WHAT IS THE TEA PARTY? It is a frame of mind that comprises thinking that coalesces around conservative positions on political issues:
Tea Party on Budget & Economy
• Against Bush’s bailout bill & against Obama’s stimulus bill. (Feb 2012)
• Act of cowardice by lawmakers to inflict generational harm. (Feb 2012)
• OpEd: Congress waives PAYGO even when slightly inconvenient. (Feb 2012)
• Fiscal responsibility applies to both Democrats & GOP. (Feb 2012)
• Taxation & regulation replaces wisdom of the market. (Feb 2012)
• Audit the fed: Congressional oversight needed. (Feb 2012)
• Fed’s job has been to print money; that drives up inflation. (Feb 2012)
• Financial responsibility to cut $61B from budget. (Jan 2012)
• 2009: Tea Party sparked by opposing mortgage bailout. (Jan 2012)
• Economic pessimism: Great Recession part of downward spiral. (Jan 2012)
• Don’t raise debt limit; already facing economic Armageddon. (Jan 2012)
• Budget woes more about coming collapse than redistribution. (Jan 2012)
• Tea Party made all politicians look seriously at $15T debt. (Dec 2011)
• Tea Party movement reborn based on massive 2008 bailout. (Aug 2010)
• When times are tough, government should make do with less. (Aug 2010)
• Bush’s Wall Street bailout ignited Tea Party firestorm. (Aug 2010)
• Movement born in objection to stimulus plan. (Aug 2010)
Tea Party on Civil Rights
• Majority oppose gay marriage or civil unions. (Jan 2012)
• More male Tea Party members, but more female leadership. (Jan 2012)
• Racial minorities seen as undeserving, but so are whites. (Jan 2012)
• 2010: Supported two Southern blacks for House; both won. (Oct 2011)
• Equality of opportunity, not equality of outcomes. (Aug 2010)
• OpEd: Few African-Americans at Tea Party events. (Aug 2010)
Tea Party on Corporations
• Corporate tax rate worldwide declining, except in US. (Feb 2012)
Tea Party on Education
• Vouchers give students and parents the power of choice. (Feb 2012)
• Shut down failing schools; end collective bargaining. (Feb 2012)
• Vouchers work: Schools either get better, or they close. (Feb 2012)
• College kids should get jobs, not Food Stamps. (Jan 2012)
• Dismiss objectionable intellectuals as over-educated elites. (Jan 2012)
Tea Party on Energy & Oil
• Outraged at phase out of incandescent lightbulbs. (Apr 2012)
• All-of-the-Above instead of Cap-and-Trade. (Aug 2010)
Tea Party on Foreign Policy
• Truth, justice, and American way are needed worldwide. (Feb 2012)
Tea Party on Free Trade
• First principles: individual freedom & free markets. (Aug 2010)
Tea Party on Government Reform
• Limited role for government; not solution to every problem. (Apr 2014)
• True the Vote: like driving and seeing police following you. (Apr 2014)
• Constitutionalism means the rules are reliable. (Apr 2012)
• Get state legislative “voice votes” on the record. (Apr 2012)
• Government jobs (takers) replacing manufacturing (makers). (Feb 2012)
• Return to original four federal Departments. (Feb 2012)
• Earmarking is an odious practice, even if only a few billion. (Feb 2012)
• Interstate compacts are preferable to federal action. (Feb 2012)
• 2005 Kelo case revises the Fifth Amendment. (Feb 2012)
• The Repeal Amendment: 2/3 of states to overrule federal laws. (Feb 2012)
• We’re gaining control of DC, but just getting started. (Jan 2012)
• Restore constitutionally-limited government. (Jan 2012)
• Insist on legislators actually reading bills before voting. (Jan 2012)
• Tea Party supports G.O.P.: Government Of the People. (Nov 2011)
• Invoke Boston Tea Party’s anger against establishment. (Nov 2010)
• Pressure Congress for moratorium on pork. (Nov 2010)
• Moratorium on all earmarks until budget is balanced. (Aug 2010)
• Permanently repeal capital gains & death taxes. (Aug 2010)
• Not about right-versus-left, but about big-versus-small. (Aug 2010)
Tea Party on Gun Control
• Important goal to safeguard Second Amendment rights. (Jan 2012)
Tea Party on Health Care
• OpEd: ObamaCare & bailouts both just throw money at problem. (Apr 2012)
• Rise up against takeover of banks, cars, & health insurance. (Feb 2012)
• Replace ObamaCare with healthcare interstate compacts. (Feb 2012)
• Tort reform needed to avoid costs of “Defensive Medicine”. (Feb 2012)
• ObamaCare was forced down our throats. (Jan 2012)
• OpEd: Tea Party came from angry “No to ObamaCare!”. (Nov 2011)
• Civil society is reasserting itself at the ballot. (Jun 2011)
Tea Party on Homeland Security
• Outraged by how citizens are manhandled at airports. (Sep 2012)
Tea Party on Immigration
• Oppose use of government services by illegal immigrants. (Jan 2012)
Tea Party on Jobs
• Real unemployment is 18%, counting under-employment. (Jan 2012)
Tea Party on Principles & Values
• Framework for Tea Party in 2002; didn’t ignite until 2009. (Jun 2013)
• Tea Partiers took action and made it up as we went along. (Feb 2012)
• Movement strategy: Prod, Pressure, and Primary. (Feb 2012)
• OpEd: Tea Party won’t become well-organized political party. (Jan 2012)
Anti-Establishment
• 2009: finally confronting big-government leviathan head-on. (Feb 2013)
• OpEd:Tying Tea Party to DC politicians de-energizes movement. (Jun 2012)
• 2011 freshman class felt unambiguous mandate to change DC. (Apr 2012)
• Be suspicious of politicians wrapped in Tea Party banner. (Apr 2012)
• Conservative Congress more important than GOP Congress. (Apr 2012)
• 2010:Knocked off establishment picks in GOP Senate primaries. (Feb 2012)
• GOP is lesser of 2 evils: eternal vigilance on both parties. (Feb 2012)
