Avoid Social Issues, GOP Urged (Homosexualists, Pro-Aborts Co-opt Tea Party Movement)

Politico ^ | Sunday, November 14, 2010 | Ben Smith and Byron Tau

[kristinn]

A gay conservative group and some Tea Party leaders are campaigning to keep social issues off the Republican agenda.

In a letter to be released Monday, the group GOProud and leaders from groups like the Tea Party Patriots and the New American Patriots, will urge Republicans in the House and Senate to keep their focus on shrinking the government.

"On behalf of limited-government conservatives everywhere, we write to urge you and your colleagues in Washington to put forward a legislative agenda in the next Congress that reflects the principles of the Tea Party movement," they write to presumptive House Speaker John Boehner and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell in an advance copy provided to POLITICO. "This election was not a mandate for the Republican Party, nor was it a mandate to act on any social issue."

The letter's signatories range from GOProud's co-founder and Chairman Christopher Barron — a member of a group encouraging Dick Cheney to run for president and who has been known to post images of his bare torso to Twitter — to Tea Party leaders with no particular interest in the gay rights movement.

As of Sunday evening, the letter had 17 signatories. They include tea party organizers, conservative activists and media personalities from across the country, including radio host Tammy Bruce, bloggers Bruce Carroll, Dan Blatt and Doug Welch, and various local coordinators for the Tea Party Patriots and other tea party groups.

"When they were out in the Boston Harbor, they weren't arguing about who was gay or who was having an abortion," said Ralph King, a letter signatory who is a Tea Party Patriots national leadership council member, as well as an Ohio co-coordinator.

King said he signed onto the letter because GOProud seemed to be genuine in pushing for fiscal conservatism and limited government.

"Am I going to be the best man at a same sex-marriage wedding? That's not something I necessarily believe in," said King. "I look at myself as pretty socially conservative. But that's not what we push through the Tea Party Patriots."

That indifference is essentially the point of the gay conservative group.

SNIP

TEXT OF LETTER

Dear Senator McConnell and Representative Boehner

On behalf of limited government conservatives everywhere we write to urge you and your colleagues in Washington to put forward a legislative agenda in the next Congress that reflects the principles of the Tea Party movement.

Poll after poll confirms that the Tea Party’s laser focus on issues of economic freedom and limited government resonated with the American people on Election Day. The Tea Party movement galvanized around a desire to return to constitutional government and against excessive spending, taxation and government intrusion into the lives of the American people.

The Tea Party movement is a non-partisan movement, focused on issues of economic freedom and limited government, and a movement that will be as vigilant with a Republican-controlled Congress as we were with a Democratic-controlled Congress.

This election was not a mandate for the Republican Party, nor was it a mandate to act on any social issue, nor should it be interpreted as a political blank check.

Already, there are Washington insiders and special interest groups that hope to co-opt the Tea Party’s message and use it to push their own agenda – particularly as it relates to social issues. We are disappointed but not surprised by this development. We recognize the importance of values but believe strongly that those values should be taught by families and our houses of worship and not legislated from Washington, D.C.

We urge you to stay focused on the issues that got you and your colleagues elected and to resist the urge to run down any social issue rabbit holes in order to appease the special interests.

The Tea Party movement is not going away and we intend to continue to hold Washington accountable. Sincerely,

Christopher R Barron
Chairman of the Board, GOProud

Andrew Ian Dodge
Coordinator, Maine Tea Party Patriots

Pam Stevenson
Coordinator, Arizona Tea Party Patriots

Dianna Greenwood
Executive Director, New American Patriots (Ashland, OH)

Jim Mason II
Chairman and State Coordinator, Nebraska’s Tea Party Patriots

Ralph King
Co-coordinator Cleveland Tea Party Patriots
Co-coordinator State of Ohio Tea Party Patriots

Jack Lien
Coordinator, Tea Party Patriots of Great Malls (Montana)

Tammy Bruce
National Radio Talk Show Host

JP Weber
Coordinator, Annapolis (Maryland) Tea Party

Doug Welch,
Blogger and member Southern Illinois Tea Party

Bruce Carroll
Conservative Activist and Blogger

Pam Stout
Coordinator, Sandpoint Idaho Tea Party Patriots

Dan Blatt
Conservative Activist and Blogger

Everett Wilkinson
Coordinator, Florida Tea Party

Jimmy LaSalvia
Executive Director, GOProud

Paul Crockett
President Santa Clara (California) Tea Party
David Thor Andreasen
Cumberland County (Maine) Tea Party

[DesertRenegade]

It always comes back to the same thing. These homosexual front groups like “GOProud” value their bedroom sexual practices above everything else. That’s why they always end up going against fellow Republicans in order to defend their lifestyle.

