Tea Party Nation [pro-life, pro-military, anti-homo agenda] Letter to the GOP!

received via email | November 22, 2010 | Signed by over 180 Tea Party Groups, Leaders and Activists

[Jim Robinson]

Today, Tea Party Nation, along with over 180 other Tea Party Groups, Leaders and Activists released a letter to the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill.

Last week, GOProud, a non-Tea Party group, sent a letter to Senator McConnell and Speaker to be Boehner, claiming to speak for the Tea Party movement. It was signed by 16 people. We decided to send a letter that speaks for the mainstream of the Tea Party movement. This letter is going Senator McConnell and Congressman Boehner today. It has been signed by over 180 Tea Party Groups, Leaders and Activists.

Here is the letter:

Dear Senator McConnell and Congressman Boehner,

Last Monday, a small group of non-Tea Party, non-conservatives, released a letter, trying to claim leadership of the Tea Party movement and purporting to tell you what the Tea Party movement wants.

We, the undersigned, are leaders of mainstream Tea Party groups. We are the people that helped get conservatives elected on November 2. While we do not speak for this movement as a whole, we are a large cross section of this movement and we want to tell you what this movement wants.

First, we want Obamacare defunded. There is no compromise on this issue and it is not negotiable. We do not want Obamacare lite. We do not want it “tinkered” with. We want it repealed. We realize the chance of Obamacare being repealed before 2013 are slim, but it can be defunded. That is the next best thing.

Second, we want serious reductions in spending. A spending cut is not simply a reduction in the amount of the increase. It is a reduction in spending. America cannot afford Washington’s spending sprees any more.

The question is where to start. Here is the answer. Let’s start by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse from the budget. Billions of dollars are wasted through programs that are unneeded, unnecessary and exist only to benefit special interests. Let’s go through the budget line by line and eliminate these programs.

We in the Tea Party are ready to help on this one. We know you have staffs. We have thousands of volunteers who are prepared to rip the budget apart and help you. All you have to do is ask us.

The left will whine about every spending cut, coming up with some story about how horrible it will be. Americans are very charitable but cannot stand the thought of their tax dollars being wasted. This is the proverbial low hanging fruit.

Third, we must dismantle the liberal-political complex. Liberal groups such as Acorn and Planned Parenthood receive millions of dollars in federal monies every year. This must stop. Most of the members of this movement would probably describe themselves as pro-life. Regardless, abortion is a multibillion-dollar business. Why is the government paying Planned Parenthood anything, much less almost $1 billion from 2002-2009?

Fourth, if the debt ceiling is to be raised, this is the last time. Uncle Sam’s credit card must be cut up. America cannot afford Obama/Pelosi/Reid’s spending spree. We urge you to raise the debt ceiling only if a spending reduction plan is in place prior to that time. We do not want to see the ceiling raised in exchange for a promise to cut spending later. We Americans now regard those promises as credible as those emails we get telling us we have won the lottery.

Fifth, taxes must be reduced. The Bush tax cuts must be extended for everyone, made permanent and the burden the government places on small businesses must be drastically reduced so that small businesses can grow and start hiring unemployed Americans.

Sixth, there can be no amnesty. America has always welcomed immigrants. Legal immigrants. We want you to oppose the DREAM act and any other effort for amnesty. In 1986, President Reagan agreed to amnesty, in exchange for the promise the border would be secured. We got amnesty then and twenty-five years later, the border is still not secured. This time, we have to insist the border be secured and illegal aliens leave and then reapply like everyone else. We need to change our immigration laws and require that before specialized workers are brought in, there must be conclusive proof that no American is available to do that job. We also need to change our immigration policy so that the top criteria for someone immigrating to America is what they can do for America. The diversity immigration lottery must be eliminated.

Seventh, we want you to fight the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The policy has worked well for the last fifteen years. There is no reason to change. While there are many ways to debate an issue, sometimes you can judge the validity of a proposal by who supports it. Various radical leftist groups such as Code Pink support the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. These groups have one goal. They want to weaken the United States Military. If these groups think this is a good idea, that is a pretty good indication, it is not.

We, the members of the mainstream Tea Party movement have a lot of expectations for you in this Congress. We realize the limitations you face. But we also realize the tools you have at your disposal. America is a conservative country. We expect conservative leadership from our country. The Republican Party had its head handed to it in 2006 and 2008 because it departed from its conservative base. Now is your chance to return to your roots and govern, as we the people want you to.

We are here with you, we are here supporting you and we have our eyes on you. Do not disappoint us.

Sincerely,

November, 2010

[shempy]

Absolutely, taxes are only a part of it. But they are a very significant part of it, given the Boston Tea Party served as the inspiration for the name.

