What is the Tea Party Movement?
People attend a tea party protest in Washington, Thursday, April 15, 2010.
/ APChristine O'Donnell's shocking win in the Delaware Republican primary was driven in large part by a group called the Tea Party Express, which energized her candidacy by vowing to spend $250,000 to help her beat moderate Rep. Mike Castle.
National media attention and an endorsement from Sarah Palin followed the Tea Party Express announcement, and a campaign that was once an afterthought ended up a winner.
But the Tea Party Express, which also drove Joe Miller's surprise win in the Alaska GOP primary, should not be confused with the Tea Party movement. As Politico reported in April, it was the brainchild of a Republican political consultant hoping to boost his firm's political action committee. Indeed, many who consider themselves part of the Tea Party resent the Tea Party Express for its ties to traditional Republicans.
In an interview with CBS News, the head of a prominent Tea Party group referred to the Tea Party Express as an "astroturf" group.
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"They are a top down non-grassroots organization pretending to be grassroots," the Tea Party leader said, going on to cast the group as a "great example of everything that's been wrong with the Republican Party."
"Instead of relying on local people's preferences for office, the Tea Party Express picks candidates that advance their own political expediency," the Tea Party leader added. Other tea party groups, which are very proud of their grassroots nature, complain that the Tea Party Express, which is run by a known GOP political group with 30 years of campaign experience, is trying to co-opt the movement.
The Tea Party express has certainly backed candidates who aren't favored by the Republican establishment, including O'Donnell, Miller, Kentucky's Rand Paul and Utah's Mike Lee. But it has also picked candidates not necessarily aligned with local tea party preferences.
In Nevada, a number of Tea Partiers wanted Sue Lowden to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, not the Tea Party Express choice, Sharron Angle, who ended up winning the nomination. The Tea Party Express' endorsements of Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick in Idaho and moderate Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts also raised eyebrows, as did the decision by the Tea Party Express' Mark Williams to pen a satiric letter beginning, "We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don't cotton to that whole emancipation thing."
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But the fundamental disconnect is less about candidates or even individuals than it is about local vs. national control. The best Tea Party, from the perspective of many who see themselves as tea partiers, is a local Tea Party. That ethos is well represented by the Tea Party Patriots, a decentralized umbrella group that operates far differently that the Tea Party Express.
The Tea Party Patriots have no centralized authority, opting instead for a hivelike, "organized but not organized" structure, as National journal reports:
"The organization has no offices, dwelling instead in activists' homes and laptops. Martin says it has raised just over $1 million in the past year, a trivial amount by the standards of national political organizers. About 75 percent of the group's funding comes from small donations, $20 or less, she says.By conventional measures such as staff and budget, then, the Tea Party Patriots is minuscule. Viewed another way, however, it is, to use [co-founder and national coordinator Jenny Beth] Martin's expression, "gi-normous." Lacking dues or bylaws, the network's closest thing to a membership roll is the list of groups that have registered with its website, now approaching 3,000 and spanning the country. The website, teapartypatriots.org, lists almost 200 tea parties in California alone."
History suggests it's difficult for decentralized movements to endure, however - which is why many Tea Partiers fear that their movement will soon be little more than just another top-down conservative interest group. For Tea Partiers to whom Washington culture in anathema, that prospect - embodied by the Tea Party Express - is bitter tea.
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Brian Montopoli is a political reporter for CBSNews.com. You can read more of his posts here. Follow Hotsheet on Facebook and Twitter. Robert Hendin is a CBS News senior political producer. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here. You can also follow him on Twitter here.
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Tea Party is getting PRESS..
Am I a member..no..do I think of what all are screaming about..not all..but these issues are common...
CAREER politicians..MUST GO.
2term limits..4yr terms..
Soc Security..opt in out ..want yours back--your choice..
Healtcare..Medicare worked..not good but worked..add one thing to it..
>> What it did not cover you would not need SUP.INS..doc/hosptals/med's--eat the 20%---time for them to cleanup there act..example..$10.00 asprin.
enough said.
TAX structure today>> eliminated ALL of it..(including JUNK fees/taxes>look at your phone/util bills as example)..
ONE tax --SALES 11%Fed..4% State...NO TAX on FOOD.
Co. EXEC's/Top MGNT..if fored/let go/leave--NO CONTRACT PAY OUTS..make it illegal when companies not do good or not.Mill dollar pay outs STUPID when people laid off/pay cuts..
The road is clear for the crazy to assume office...
...but were it for reasonable voters with insight and purpose who turned out in 2008. They MUST turn out again in 2010 for the sake of a great free nation.
From what I can tell, they want small government, reduced taxes, balanced budgets & spending cuts.