Christopher Barron (GOProud Chairman): “We are a gay organization, we only work on gay issues, we have never claimed otherwise. My God people.”

http://twitter.com/ChrisRBarron/status/20329639211

[LomanBill]

[They must always understand that the destruction of their agenda is right at the heart of our agenda.]

Yep.

[Publius6961]

A real social issue? How do we treat our poor?

Welcome to FR, barefoot.

There is a perfect example of troll behavior. Derail the discussion to the "poor" swamp.

When almost 50% of the population does not pay income taxes and also gets welfare, it is part of the problem, and a subject for its own thread.

Right now the two key issues is freeze spending while things are sorted out and the second issue is freeze and reverse taxes.

Begone with your "how we treat our poor" BS.

When it becomes compulsory, it is no longer charity!

[metmom]

Exactly. That’s why it should stay the hell out of social issues.

Society and this country will fall from within. The moral decay that we are now witnessing is what is doing us in.

Fix the social issues and the rest will fall into place.

That's why we need to make social issues a priority.

[metmom]

Sure, there would be no abortion and we'd ship all the gays to Canada, but what good will that do us if the economy tanks and annual Fed expenditures run up to 400% of GDP?

Fix the social/moral issues and the rest will happen.

[ChildOfThe60s]

I'm surprised Lindsey Graham and Barney Frank haven't proposed a Federal Commission on Mutual Masturbation and its effects on palm hair, blindness, and hemmorroids.

Damn. You mean on top of everything else, I'm also going to get hemorrhoids?

[Bokababe]

Job’s Daughter.

[metmom]

Sure, there would be no abortion and we'd ship all the gays to Canada, but what good will that do us if the economy tanks and annual Fed expenditures run up to 400% of GDP?

Fix the social/moral issues and the rest will be resolved.... is a better way of stating it.

All three need to be fixed to get this country back on track, but it won't happen if we just focus on the fiscal.

A moral society is going to be more financially responsible. It goes hand in hand.

[Publius6961]

Congress is there to attend to the affairs of the state, not opine.

This is a fundamental issue candidates are never asked. And they never volunteer the answer. But it is the essence of Constitutional representation.

I plan to ask every future candidate that exact question. If they fail to answer, they fail to qualify.

[OldMissileer]

We must also figure out some way to purge the courts of activist judges.

Impeach and remove them from the bench.

That is how our system was set up but the politicians find it convenient to ignore it so they can have leftist judges do their dirty work for them. They can hide behind the robes that way and deny any culpability.

[EternalVigilance]

Impeach and remove them from the bench.

AMEN.

[EternalVigilance]

That is how our system was set up but the politicians find it convenient to ignore it so they can have leftist judges do their dirty work for them. They can hide behind the robes that way and deny any culpability.

That's right. The only reason the courts are out of control is because the other two branches have refused to exercise their rightful control.

The judicial supremacy lie is doing more to destroy this free republic than almost anything else you could name.

[Publius6961]

Do you think Jefferson was wrong?

No to the childish question.

But I am sure I don't like, and certainly don't agree, with your defective "I think" statements.

[Cobra64]

Well, at least two of us have a sense of humor in all this mess. I’ve been getting lectured for almost a day now.

[EternalVigilance]

That troll’s dead. He ain’t gonna answer you. :-)

[rbmillerjr]

sniff sniff

My spidey senses were tingling last night, but I have a sinus infection and couldn’t get on it.

I love the smell of fresh RINO and CINO in the morning, afternoon or evening.

[EternalVigilance]

New tagline...

[ChildOfThe60s]

I’m all for lecturing. But only if I’m the one doing it.

[SteamShovel]

“Screw the babies. I want a tax cut!”

That about sums it up.....

.....Of course, thats the same attitude the left has about sex..."screw the babies, I want to screw".

Same attitude, different people (or maybe not).

[TomasUSMC]

If your dead, nothing else matters. LIFE IS THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY ALL THE TIME.

Unless you live in Chicagado, where I hear the dead still vote.