Are gays in the military a good idea? I don’t think so. But I also don’t think that the Constitution addresses that issue. If the debate over gays in the military is separate from the discussions of taxes and constitutional government, then I don’t think the discussion belongs under the tea party label. Maybe I am wrong about whether this is addressed in the constitution. If so, I am open to correction.

The majority of self described tea partiers probably share similar views on a wide array of subjects. But that doesn’t make all those subjects tea party issues.

[Jim Robinson]

I don’t know yet, but apparently the effort was started by Tea Party Nation founder and CEO Judson Phillips, the man who organized and held the first national Tea Party convention in Nashville, Tennessee in February:

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=230053

“Phillips sent out an email Thursday morning soliciting signatures from Tea Party Nation leaders across the country for his letter, which calls on Congress to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading abortion provider, and crack down on illegal immigration.

“The purpose of the email was to ask people if they’d be interested in signing a letter saying the GOProud letter doesn’t speak for the mainstream of the tea party, and here’s what the mainstream tea party really thinks,” said Phillips.

“This morning’s letter has gotten a huge response, my email box is blasting out.”

“There’s a part of the movement that wants to focus exclusively on fiscal issues, but at least half of the tea-party movement is made up of values voters,” Phillips observed. “Ignoring these people is a recipe for disaster. If you want to win, you’ve got to have a pretty broad coalition. You need more than 50 percent. With the fiscal and social conservatives together, we win. If we start cutting our coalition up, we can’t win.”

[Jim Robinson]

Look, pal. If you wish to drive folks like me and about half the members of the tea party out, go ahead and welcome GOP Proud homo pushers and proud GOP pro-abortion Planned Parenthood members in.

I see no drawbacks in keeping those assholes OUT!!

[DBeers]

Are gays in the military a good idea? I don’t think so. But I also don’t think that the Constitution addresses that issue.

The Constitution does not address many things that are not as a result deemed irrelevant and just issues of governance. The Constitution is premised upon the concept of the inherent and the unalienable rights and truths self-evident endowed by the Creator. The ultimate limit on government is the Creator

By what authority do those promoting homosexual sex be granted favorable status in society and the military with to impose such lunacy. The Authority comes not from the Creator and not from the people. Ignoring this and any issue in which we see government declare itself supreme moral authority is in essence ignoring the imposition of an illegitimate government tyranny that attacks the very basis the Constitution is founded upon...

If you wish to only treat some symptoms of illegitimate government while others fight to eradicate illegitimate government itself that is your prerogative...

[Mrs. Don-o]

This is good. Sometimes the Teepers seems too shapeless. Spontaneity and localism have their advantages --- a grass-roots movement and all that ---but a shapeless group can be taken over by anybody. GOProud for instance. Or even fake Teepers who are actualy Demnocrats doing a false-flag operation to split us.

I'm for a better-organized, better-defined, social issues/constitutionalist/small government/liberty coalition.

[Reagan Man]

Works for me.

Lets hope McConnell and Boehner get it.

[unixfox]

You left out abolishing the IRS and the income tax.

BUT IT'S A START!!

[Syncro]

No, you would still need to raise it.

No we don't.

The elites would see that as a mandate to let them get into more debt.

Instead fight for cutting the bloated government so the debt ceiling does NOT have to be raised.

[ForGod'sSake]

I believe Freepers could have come up with a better list of demands. Conspicuously missing was any reference to “entitlement” programs which are killing the country and will in short order, bankrupt us worse than we already are. There can be no long term solution to this spending spree without some serious changes in entitlements, period. I know this TEA Party bunch knows that so, I wonder what gives?

[Syncro]

The Media Reaction:

The media and who speaks for the Tea Party movement

• Posted by Judson Phillips on November 22, 2010 at 3:25pm

  

  
  

  
  

  This morning, Tea Party Nation released a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and to Speaker to be John Boehner.  Our letter was in response to a letter that originated from the group GOProud, where they tried to speak for this movement.  GOProud is not a part of the  Tea Party movement.  It is not now, nor has it ever been. 

  
  

  The media reaction to this has been interesting.   On CNN, Paul Steinhauser wrote about it.  GOProud felt the need to respond immediately.   Paul is a good writer, who has always treated us fairly.  The story from CNN, is here.  

  
  

  GOProud whines that we had so many on there that we were just getting members on to make our numbers look good.  They also claim they could have had five times the number we had.  

  
  

  I don't think so.

  
  

  They could have had that many signators to the letter, but they would not have been Tea Party activists.  

  
  

  There is a battle going on now, for the heart and soul of this movement.  We, who represent the mainstream of this movement must speak up and not let this movement be hijacked by those who want to use it for their own purposes and not the purpose of restoring freedom and liberty to this country!