Admirable goals which I support. So the question is ... what would you DO to accomplish this?
All the Tea Party candidates to date have piled in behind keeping the bush tax cuts for the 250K plus folks. BUT NO ONE has come back with practical steps on how these cuts should be paid for. As such I find the Tea Party folks JUST AS DISHONEST as the current baggage in Congress: Say anything to get elected but don't have to do anything once in! (Possibly worse since their civil rights views are definitely NOT MAINSTREAM.)
Given the lack of honesty, the Tea Party Movement, in my view, is just the extreme elements of the Republican Party trying to flex their muscle.
Despite their "We the people" mantra, they DO NOT represent the views of the millions of Americans disheartened by the political parties currently running the country.
We have several "we alls" in the equation. The <$250K crowd, the >$250K crowd & corporations. While I would prefer reducing the size & expense at the federal level, if a tax IS needed then the progressive income tax is preferred over a federal sales tax or a flat tax. Because it most "fairly" taxes the electorate based on use. As far as "equal", corporations have shown they can manipulate both the congress & and public to their will. And while I am pro capitalism, I am also conscious of the greater good AND of how a corporations success may be at the expense of the better interests of the country while a benefit a foreign shareholders.
As far a "redistribution" caused by only issuing the <$250K tax cuts, please recall that the ENTIRE Bush Tax cut package was NOT PAID FOR by matching spending cuts. So I only endorse the <$250K cuts because of poor state of the economy and well ... the people need the money more than the government does. Issuing this package further increases our deficit going forward. (Which is also why the Tea Party Folks are not credible in their policies.)
Regarding "freebies" -- the "Don't touch my Medicare" signs held up by Tea Party folks come to mind. And the immense anger of last summer's town hall meetings. I suppose if the Tea Party folks were prepared to cut even their benefits then I would interested in listening.
Right now, they are MORE OF THE SAME.
As far as "class warfare": American success is built not with a might Military but with a ever growing MIDDLE CLASS. Any policies that hinder that progress are Anti-american. So policies of "class warfare" started when they favored the rich or the corporations over the working folk.
Last point: US ranks 35th in Math & 29th in Science. And with a continually deteriorating manufacturing base the succeeding generations will have a continually harder time succeeding in the global economy. Every parent and level of government has to push the importance of education.
at the Tea Party movement. What threatens them?"[/quote]
Perhaps what threatens the "Progressive" world view of those others is the Tea Party principles: Small government,
fiscal responsibility, following the Constitution, and education about rights.
After all, none of these principles actually support the "Progressive" notions of an all-powerful US Govt. dictating everything EVERY Citizen should or should not be doing while they're alive in the USA.
There are no valid (or perhaps honest is better) counter principles to be had
for the typical "Progressive" (Socialist Decepticrat?).
Can you imagine arguing in favor of an "Irresponsible Fiscal Policy?"
How about "Ignoring the US Constitution?" How about "Less Rights Education
for our Children?" Let's see the hands in favor of a LARGER Federal Govt...
If they were to be completely and Intellectually Honest about what they
("Progressives") are supporting, everyone would see the "Emperor has no clothes."
So they have to grasp at straw men, such as "Racism", "Idiocy", "Hatred", etc.
to hide their own lack of good counter arguments.
- Open Borders.
- 4+ trillion dollar annual central government budgets and growing.
- Systematic and institutionalized discrimination and favoritism based on race, gender and sexuality.
- Self-loathing culture and foreign policy.
- Coddling of criminals and demonization of their victims.
- Environ-mental extremism.
- Economic and government policies that care more about giving other people's money to retarded and lazy people than actually growing the economy.
- Steady stripping of individual rights in favor of the collective.
Etc.
People have simply had enough of that ****.
Mission Statement:
The impetus for the Tea Party movement is excessive government spending and taxation. Our mission is to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize our fellow citizens to secure public policy consistent with our three core values of Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets.
Core Values:
Fiscal Responsibility
Constitutionally Limited Government
Free Markets
often confused with the santorum movement. it is a group of confused white evangelicals scared of a black president as dutifully told to be by fox news. conservatives they are not. right wing liberals they are. free thinking, not so much. moral talk, god talk, interfere in the bedroom and try to use government to push personal 'values' and have also be programmed by the neo cons to think muslims are the enemy, they hate us for our freedoms, and endless wars and nation building will somehow provide security (cost in $$ and lives, and actual benefit from such wars, unimportant. just as long as a lot of bombs are being dropped).
if these people really wanted smaller government and more personal freedom, the libertarian party has always been there to vote for and that party actually means it. but thats not really what they want.