Al Gore, Iain Murray and the ‘tea party’

Christian Science Monitor discusses Al Gore's house and the Tea Party movement with Iain Murray.

Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington was our guest at a Power Lunch in Westminster yesterday. His theme followed the title of a new book he's working on – Why does Al Gore have such a big house?

Murray expressed the opinion that it is exactly this kind of profiting out of the public sector that has made Americans so mad and given birth to the Tea Party movement. (The 'Tea' bit stands for 'Taxed Enough Already'.) People do see their neighbours in public jobs getting higher pay, and a more generous pension into which the state contributes, and longer holidays and shorter hours (and often smarter offices and less stressful work) than they do in the private sector. They see interest groups milking subsidies from taxpayers.

Is there a chance that this grassroots movement will lead to real reforming politicians sweeping the Gorean fatcats out of their publicly financed mansions? "I think there is every possibility that the voters will be disappointed," says Murray. Ah well, that's politics.

Read the full article at the Christian Science Monitor.