Tea Party movement

The Tea Party is an American populistWhat's Behind The New Populism? NPR, February 5, 2010Tea Party Lights Fuse for Rebellion on Right New York Times, February 16, 2010Party Time Newsweek, April 06, 2010 political movement.  Most people say it is conservative and libertarian.Dick Morris, "The New Republican Right", TheHill.com October 19, 2010See following for information on Tea Party Movement Conservatism:
 Tea party, religious right often overlap, poll shows Washington Post, October 5, 2010
 Sarah Palin's 'mamas': more grisly than grizzly The Guardian, October 25, 2010

The Tea Party:
 has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009,
 wants less government spending,Gallup: Tea Party's top concerns are debt, size of government The Hill, July 5, 2010 
 is against taxation in varying degrees,Tea Party DC March: "Lower Taxes and Less Spending"  Fiscal Times, September 12, 2010 
 wants to reduce the national debt and the federal budget deficit, 
 wants a strict interpretation of the United States Constitution, not changing its meaning to fit modern ideas and advances.

The name "Tea Party" comes from the Boston Tea Party, a protest by colonists who objected to a British tax on tea in 1773.  They demonstrated by dumping British tea taken from docked ships into the harbor.  Some say that the  Tea in "Tea Party" also stands for "Taxed Enough Already".This World: Tea Party America, BBC 2, 1 November 2010

The Tea Party movement has caucuses (groups) in the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States.Senate Tea Party Caucus to Meet Jan. 27  Roll Call, Jan. 14, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-29.  Many of the members of the Tea Party caucus were first elected in the 2010 midterm elections.  Some of them had never held any public office before.

The Tea Party movement has no central leadership but is composed of a loose linking of national and local groups that decide their own platforms and agendas. The Tea Party movement has been cited as an example of grassroots political activity, although it has also been cited as an example of astroturfing.

The Tea Party's most famous national figures include Republican politicians such as Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, and Michele Bachmann. As of 2010, the Tea Party movement is not a national political party, but has endorsed Republican candidates.

A Gallup poll shows almost 80% of Tea Partiers say they are Republicans. Commentators, including Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport, have suggested that the movement is not a new political group but simply a rebranding of traditional Republican candidates and policies.The GOP Takes its Tea; Los Angeles Times; July 25, 2010Five Myths About the Tea Party Slate; August 9, 2010 An October 2010 Washington Post canvass of local Tea Party organizers found 87% saying "dissatisfaction with mainstream Republican Party leaders" was "an important factor in the support the group has received so far".Tea Party canvass results, Category: "What They Believe" A Party Face Washington Post October 24, 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-28.  Though many are opposed to GOP leadership, they are even more opposed to President Obama.  Some members believe that President Obama was not born in the United States (despite a birth certificate showing he was born in Hawaii).

One of the main positions the Tea Party took was against the debt ceiling (the amount of money the U.S. is allowed to borrow).  Many voted against any raising of the debt ceiling.  Others demanded large spending cuts and a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

References

Category:Republican Party (United States)