[wku man]

No...Rick Santelli of CNBC gave rise to the Tea Party, with his call for a New Chicago Tea Party on the floor of the CBOT (in 2009). Everyone tries to lay claim to having "started" the Tea Party, but give credit where credit is due...to Rick Santelli.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

[clintonh8r]

You’re right. Santelli really lit the fuse. I just happened to be watching that day. It was breathtaking. I almost cried.....

[RonPaulLives]

Rick Santelli of CNBC gave rise to the Tea Party, with his call for a New Chicago Tea Party on the floor of the CBOT (in 2009). Everyone tries to lay claim to having "started" the Tea Party, but give credit where credit is due...to Rick Santelli.

That sounds great and inspiring, but it's not true. In 2007 and 2008, several friends and I attended Ron Paul events and fundraisers, where they were calling it "the rise of a new tea party." Even Juan Williams reluctantly admitted on FOX News that the Tea Party movement emerged from the ashes of Ron Paul's 2008 presidential primary campaign.

And in August of 2008, ChicagoTeaParty.com was registered by Zack Christenson, producer for conservative talk show host Milt Rosenberg.

And on January 24, 2009, the Young Americans for Liberty in New York State organized a "Tea Party" to protest obesity taxes proposed by New York Governor David Paterson and call for fiscal responsibility on the part of the government. Several of the protesters wore Native American headdresses similar to the band of 18th century colonists who dumped tea in Boston Harbor to express outrage about British taxes.

Santelli's rant was not until February 19, 2009.

[98ZJ USMC]

No...Rick Santelli of CNBC gave rise to the Tea Party, with his call for a New Chicago Tea Party on the floor of the CBOT (in 2009). Everyone tries to lay claim to having "started" the Tea Party, but give credit where credit is due...to Rick Santelli.

Santelli was the spark. The tinder had been piling up for years.

[catfish1957]

I agree. Rick Santelli had more to do with tea party movement as anyone else. I really like Trey and Matt’s stuff, but they are hardly conservative. More like hard core Libertarians.