Posted on 01/28/2010 10:06:22 AM PST by Free ThinkerNY
One advantage Sarah Palin has in not holding an office currently.
Still it’s a shame that Bachmann has to get fouled up in the bureaucracy. She might have had something constructive to say.
Well this certainly is discouraging. Sadly, it looks like yesterday’s post from Mother Jones was not all that far off. Man, we need to get this straightened out or risk looking pretty bad.
We had Michelle as a speaker for our Freedom Concert in Colorado last year. I invited her to stay at my ranch as a guest. She couldn’t do it for possible ethics violations. I noticed that she is very cautious about this kind of thing, which is probably good in one sense..but it’s a loss to the Tea Party event, for sure.
We thought she was a terrific speaker. Both she and Sarah would have been assets.
SADLY, MS. BACHMAN MAY LOSE MORE BY THIS MOVE. THERE MAY BE NUANCES I DO NOT UNDERSTAND, BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THE MAJORITY OF THE CONSERVATIVES FAVOR THE TEA PARTY MOVEMENT. SHE NEEDS THAM TO WIN HER SEAT. IT MIGHT BE WISE TO TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT HER ADVISORS.
Sarah Palin is the big attraction. She should do a little due diligence before she agrees to speak. I think Rep. Bachmann was right to drop out.
Who exactly is this “we”? How did a gathering of protesting patriots become an official “Tea Party”? Who are the organizers? Were they selected? or elected? something else?
There’s something ironic that Michelle Bachman, one of the true heroes in the modern conservative movement, had to withdraw from this convention due to ethical questions.
And Sarah, another true hero of the movement, is appearing there, in part because she is refusing to attend CPAC because of ethical questions.
Do we just have trouble as conservatives avoiding ethical questions, or are we just ethical enough that we trip over ourselves on any ethical slight?
It is certainly true that we hold ourselves to a higher ethics standard than the democrats — and the media hold us to a higher standard than the democrats as well.
Don't know exactly what's going on here, but it seems the House Ethics Committee is involved.
I think I trust Bachmann’s political nose more than Palin’s.
Exactly and why Palin should pull out as well. You have nailed it 100% and I applaud Bachman for pulling out of this scam and yes I too believe it to be a scam.
There are a lot of Tea Party names showing up for various organizations asking for money for the Tea Party movement — it is a local movement by concerned citizens and should stay that way. It is different when everyone is encouraged to go to DC but it isn’t an organized event like a Convention.
Received an email to give to a Tea Party PAC the day before the Brown election but there was no such PAC — another group had used the Tea Party Name and attached to their PAC.
I agree with you on Bachmann!
Very good questions. Beats me. But the corrupt MSM will gleefulyhave a field day with this.
Bachman knows the Democrats are watching everything she does in hopes of bringing some ethic charge they can go to the press with. I’m glad she’s too smart for them.
Unfortunately, I tend to agree. I'm at least suspicious. It looks to me like someone is trying to hijack the grassroots tea party movement, and they intend to charge $549 bucks a head for that opportunity.
I attend our local tea party meetings. We pass a plate around, and you can donate as you see fit. Some put in $1, some nothing, some $20, and once in a while, we see $100 checks. All voluntary. This $549 entry fee is just too large for most people to afford, especially for a group of which we know nothing.
I will remind people that we had a good 700,000 to 1.2 million people in Washington on 9/12/2009 with NO entrance fees.
Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have withdrawn from their speaking slots at the National Tea Party Convention after controversy mounted about how proceeds would be used.The convention is "for-profit," and the lawmakers worry that their participation might violate last week's Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. FEC. (For background on the ethics issue, see here.)
"Due to conflicting advice on whether Rep. Bachmann’s participation in the upcoming Tea Party Nation Convention would be in line with the Committee on Standards, Congresswoman Bachmann has decided not to participate in the event," said spokeswoman Debbee Keller.
Keller said the outspoken conservative congresswoman would "err on the side of caution," and stressed that her cancellation was not "a repudiation of the Tea Party Movement."
Blackburn also announced Thursday that she will withdraw from participation. The Tennessee Republican said she conveyed her doubts directly to the convention's organizer.
end snips "I spoke to Judson Phillips this morning and let him know that I could not participate in the convention. I told him frankly that Tea Party Nation’s for-profit status has put many of his speakers in an awkward position," she said.
This $549 entry fee is just too large for most people to afford, especially for a group of which we know nothing.
According to their website they don’t have any slots left for the convention. The only available tickets are for the closing banquet and Palin’s address afterwards which are going for $349 + $9.71 handling fee.
There may be an attempt to co-opt the movement in the making, but it's too in-the-moment for me to gain a perspective right now.
What's the purpose of creating a for-profit corporation at this point when pure volunteerism has made such magnificent inroads to date?
For a number of reasons, it’s not looking good. Also too late for me to gain a proper perspective now too. I’m not sure exactly what happening and who’s behind it.
I can think of one purpose - to extract money from conservatives and use it to support RINO candidates in elections where conservatives are giving strong challenge. Such as Rubio vs. Crist in Florida, or the McCain primary race.
I really have no idea - just speculation on my part. But I will not be driving the 2 hours and paying the huge fee to attend this event. As far as I know, nobody from our local tea party core group will be doing so either.
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