Tea Party Is a Movement Now, Not Just a Mood

The Daily Signal ^ | December 19, 2014 | Heath Hansen

[2ndDivisionVet]

Is the tea party a movement or just a mood?

That was the question posed by Weekly Standard columnist and Fox News contributor Steven Hayes as he kicked off a panel at the Heritage Foundation celebrating the 5th anniversary of the tea party.

Hayes and his co-panelists, Heritage Action for America CEO Michael Needham and University of Virginia professor of politics James Ceaser, all agreed that the tea party is in fact a movement. Moods, as Hayes noted, don’t last for five years.

Recent polls regarding national tea party support show the panel’s assessment is correct. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll in November found one-fifth of American adults consider themselves supporters of the tea party. As panel moderator David Azerrad of the Heritage Foundation noted, that’s quite an improvement from the original tea party, which numbered between 30 and 130 members.

But the panelists didn’t just rely on poll numbers to support their conclusion. They also highlighted some of the tea party’s major accomplishments since its inception in 2009.

Particularly noteworthy, according to the panelists, is the influence of 2010 tea party candidates such as Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Ted Cruz of Texas, Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky. The media prefers to focus on failed tea party candidates such as Sharron Angle in Nevada and Christine O’Donnell in Delaware, but it has been Lee, Cruz, Rubio and Paul who have injected new life into the GOP and are producing its most innovative policy solutions.

Needham pointed specifically to Lee’s Higher Education Reform and Opportunity, or HERO, Act, Senator Cruz’s proposed energy legislation and Senator Paul’s focus on overcriminalization as prime examples of tea party ideas in action.

Another sign of tea party success has been its ability to set the terms of political debates. In particular, Ceaser credited the tea party with “bringing the national debt onto the front burner,” and reminding Americans that “if you spend today, someone will have to pay [for] it tomorrow.”

Tea partiers such as Cruz frequently have caused a ruckus on Capitol Hill fighting spending bills and opposing debt-ceiling increases. The result has often been legislative gridlock. Many on the left and in the mainstream media regard this as a failure of the tea party, but Hayes observed that “that was, in some ways, the entire point of the tea party.”

The tea party-fueled debt debate has had an even greater impact at the state level. In what Ceaser called the tea party’s “greatest actual achievement,” state governments have taken bold steps to rein in public-sector unions and control pensions. And it’s happening in both Republican and Democratic states, Ceaser noted, as both parties are realizing the problems of excessive debt.

That the tea party has made popular a topic as unexciting as government debt indicates how truly influential it is.

The panel also credited the tea party with bringing the Constitution back into public discourse. Ceaser praised the tea party for restoring the idea of the Constitution as “a guide for the thinking of a political party and program,” which he noted was the role it played in the 19th century. In that era, legislators often engaged in debates about what the Constitution allowed and what it meant.

Unfortunately, our current Democratic and Republican parties largely have ignored the Constitution and, prior to the tea party, rarely debated its meaning. The result was a mistaken perception of the Constitution as nothing more than “a matter of individual rights protected by courts” that political parties and movements simply should not bother with.

The tea party’s return to the Constitution has revitalized public interest in its meaning and forced politicians to engage once more in constitutional debates.

Despite frequent mischaracterizations in the mainstream media, targeting by the IRS, and verbal attacks from President Obama, the tea party remains highly influential in American politics. The left and the media don’t want to admit it, but the tea party is not a passing mood; it’s a movement. And, as Steve Hayes concluded, “It’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”

[jpl]

That the tea party has made popular a topic as unexciting as government debt indicates how truly influential it is.

Really? Even here on the preeminent conservative site on the net, most people don't want to talk about the debt at all.

[Paladin2]

It will be interesting to see how many of the 2017 GOP Senate freshmen will align with Cruz and Lee.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Obola begat the TEA party.

Hegelian thesis and antithesis lives.

[VRWC For Truth]

The Uniparty must be destroyed.

[Pelham]

“The Uniparty must be destroyed.”

second that.

[gwgn02]

Third that. Cruz 2016

[Deathtomarxists]

Conservatives, we have a viable party as a foundation. The Tea Party can be a national third and eventually second major party. Remove all funding and volunteer support from the GOP and funnel it to the Tea party. The time now or never.

[Deathtomarxists]

We should also begin a draft Cruz movement. He would be an effective first national Tea Party candidate for President of the United States.

[Still Thinking]

The result has often been legislative gridlock. Many on the left and in the mainstream media regard this as a failure of the tea party

So conservatives have so far amassed only enough strength to throw wrenches in the works the fascism and spending bullet train, but since they can't repeal it wholesale [yet], that's a failure and they should just surrender to business as usual???? Not.

[KarlInOhio]

Hegelian thesis and antithesis lives.

Just so long as we don't get a Jeb Bush synthesis

[ProfoundMan]

Moods, as Hayes noted, don’t last for five years.

Mr. Hayes has obviously not been through a divorce.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Har, har.

[2ndDivisionVet]

You misspelled syphilis.

[MUDDOG]

And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the Founders.

[right way right]

Starve the beast.
T.E.A.

[Hostage]

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)

[Nateman]

The tea party-fueled debt debate has had an even greater impact at the state level. 

Control of the State Houses can have a GIGANTIC effect. More profound than a civil war if Article V is invoked. Has there ever been a better time to call a Convention for proposing amendments? A greater need? Two years from now there may very well be MILLIONS of new RATS who will vote RATS into power permanently until the collapse of American freedom is complete. Global warming is a scam threat. This threat to our freedom is very real and we have two years to call this convention to stop it.

[Pelham]

It seems to me that as a separate party we would have more leverage than we now do as an amorphous bloc within a GOP that is openly hostile to us.

Let the GOP be the party of corporate elites with no allegiance to the American people. They may have all the campaign money but I bet they won’t get all the votes.

With the rise of the internet and social media I suspect that big money won’t be able to buy elections like they have in the past. It doesn’t take as much money to organize and get your message out.

The tea party took out a major GOPe player in Virginia, Eric Cantor, and it forced Mitch McConnell to fight for his Senate seat. If we organize as a separate party we won’t be restricted to just picking off GOPe sleazebags in the primaries, we can fight them right through the general election.

[Pelham]

“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.