So much to know, so little time. This section is intended to provide a very limited, straight-forward review of background information that is good to have as we try to understand the current political environment. Think of this a civics and current events refresher course.

Brief history, beginning in 2009, about how the Tea Party got started. This is a fascinating study in human nature and US politics.

SHORT STORY

• A Republican president, George W. Bush, presided over the huge Wall Street crash that became apparent in late 2008.
• Bush instituted legislation and a budget to deal with the crisis in late 2008.
• Obama became president in 2009 and successfully addressed the Wall Street crisis that led to the Great Recession.
• Some Republicans didn’t like the way Obama was dealing with things and started the hard right conservative, or Tea Party, movement.
• Obama’s leadership and policies led us out of the recession, restored the economy, put regulation in place to prevent it from happening again.
• Obama was successful, the country was successful and the economy was strong, based on jobs creation and a low unemployment rate, in December of 2016.
• The main focus of the Republican party over the eight years of the Obama administration has been to say “no”.
• The Republicans, the Tea Party wing, and Trump claimed that the country was in a mess as of December 2016, Trump won in 2016.
• The pendulum always swings.