
swagen buses, and present their talents, like ire tossing
politics.
They are well-intentioned, but they are or shoving change up their nose, in exchange for a year’s

wrong. It’s time to tell them so.
worth of beer.
GUEST COLUMN | Rich Trumka & Al Ekblad
“Everyone cheers them on,” I said. “It’s hilarious. I
think the governor attended one year.”
She only laughed a little. And I couldn’t blame her, re- Jobless Must Be Lifted Up, Not Dropped Of
ally. Again, this festival is hard to explain to an outsider.
I didn’t even get into the legend of the event’s origins in
which a god named Ullr came to the Flathead Valley and In a country where the average CEO makes 354 availability crisis.
was confronted by yetis who try to steal the queen during times what the average worker makes, where we What many don’t realize is that for thousands of

the festivities.
bail out banks, industries, governments, and we al- workers, unemployment insurance creates the op-
And I’m sure if I told her that Mr. Las Vegas, Wayne low multi-billion dollar corporations to generate portunity to attend training programs to acquire
Newton, was the grand marshal of the parade this year, proits and store them in of-shore accounts so they skills that open up job opportunities that help them
she would be even more confused.
don’t have to pay their fair share of taxes in America, maintain or increase their family income. Failure
But this event, and others like it – and more obvious surely we can provide the average working person a to extend the unemployment beneits program puts
activities like skiing, snowshoeing and ice ishing – is few bucks a week for food and heat until they can get families who have been hit the hardest by the great
my answer to those who inquire about how we survive back on their feet, or maybe complete some job re- recession and jobs crisis at risk of bankruptcy, fore-

the winter in the Rocky Mountains on the 48th parallel, training.
closure and dire poverty.
a time when many of us arrive at and leave work under More than 1 million jobless workers were de- By not extending unemployment beneits we are
darkness.
serted by lawmakers who went home for their own robbing businesses and service providers of custom-
It can, eventually, wear on you. But we stay active holidays without extending the federal unemploy- ers to the tune of $532,409 in Montana in just one
considering the short days and throw events for those ment beneits program that expired Dec. 28. If this week, and costing more than 240,000 jobs across
who need to be coaxed outside in the cold. And, by and is not corrected, more than 3 million more people the country – 295 of which are Montana jobs sup-
large, that works – even if some of our methods are a little who would have qualiied for extended beneits will porting Montana families. As the year goes on, the
unorthodox.
be denied.
consequences will be even worse when beneits for

This valley is home to a bevy of other winter festi- With our economy still trying to recover from 3.6 million Americans are scheduled to expire.
vals, including traditional events surrounding the holi- the Great Recession, 37 percent of jobless workers All of these reasons are why the Congressional
days and brew fests and hockey tournaments. But we also have not been able to ind work for more than six Budget Oice considers unemployment beneits to
allow ourselves to get a little weird, like at Cabin Fever months. The average duration of unemployment is be one of the most important and efective economic
Days.
37 weeks – that’s just over nine months. Unemploy- stimulus programs. Unlike multi-millionaires who
“What do you do all winter?” you ask.
ment insurance serves as a lifeline for millions of receive a tax cut, jobless workers go out and spend
“Well, in February, we head up to the Canyon to jobless Americans, their families and the communi- that money in the local economy.

watch people race on barstools mounted on skis. There’s ties they live in.
Montana working families thank Senators Bau-
a steerable and non-steerable division.”
In today’s economy, nearly three workers apply cus and Tester for supporting extended unemploy-
“What do you mean, non-steerable?”
for each job opening. Numerous studies have shown ment beneits and we call on Congressman Daines
“It means you can’t steer the vessel. But if that’s not employers frequently discriminate against the long- to show the same compassion, economic vision, and
your thing, you can also enter the arm-wrestling tourna- term unemployed, leaving far too many Montanans political leadership.
ment or play in the snowshoe softball game.”
out in the cold. For the families of these job seekers, We cannot aford to leave working families be-
“I don’t get it.” unemployment beneits represent the diference be- hind.
“What’s there to get?”
tween total hopelessness and a place to live and food Rich Trumka is president of the AFL-CIO and Al

on the table.
Ekblad is executive secretary of the Montana AFL-
It’s not a willingness-to-work problem; it’s a job
CIO.