Tea Party Versus Occupy Wall Street

South Carolina Comptroller Richard Eckstrom, who writes a column that is published in several newspapers in the state, compared the Tea Party rallies that began in 2009 to the recent “Occupy Wall Street” protests that have begun in one of his columns.

Eckstrom admits to being a conservative Republican and says that he has much more in common with the Tea Party folks than he does with the Occupy Wall Street protesters. My column this week will share some of his ideas with you as well as some of my own thoughts on the subject.

He says that the Tea Party is a positive movement in which ordinary men and women have gotten involved asking for a return to some of the founding principles that our great nation was founded on. Things like small government, lower taxes and free markets. Tea Party folks feel that people can do a better job of caring for themselves than government can.

Returning to a system that encourages people to work therefore creating their own destiny is one of their goals. They are against a system that promotes a permanent dependence on government handouts. They understand the benefit of limited regulation and low taxes because they realize this will let people keep more of their hard earned money which will allow the private sector to invest their money and create more jobs for the unemployed.

The Tea Party movement values the old fashioned American ideal of self-sufficiency and hard work. They understand the danger of extreme overspending by governments which leave mountains of debt for our children and grandchildren to repay.

Eckstrom says the focus of the Occupy Wall Street protesters vary from against the war, to student loan balances, to higher pay for many who don’t need nor deserve it. He says it is an anti-free market and anti-Tea Party movement.

The Tea Party favors returning to our nation’s tried and proven founding principles while the Occupy Wall Street group favor rejecting free enterprise and capitalism which leads to a more socialist government that calls the shots and distributes the resources. They believe that it is the government’s job to step in and correct disparities in income between the middle and upper class.

Most successful people have made their profits through hard work and taking chances. When the successful earn money it usually leads to further investments in our economy that creates more jobs which are sorely needed right now.

The Occupy Wall Street group is attempting to penalize those Americans who through good fortune and hard work have been successful, Eckstrom says. They ignore the fact that if we raise taxes and limit success we will stifle an important incentive that makes businesses take risk by expanding.

He says that all signs point to the fact that various deep pocketed left leaning interest are behind the protest and according to media reports people are being paid to participate in the protest.

There is little doubt that a growing number of us Americans want our governments at all levels to interfere less with our pocketbooks and our lives. As it has been said by many conservative leaders over the years, the less government we have the better government.

The late President Ronald Reagan consistently reminded us that by getting government out of the way American businesses and the American people will do what they have always done, perform economic miracles.

All of us who call ourselves conservatives need to remember that we live in a free nation that still believes that God is in control and that our citizens must have the opportunity to grow and create wealth which will build a better life for those who follow.