Muratsuchi Calls Tea Party "Extremist" - Is This True?

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) is facing a heated reelection challenge this cycle.

In one of his latest mailers, he tarnished his opponent as a Tea Party extremist.

Is the Tea Party movement extreme?

From the last days of the Bush Administration to today, this movement has protested the rapid expansion of the federal government into the economy (bailouts for banks and corporations), our health care system (ObamaCare), and our financial systems (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Dodd-Frank bill).

These incursions have created a sluggish recovery which has benefited the wealthy and well-connected, a health care system frustrated with bureaucracy, doctor shortages and cost increases, and a financial sector which profits Wall Street at the expense of Main Street.

For extremism, look no further than a Democratic legislature which has brought transgenderism to our public schools, granted drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, forced the minimum wage, and imposed regulatory burdens on small businesses.

In other words, Assemblyman Muratsuchi’s agenda in Sacramento.

So, why label a movement extreme? The Tea Party Movement has pushed back against the role of the state in our lives. The politicians in Washington have frustrated the aggressive advancement of the government into our lives, as well.

Frustration means gridlock, and produces a "do-nothing" Congress.

The economy is not strong, and people are still looking for work, or they have given up. They expected Congress to do something, even extending unemployment benefits and food stamps, but the federal government has stood in the way of these measures, too.

Voters are angry because the government is getting anything done to alleviate their immediate sufferings, or their economic setbacks.

People get angry at anyone who seems to prevent solutions to their problems. Yet more government has created the problems people are struggling with in their lives.

The last time one party had complete control over Congress and the White House, they tried to force Cap-and-Trade on the country, followed by the Affordable Care Act, which has forced employees into part-time status, while pressuring businesses to raise their operation costs or close down. How does a sluggish economy recover when insurance mandates make it more difficult to turn a profit and earn a living?

Democratic candidates do not debate issues. They attack their opponents with personal slights. Tea Party Extremism is an easy line which emboldens a liberal base to turn out and vote against a challenger.

Muratsuchi needs all the help he can stir up this year. President Obama has depressed his ardent supporters, and his policies are grossly unpopular. His low approval ratings in  his sixth year rival the poor polling numbers of President George W. Bush and Bill Clinton during their sixth year in office.

No, the Tea Party Movement is not extremist, yet the tag-line "extreme" is the last-ditch effort to get disaffected Democrats to vote.

Will it work in 2014? Probably not, with a GOP surge rising across the country, and some strong Republican statewide contenders (whom the major California newspapers have endorsed), Muratsuchi is facing a wave of Republican enthusiasm and a receding tide of Democratic disappointment.