From the CNN article linked to in the main text above:

"A letter signed mostly by members of Tea Party groups rather than leaders of Tea Party groups rather than leaders of Tea Party groups seems like an awfully cheap way to try to make it look like you have a lot of signatories..."

Taken directly from the article, poorly written as it is.

Notice that they must have leaders of the Tea Party Movement separate from regular tea party members.

Sorry guys, each and every one of the tens of millions of Tea Party Citizens is a/the leader/leaders of the TPM!

[devistate one four]

I wish the letter would have asked the powers to eliminate all the money we are paying to the aclu for the work they do on behalf of the folks.

[Syncro]

I believe Freepers could have come up with a better list of demands.

For God's Sake, ForGod'sSake (sorry I couldn't help myself), that is an EXCELLENT idea!

You or someone should start a thread asking for FR members to come up with tea party type ideas to post to the world.

There must be thousands of tea party people here on Free Republic

[Paradox]

Personally, I’d prefer to see the Tea Party remain a mostly fiscally conservative, small government group. I think that is something a lot, if not most, Americans can agree on. I think the other issues will be pulled along by the coattails of this movement.

[stratman1969]

Agree 100 percent.

[ForGod'sSake]

For God's Sake, ForGod'sSake (sorry I couldn't help myself), that is an EXCELLENT idea!

Heh. Now that I think about it, I have run across posts on FR similar to what you suggest, something like, "What next" or "Where do we go from here". I gotta be honest with you,"entitlements", especially SS and Medicare are pretty much cash, er, sacred cows. Even Freepers begin to tap dance when the subject is broached. NOBODY wants to talk about it. Which I suspect was part of the original "plan" in the beginning. Once people are "hooked", well, we see what's happening in places where austerity measures are being implemented.

BTW, have you ever run across Eric Cantor's YOU CUT site?

In any case, I don't think it would be a bad idea to post a thread asking specifically where Freepers would like to see cuts, that being PRIORITY #1. So gopher it. ;^)

[ForGod'sSake]

Personally, I’d prefer to see the Tea Party remain a mostly fiscally conservative, small government group. I think that is something a lot, if not most, Americans can agree on. I think the other issues will be pulled along by the coattails of this movement.

Agreed. IMHO, the ONLY thing that will change the direction of the country is if the electorate becomes more engaged. As you probably know, roughly half of eligible voters in the country don't even make the effort to vote. I submit MOST of them are conservative, even if they don't realize it. What would get them to the polls? Somehow getting the primary powers back to state and local governments would go a long way in making that happen I suspect.

To be sure, the TEA Party groups, if they are to remain a force, will have to resist the natural urge to splinter via single issue politics and continue to coalesce around the larger goal of reining in the federales.

[Syncro]

,"entitlements", especially SS and Medicare are pretty much cash, er, sacred cows. Even Freepers begin to tap dance when the subject is broached. NOBODY wants to talk about it.

It's gotta be talked about, but in the right way.

It isn't about cutting Medicare and SS, it's about streamlining it by cutting out the fraud and instigating another welfare to work program.

Plus making these unwed welfare mothers give up the fathers and make them take responsible for their spawn.

And quit paying little girls to have a string of babies to keep the "free" (read taxpayers) money flowing in.

The giant bureaucracies behind SS, Medicare, Education, Transportation, the IRS etc need to be cut to the bone.

Reduce gov worker's salaries (way above the private sector) and pensions for another plan.

The three counties around Wash DC have the highest median income of the whole country. That's gotta tell ya sumpin'!

[LomanBill]

ARTHUR: What happens now?

GOProudA$$hat: Well, now, uh, Ken Mehlman, Meghan McCain, Mary Cheney and I wait until nightfall, and then leap out of the log cabin, taking The Party(tm) by surprise -- not only by surprise, but totally unarmed!

ARTHUR: Who leaps out?

GOProudA$$hat: Uh, Ken Mehlman, Meghan McCain, Mary Cheney and I. Uh, leap out of the log cabin, uh and uh....

ARTHUR: Oh....

GOProudA$$hat: Oh.... Um, l-look, if we built this large wooden Rhinocerous -- [twong]

ALL:  Run away!  Run away!  Run away!  Run away!
      [splat]


LOMANBILL:  Oh, haw haw haw.

===================================

Right On Target Jim - FIRE FOR EFFECT!

[trappedincanuckistan]

I think destroying cultural Marxism is the key to stopping the left. Progress has been made with respect to the media, but public schools continue to churn out millions upon millions of socialists every year. Without tackling public education the government will simply get bigger and bigger.

[Randy Larsen]

The Tea Party is about TAXES and shouldn’t be co-opted into social agendas. if co-opted that way we will position ourselves as just another right-wing political organization.

The Tea Party does not belong to any one party but contains members from all parties wanting lower taxes.

we are FISCAL not SOCIAL CONSERVATIVES.