DeMint: Tea Party "Most Positive Thing" for U.S. "In a While"

Watch CBS News Videos Online

On "Washington Unplugged" Thursday, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said the tea party movement is the "most positive thing to happen to this country in a while."

"I think the tea party movement is much more than a political party and it certainly shouldn't join any political party," he told moderator John Dickerson from the Conservative Political Action Committee conference in Washington.

As a signer of the "Mount Vernon Statement," DeMint said that the U.S. Constitution has been under attack for years and argued that President Obama adds fuel to the fire with his stimulus and health care plans.

"The federal government is just not capable of doing the things that President Obama has promised," he said adding when pushed that "the policy's that [Obama] has put forward are clearly out of the bounds of my understanding of the constitution."

On pork barrel spending and earmarks in Congressional legislation, DeMint said that "we need to cut the pork. It leads us to vote for a lot of bills that should not be voted for."

"That's for both parties," he added.

Watch the show above, which includes the full interview with DeMint and one with the Daily Beast's John Avlon on his new book "Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America."

More Coverage from CPAC:

Dick Cheney Urged to Run for President at CPAC
Marco Rubio: We Should Obstruct Democrats' Agenda
Mitt Romney: Obama's Agenda Is "Reckless"

"Washington Unplugged" appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Click here to check out previous episodes.

[GreatDepression]

Why was GW Bush not invited to the CPAC and Tea Party Conferences?

[GreatDepression]

Amazing how all the speakers at the CPAC conference cannot say a single thing Good or Great about themselves. They even gave a long standing ovation to former Vice President D. Cheney.

[RobAla]

We had massive protests from the left during the 60's and 70's. Now we are experiencing massive protests from the right. This sounds like we may still have the opportunity for "government by the people, and for the people". I think this is great. I wish more Americans were so actively involved in THEIR government.

[nearl451]

All I know is that is THE BEST picture of DeMint, I have ever seen.

It is the epitome of him: Talking outthe side of his mouth with a smart aleck smirk and a flim-flam gleam in his eye.

Wonderful photograph.

[jxknowles]

Ms. DeMint is the biggest lobbyist working in Washington D.C. today. She's shamelessly working for corporate interests, including insurance companies and Wall Street fat cats. This woman is the last thing tbags should be supporting if they are true to the ideology. As if that were going to happen.

[nearl451]

Yeah and her wife is a lobbyist too.

[texbelle123]

Since none of the "tea party" folks were screaming while Bush ran the deficit to record levels (whether you like him or not, remember that Clinton had managed a balanced budget and left a hugh surplus in the treasury), nor were they screaming when Bush came up with the bank bail out plan, etc..... The fact that they are crying NOW about 'government irresponsibility' means that they are all either just plain stupid or just plain liars.

[retiredgustav]

No they are just flying airplanes into goverment buildings.

[RobAla]

Some are asking why the Tea Party movement was not around during the administration of President Bush. I think I have an answer. The election of President Obama, and his radical extreme left ideas, has caused an otherwise silent group of Americans to wake up and take notice. From what I can tell, the Tea Party group is made up of people from a variety of walks in life; who normally live out their lives working and taking care of their families. They are usually confident that things in Washington eventually work out, and that our leadership is composed of responsible adults who place the strength of the nation above personal egos or ideology. The actions taken in Washington over last year have shaken those beliefs, and they feel the need and duty to take the country back from those who seem to put it at risk.
Though perils like the increasing national debt have been building over several years, the actions of those currently in power in Washington have tipped the scales for many Americans who normally aren?t heavily involved in politics. They see the federal government growing at an alarming rate, and they are alarmed at the thoughts of taxation required to feed such an enormous entity. They are alarmed at the probable loss of individual freedoms that usually accompany massive centralized governments. Many are now afraid for the future of the country, and they are angry at those in charge. They do not want extreme change, and many want a reversal of Washington control and power. Many believe they are losing control of their nation. I am not an active member of the Tea Party movement, but I share many of their concerns.

[velma179]

What good is a Constitution if the country it serves fails -- because the policies of the freely elected president don't suit the vote getting strategies of some members of Congress?


Mr. "give the Constitutionally elected President his Waterloo" should be ashamed of his comment and his affront to my right to vote for the representatives I chose.

What is up with this new love affair with a document that none of these guys paid heed to just a few years ago? False Declaration of War, Torture, Patriot Act... anyone?

[steeepe]

I wonder when DeMint last read the Constitution. Did he complain when the right-wing Supreme Court decided that corporations are people? South Carolina has the weirdest politicians. What's in the water there?

[myopinionpal]

Gov Sanford was washing all the shame and dirty deeds off his hands and somehow DeMint accidentally drank some of that water !!!