Posted on 11/14/2010 3:38:40 PM PST by 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
I see the VADoc1980 troll has spread his troll-wings to other issue threads and further stepped in it. Good zot.
[ Who pays for abortion? How many abortions are covered by insurance or government welfare? How many more may we expect via Obamacare?
Sexual perversion causes disease, and not just AIDS. A great many more “nasty things” inhabit the bodies of homosexuals and lesbians due to their perverted sexual practices. How will the unobstructed rise of these diseases, due to ignoring our nation’s “social issues” impact medical care and insurance costs for those who live within the bounds of normal sexual behavior, particularly with the advent of socialized medicine and the insistence that “pre-existing conditions” not be excluded from coverage or considered a dis-qualifier? And yes, their is a defined “normalcy” in sexuality... homosexual acts do not fall within that scope. ]
You bring up excellent points, Why should people who have moral objections to other people’s “lifestyle choices” be it homosexuality of promiscuity pay for the unintended consequences of other people’s bad choices?
While I don’t believe in harming or limiting the inherent rights of another person for their immoral choices, I do believe that everyone has inherent right to free speech including critical speech towards those who make immoral choices without repercussions of others in the name of forced tolerance. And we also have the right to decide what sort of behavior we allow in our own homes and to a lesser extent the street which we pay taxes on to build and maintain.
“Politically Correct” legislation is intolerable to me because it says that one group of people trumps everyone else as they are a a “protected class”. I wish some of these nutty liberals would realize that assault is assault no matter what motivated it and it should be treated as such instead of putting in it a category that ends up to deny someone else of justice because one crime took a greater precedence over another due to the motive involved.
We have a right to judge others in our own personal lives, but it seems like more and more the “feels good do it” crowd wants to control even that. Of course for those who smoke they can’t smoke a cigarette, even if it “feels good” to the smoker. They are a bunch of whiny Hypocrites.
Freedom is a homely looking creature, but it is a lot better looking than any of the other ones out there. When we try to remove the warts on freedom’s face, we end up leaving scars that are far more ugly than the warts originally were. Hopefully we as a nation will realize that before freedom’s face is so slashed we don’t recognize her anymore.
a troll tax wud not have helped...perhaps DRconspire can give him a sedative..being debunked and getting the ZOT...
txs for the ping.
That’s the 2nd time you’ve called him a troll. Yet he’s still here.
His signup date is from 10 years ago. In the past, it seems like you’ve operated on the assumption that long term freepers can’t be trolls. Is that changing, maybe?
What kind of posting history does this fellow have?
I didn’t check.
(Can’t now...need sleep...)
Still busy troll hunting, I see. You must have a lot of trolls notched on the side of yer airplane. Keep up the good work.
The Boston Tea Party was protesting one thing only - taxation without representation. They weren’t protesting any social issue.
I agree that the focus of all conservatives should be on saving this country through fiscal responsibility. The only subject equal to that in importance is the 2A.
As conservatives assert their role in putting our fiscal house in order, we will gain the respect and regard needed to convince the country of the “right” way in matters of lesser importance. We will never be able to influence the country enough to assert our social agenda and other less important fiscal issue positions by overpowering the left until we successfully manage what’s on our plate right now.
Nobody doesn’t think abortion and queers are important. But let’s face it: if we end up with an elite ruling class and an underclass scrambling for crumbs, we aren’t going to be in a position to call any shots about abortion or queers. We will have no voice at all.
What people care the most about is their own fiscal survival. Restoration of the free market, limited government and fiscal responsibility will bring them that survival. The issues you cite are beyond our reach right now in terms of advancing our agenda. We should stand pat for the time being.
The Boston Tea Party wasn't watching sodomites parading in the streets. Although sodomy has always been some place in society, not one time did anyone in New England in the 1770s, or a hundred years before, or a hundred years after have to watch the encroachment of sodomy into general society.
Not one time did colonists worry about a military allowing perverts to live and serve in close quarters with their sons.
A nation can have the correct fiscal policy and the right to keep and bear arms, and still decline and be destroyed from within by its own moral degradation and a government who won't protect the general moral welfare for its traditional moral citizens.
If you are young enough, you will live to witness the destruction of America from within under capitalism and with the 2A and more than half of the adult citizenry carrying weapons.