• Obama is subject of immense suspicion of illegitimacy. (Jan 2012)
• OpEd: Common dislike of incumbents and establishment. (Jun 2011)
• Unconventional because they’ve had enough of establishment. (Feb 2011)
• Original 1773 Tea Party fought ruling establishment also. (Feb 2011)
• 2010: Championed Marco Rubio over Florida GOP candidate. (Aug 2010)
• 2010: Championed Mike Lee over Utah GOP candidate. (Aug 2010)
• OpEd: Seize control of the Republican Party. (Aug 2010)
Origins and Demographics
• 2010: 52 Tea Party Caucus members among 87 GOP freshmen. (Apr 2012)
• Tea Party Patriots organized after Rick Santelli rant. (Feb 2012)
• Grassroots activists: not just Republicans, even some Dems. (Jan 2012)
• Bottom-up Tea Party differs from city to city. (Jan 2012)
• About 160,000 active participants in Tea Party movement. (Jan 2012)
• Tea Party Demographics: Mostly middle-aged and beyond. (Jan 2012)
• Tea Party includes some astroturf and some grassroots. (Jan 2012)
• More Americans identify with Tea Party than Dems or GOP. (Feb 2011)
• No national organization speaks for the Tea Party. (Feb 2011)
• 9/12/09 Coalition: fiscal restraint & Constitutional limits. (Aug 2010)
• 2009: Libertarians included in Massachusetts Tea Party. (Aug 2010)
• Feb. 2009: “It’s time for another Tea Party”. (Aug 2010)
Political Philosophy
• We, the people, feel threatened as our nation slips away. (Feb 2012)
• Many people are Tea Partiers and don’t know it. (Jan 2012)
• Stop the blame game; start common sense solutions. (Jan 2012)
• Tea Party message: we the people are coming. (Jan 2012)
• Tea Party includes both moral conservatives & libertarians. (Jan 2012)
• Borrow Alinsky’s community organizing methods from the left. (Jan 2012)
• Defining book: The Five Thousand Year Leap. (Jan 2012)
• Separate Tea Party from GOP response to State of the Union. (Jan 2012)
• Tea Partiers are Constitutional Conservatives. (Nov 2011)
• OpEd: we love America & dislike what’s happening to her. (Nov 2010)
• Contract From America: Our liberties are inherent. (Aug 2010)
• Movement for change; including Alinsky Rules for Radicals. (Aug 2010)
• A social movement, not a political party,& hence sustainable. (Aug 2010)
Tea Party on Social Security
• Younger Americans might give up receiving Social Security. (Feb 2012)
• Older citizens have earned Social Security. (Jan 2012)
• Increase the payroll tax to sustain Social Security. (Jan 2012)
• Think Tanks support privatization; grassroots does not. (Jan 2012)
Tea Party on Tax Reform
• FairTax & flat tax: on consumption instead of production. (Feb 2012)
• 80% oppose taxing the rich, compared to 56% in GOP. (Jan 2012)
• T.E.A.: Taxed Enough Already. (Nov 2011)
Tea Party on Technology
• Social media allows organizing opposition without Party. (Jun 2012)
• Open-source community grew to 1.2 million in 2 months. (Feb 2012)
• Leadership opposes net neutrality; grassroots has no opinion. (Jan 2012)
• Ordinary folks, dismissed by MSNBC and establishment pundits. (Nov 2010)
Tea Party on Welfare & Poverty
• Support earned entitlements, but oppose unearned handouts. (Jan 2012)
“Tea Party on Immigration
• Oppose use of government services by illegal immigrants. (Jan 2012)”
Enforce the stinking law. We have law that requires foreign nationals illegally playing house in the United States to be sent back to their own countries. They’re not Americans dammit.
And we need to abolish ‘birthright citizenship’ in its current perverted form. It was to guarantee that the children of former slaves were citizens, it was not so that foreign nationals could fly to the US and drop an anchor baby and qualify for welfare.
“…………………….I am forced to conclude that the political left in this country throws around the name Nazi, not because they believe that anyone they call one resembles a Nazi, but because they desperately need to draw attention away from the terrifying reality that they themselves are becoming the new Nazi party.
Without exception, every generation considers itself to be the smartest generation to have ever existed (despite clear evidence to the contrary). I wish this one would realize it isn’t, and try to learn something from history.
|
Nazi |
Democrat |
Republican |
Tea Party |
|
|
Anti-Semitism |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Statist / Promotes Big, Centralized Government |
Yes |
Yes |
Partially* |
No |
|
Eugenics |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Exerts Control of the Media for Political Gain |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Gun Control / Gun Registration |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Strong Nationalism |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Nationalized Healthcare |
Yes |
Yes |
Partially*** |
No |
|
Political Intimidation / Targeting |
Yes |
Yes |
Partially** |
No |
|
Religion |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Use of Public Education in Political Indoctrination |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Use of Racial Divisiveness for Political Gain |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
* Government expansion has occurred onder several republican administrations. |
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** Political intimidation occurred under the Nixon Administration |
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*** Romneycare |
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Thanks for your post! Very good synopsis of that the TEA Party aims are and what has transpired.