John Nolte at Big Hollywood tries to explain what the Tea Party is all about:

“The Tea Party movement isn’t about “us,” it’s about something more important than us; it’s about this place we call America. And no bribe in the form of any kind of personal tax cut or government handout will buy us off when it comes to protecting this country.

You can cut our taxes to zero — hell, you can gift us with millions in union bribes and make-work jobs — but for as long as this socialist rampage rampages on, I and every member of the Tea Party will be back, right here fighting you every inch of the way and counting down the days until November of 2010 and 2012.”

So, is Nolte saying that it isn’t about taxes at all? If so, why hold the protests on Tax Day? It’s about the government having too much power, is it? If so, it seems strange they’ve only noticed that lately. The Libertarians have been complaining about Socialism and the increasing power of the government for decades, but only in the last year has a giant, attention-getting National movement sprung up around it, is what his argument implies. I don’t follow.

I still say Ricardian Equivalence is at least part of the reason they’re out there.