No, it isn’t. The Right is on a roll. The people writing that letter don’t want to see us snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Big Queers and Big Abortion are not taking over the Tea Party simply because they don’t want the movement to get sidetracked or hijacked by social conservatives.
Don’t fight with them. That’s just what the left wants to see. Don’t turn the Tea Party into a social issues movement or you’ll take us all down with you. Our grip is fragile. If you start a fight within the TP over social issues by pushing our conservative social agenda, soon enough you’ll be fighting with Big Queers and Big Abortion over who gets to steer the Titanic.
It can just as easily be said that trying to draw conservatives into pushing their social agenda on the TP is a cynical tactic to suck in people who just want to restore fiscal sanity to this country and otherwise mind their own business which is what they want you and me to do.
Why the hell is it that the right can never let a good thing play out in their favor? Why is there always such a burning need to shoot themselves and the rest of us in the foot? Why must we always lose because you people have to have instant gratification? You have no patience. You have to get on your damn high horses and insist on everything you want RIGHT NOW and anybody who doesn’t agree with that tactic and your demands is a RINO/troll/fool/loser/gutless/whatever so you’re just going to pick up your marbles and go home, sulk and name-call like a petulant child. Stay home and don’t vote so we can end up with an asshole like zero to wreak havoc on the entire country and beyond for a minimum of four years. Brilliant.
Grow up, for crissakes. Gather some wisdom. Develop strategies from observations and shrewdness instead of emotional needs and some sense of “I’m right, I’m principled, so I’m just going to stand here in self-righteous indignation and show my entire hand to the opposition.” Get a clue (and this isn’t directed to you alone - there are plenty others here who think the same way).
Your post is an island of common sense and clear thought amid an ocean of yammering fools.
I agree. Don’t give them up. But don’t go demanding and bellowing about them right now. We have bigger fish to fry.
Reagan was able to lead on social and other issues ONCE HE WAS IN THE WH. We don’t have the WH. We don’t have a particular leader/figurehead for this movement. I suppose Reagan is still the leader until someone steps up and fills his boots. Until then, we must keep independents and people whose primary interest is jobs and the economy on our side. They can be lead after we prove that conservatism is the right path for America. Many will follow other aspects of the conservative agenda once they see its value. Others will just go back to Oprah and American Idol, but they will forever be more conservative than they were six months ago or even right at this moment.
These people aren’t doing that. Calm down. They’re just saying, “Don’t blow it now when we’re on a roll.”
Don’t fall into what the left wants which is for conservatives to try to claim this last election was a mandate for our social agenda.
That would be such a HUGE mistake at this point. The mandate relates strictly to fiscal issues.
See post #331.
Even if the citizens of Boston did have queers parading around, that still would have no connection to the taxation without representation issue because that was a beef with the British, not other citizens’ behaviors. If they were to protest queers parading in their streets, it wouldn’t be carried out by poking their financial finger in King George’s eye back in England. They wouldn’t toss the tea into the harbor. They’d beat the $hit out of the queers there in the streets and throw them in stocks in the town square. Therefore, your argument is ridiculous. Call it a straw man argument or argumentum ad apples and oranges. ;)
All social issues should be left to the STATE level!
Federalism works just like that.
It’s about time for the Republican Party to stand up and SHRINK THE GODZILLA FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!
A fiscally conservative government, according to Reagan, is the best way to encourage the people to re-assess their lives and focus on what is socially “fulfilling” and good ... strong family!
I fully support avoiding social issues. The standard reply should be: Let the states decide.
Look how it worked out on Prop 8 in CA with a huge wave of “liberal” voters coming out to support the anointed one.
The issue should be solely on put our country back under the rule of the Constitution, reigning in spending, and lowering taxes.
Perhaps what you are overlooking is that the left has artfully intertwined all of those social issues into spending at the federal government. They did so for the express purpose that you have to support both, the government’s involvement and those particular socially targeted groups.
You can not undo the government aspect without addressing the social issues of those groups backed by the government spending.
If the Tea Party does not understand this, they are doomed to failure.
My response to that ad hominem attack has been:
“I would rather be a Tea Bagger than an Ankle Grabber.”
Social issues pale beside the financial threat to the Republic as we knew it. The very concept of America is at risk with this debt. If we cannot fix it, all the social issues will not matter a whit.
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