In Dan Rodricks Dec. 2 column ("Tea party and GOP: Defending indefensible tax cuts") he cleverly combines his objections to the tea party philosophy of smaller government and reduced government spending with his objection to extending the Bush tax cuts for people making over $250,000. What Mr. Rodricks purposely ignores in his column are the results of the November elections. The election results firmly stated that the country does not have a tax problem, it has a job creation and a federal government spending problem.

Clearly, the tea party positions are the antagonist for progressives such as Mr. Rodricks and President Obama that advocate big government supported programs and income redistribution as the solution to our social issues. Time (and maybe the 2012 elections) will help decide whether our current capitalistic system or a more federal government controlled socialistic system prevails. I vote for capitalism.

Ron Wirsing, Havre de Grace