The Tea Party Goes To Washington
by Andrew MarcusIt’s official. There is now a Tea Party Caucus in the Congress of the United States of America.
Representative Michelle Bachmann filed the paperwork late last week, and the approval was granted almost immediately:
Response from the Left has been about what you might expect. Steny Hoyer took the opportunity to repeat the race-libel against the Tea Party:
“The Tea Party per se I don’t think is racist.”
“There are obviously, as I said on Sunday, I have seen some virulent racist tracks which I believe are harmful to the public discourse and inconsistent with Americans values. You would have to ask the Tea Party whether they agree with those or not. I mean I don’t know who the tea party is number one. You know, the answer to that question is I think that Joe Biden essentially said the same thing in a different, slightly different way. I don’t have any reason to believe the Tea Party itself is racist.”
When asked his feelings about the newly formed tea party caucus he said, “We’ll see how many of the Republicans join the Tea Party Caucus and see whether or not they want to adopt the Tea Party Agenda.”
There are also voices of caution from within Tea Party circles who do not want to see the Tea Party become an extension of the Republican party. Confidential sources, however, have told me that Mitch McConnell has quietly been traveling around the country raising money against potential Tea Party candidates, and Michael Steele has been almost silent in the face of race-libel charges from elected Democrats and the NAACP, so I don’t think there is much to worry about on that front.
Libertarians in the Tea Party should embrace this caucus for a number of reasons. First of all, even though Bachmann’s office denies this, this caucus could prove to be a formidable rival to the Congressional Progressive Caucus. More importantly though, the next time Democrats and their media organs label the Tea Party as racist, by extension they will be calling identifiable members of congress racists, too. It’s one thing for these race traffickers to ruin the lives and reputations of average plebeians, but they might hesitate to do the same to elected officials.
The Caucus has already attracted several members:
- GOP Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN)
- NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX)
- Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) — the ranking member on the Select Committee on Intelligence who is also running for governor of Michigan.
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121 Comments
First order of duty Constitutional amendment for, None of The Above!
A show of hands please.
Is she one of the only congressman who is not afraid of what the TEA Party represents? The rest seems to be hiding.
Legitimacy is a two-edged sword. How you wield it is what counts. I firmly believe that Michele Bachmann is doing this for genuine reasons, but it could be used against us.
WHO is deleting ALL the comments on BigGovernment??? There were massive amounts of comments on these stories now they're ALL GONE!!!
I'm skeptical about this. I kinda like the Tea Party the way it was, independent.
Good luck and God speed with the new Tea Party Caucus Rep. M. Bachmann.
So will this be the libertarian Paul Tea Party, or the Neo Conservative Palin party?
Stenny Hoyer said:
“The Tea Party per se I don’t think is racist.”
Well, with that being duly noted, I'd like to take issue with the good Mr. Hoyer. I think the Democratic Party IS racist. To the very core. Going back through Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson clear to Jimmah Carter, further back, to FDR and the Ku Klux Klan. They are nothing but a gathering place for racists, and professional party pimps and race baiters. They have built their esteemed party on the backs of colored folks. Their power base, is the poor downtrodden. If those folks are lifted up, the base disappears.
I'd like to see Stenny Hoyer denounce racism, and the NAACP………..
Also skeptical about giving any "leadership" role to politicians when the tea party is about small government.
That said, more power to Palin-wannabe Michelle. She doesn't speak for us, isn't perfect, but is noble in her efforts to do so.
Not to stay on race, but If it's gonna exist, let's have a goal of putting more minorities in that caucus than are in the CBC by 2016!!!!
It will be anything you imagine it to be, just as long as it pisses you off………..
I like this, just as long as it (the Tea Party) doesn't get sucked into the septic system aka D.C..
Folks at the end of the day 70% of the republicans are just progressives. They too are just a bunch of dishonest crooks and they too need to go. Michelle B it seems is the genuine article, i feel however that less than 50 people in congress and senate are actually doing the PEOPLES work. Vote out every incumbent possible and work to defeat every DEMONcrat they have lost their soul.
You might be surprised at how big Michelle's caucus is when they gavel the new congress to order!
No…
It is your worst nightmare
Hahahaha
I know rckmom. They're all disappearing. Must be a technical glitch.
Not really a good idea
This will weed out Rino's
LOL…good one!!
I'm not sure what you are saying, but the two are VERY different, actually polar opposites so the distinction is important. I was there when the movement was started, and I see it being co-opted by the same corporate interests it was against.
How so?
I sincerely hope so.
"It’s one thing for these race traffickers to ruin the lives and reputations of average plebeians, but they might hesitate to do the same to elected officials."
