On Friday I wrote a piece expressing my dismay at an op ed written by John Tillman, CEO of the excellent Illinois Policy Institute. In his piece he claimed there was common ground between the “Occupy” folks and the Tea Party. I wholly disagreed with that. Mr. Tillman has written a follow up that he wanted to make sure readers saw.
To frame the discussion, here is Mr. Tillman’s original op ed in the Chicago Tribune and here is my friday critique of that op ed.– Warner Todd Huston
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The Persuadable Middle is Listening to Occupy; Why the Tea Party Should Start, Too
-By John Tillman, Ill. Policy Institute
Last week, the Chicago Tribune published a commentary piece I wrote about the Occupy Wall Street protestors in Chicago. They’ve been camped out near my office for the past few weeks, and I decided to engage them in conversation on my way home one night.
The media has likened the Occupy Wall Street protestors to the tea party, making the case that these protestors are the left’s version of the small government movement that has swept the nation.
Let me be clear: The Occupy Wall Street protestors and the folks who hold tea party rallies are not the same, and I do not believe there is any real opportunity for a union between the two groups. But what I learned that night is that these movements both are rooted in the idea that this country is moving in the wrong direction.
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Ill. Policy Institute CEO John Tillman Rebuts Critiques of His Op Ed”