Huffington Magazine Issue 72 | Page 32

Voices HOWARD FINEMAN HUFFINGTON 10.27.13 ANDREW BURTON/GETTY IMAGES 15 Reasons Why American Politics Has Become an Apocalyptic Mess WHY IS AMERICA on the edge of a political and fiscal nervous breakdown? We aren’t fighting an external threat: no foreign ism or axis. We’re simply shackled by our inability to deal with our own finances. Why? Street bailout of 2008, the stimulus of 2009 and Obamacare in 2010, the tea party aims to defund and delegitimize the federal government. Crippling the legislative machinery is a means, but also an end in itself. HERE ARE THE 15 REASONS: 1. THE TEA PARTY In radical reaction to the Wall 2. SLOW GROWTH The tea party has a point — up to a point. Politicians flagrantly overspend on wars and social programs simultaneously because the U.S. economy had always risen Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) recite the Pledge of Allegiance at a rally to reopen National Parks that were forced to close during the government shutdown.