Now we're talking:
Although generally hawkish and conservative with a libertarian streak — “we’re for strong defense” is an oft-repeated mantra in the movement — tea party leaders and allies contacted by POLITICO said that both fairness and common sense dictate that the military budget be scrutinized for such cuts, a view that puts them in sync with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and some of the most liberal members of Congress.
“Everything is on the table,” insisted Mark Meckler, a national coordinator with the group Tea Party Patriots. “I have yet to hear anyone say, ‘We can’t touch defense spending,’ or any other issue. … Any tea partier who says something else lacks integrity.”…
[Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.), a tea party favorite], a bitter critic of Obama — and no fan of Gates or the history of U.S. military intervention since World War II, including NATO — said the country “cannot be a protector of the whole world. We cannot do that any longer. We don’t have the money to do it anyway.”
When the tea-partiers put entitlements and defense on the table and produce real plans to cut all of the above, they will get the Dish's support. I'm waiting, like a lot of people, to see whether they mean what they say. So far, they have failed utterly. But if they show a willingness to cut entitlements and defense by the amounts needed for long term fiscal sanity, we'll back them all the way.
The Dish 