Time for Big Business to Squash Tea Party

Big business may see the Tea Party as harmless, or perhaps even helpful, but it's time to “take a closer look:" the movement’s aspirations aren’t in its interests, writes Robert Reich in the Christian Science Monitor. Some 60% of Tea Partiers want, for example, to dump the Federal Reserve, and some of its leaders want to get rid of the IRS, too. Their next target: liberal CEOs.

Tea Party supporters are railing against GE’s boss for having taken federal clean energy subsidies. Their nativism should strike fear into big business hearts, as should their stance on free trade: some 61% say trade is “bad for America.” They attack major institutions—and that includes big businesses. Business leaders must stand against them, or risk “the stability of our economic and political system," notes the former labor secretary.
(More Robert Reich stories.)