That was a joke, right?
I think your post is confused. Palin is about bigger government and neoconservative war politices. Paul is the one wanting smaller government.
Not sure what to make of it. I think I'll wait and see.
I 'd like to see the evidence behind this. Please do tell.
America Loving Conservatives …
Every Libs nightmare
Small Government…..
Dems will wither away
I really could go on all night
Wow, a troll for each thread. Paul or Palin? You decide, raphi!
can they now also setup a congressional white caucas? if there can be a black caucas, then there should be a white one too. if any rino's join the tea party, break out the tar and feathers, while burning down the caucas chambers. if any progressives show up, tell them there is a progressive tea tax, 99.9 percent, if they don't pay, tell them how un patriotic they are.
"The NAACP per se I don't think is racist…"
-me
The TEA Party is not a political party. It is a group of similar minded Americans who are fed up with politics as usual–smaller government, constitutional principles, and a reliance on "self" first before involving government.
There is no primary leadership group. There is no one that a politician can pay off to buy a vote. It's the perfect world. If you believe the leadership of the democrat and republican parties have lost their way, you are welcome to join in.
Whenever you see a Tea Party candidate, it's a democrat in drag tying to syphon off votes from a republican to let the democrat win.
Lost one of my post yesterday and another again today. Yesterdays post did reappear today.
Well said. Race obsessed IS racist. There is no more racist organization in America! Only progressives and their Dem stooges look at a person and only see "white people". That's racism to the core!
Or it could turn away moderates.
it's congresswoman!
Satan always wants a head she can turn, that is why diversifying as a hydra is so terrifying to the elite.
I second your motion.
While we are at it, I want W.E.T.
White Entertainment Television.
Chll out, raphicle.
I like Bachman, moreso than Palin. Moreso than Paul. All of them have their pros and cons and fall in a different place in the conservative spectrum. None of them are ideal candidates for the majority. Palin is confused, absolutely, and if you are a Paul fan, no wonder you dislike her.
I was just saying Michelle wants to be a leader and followed- good for her!
I was only implying that Bachman wants the love from the public Palin has gotten. In fact, she probably deserves it more. But it's pretty obvious she wants to be the star that Palin is… and that's not a bad thing.
With all due respect, I'd beg to differ with you. The NAACP is racist. To the very core.
Broughten!
WoW!
I'm impressed. You were there when the movement was started. Shall we salute you, or bow?
………" The NAACP is racist. To the very core."
Teabagger !!!!
'
As a Tea Party member, Iliked the spontaneity of the movement but have come to realize you need to work the official levers of power to effectuate change. Phone calls to Senators and letters and protests don't work. Town Halls when caught on video and posted have some effect, sometimes a large one. But raising $ and having the right elected officials is the real endgame. The key is to remain true to the core principles even when in the belly of the beast.
how about a cracker caucas, or cracker ent. tv.? i suppose honky is so 70's
Well, it depends on what your definition of is is. Has it always been a nest of opportunistic, race-baiting vipers?
Oh wait. That's was, not is.
My bad.
Since you asked, you should read some history and understand the what you're talking about.
well, do you mean the national association of african americans, or NAAAA is not racist? i thought we couldn't use colored people any more?
Then I guess it will be our job to remind the Tea Party to stay independent, and to vote out any "caucus" members who decide to drag the Tea Party back into "politics as usual."
Pretty much.
Well by Gawd, if they can call themselves colored people, then so can I.
Yes, but she still has bigger stones then your average DC Republican
"Not to stay on race, but If it's gonna exist, let's have a goal of putting more minorities in that caucus than are in the CBC by 2016!!!! "
While it would be nice, I don't think we should aim for it as an explicit goal. That's how you get people like Sotomayer and Steele.
The White House is racists for sure CowboyL….Most liberals are as they think it PC to be so…the jury is still out on the moderate democrats…
Steny Hoyer is full of BS.
He and Mrs Pelosi authored that memorable op-ed piece in the USA Today saying the Tea Party people were "un-American." Hoyer later recanted. But, I remember. And I will remember in November.
Agreed oreoexpo! I'm just trying to get more love for the candidates who are running now.
Allen West, etc.
Oh yes they are.
Democrats and media have conspired to call anybody they fear a racist. To be feared by Marxists like Obama is a good thing. I don't want to live under the thumb of a Marxist regime…..so call me a racist. Big deal. Bachman is a patriot!!!
I wish they would stop labeling the Tea Party as conservative, I am only conservative when it comes to the government spending and "investing" other peoples money or the government deciding what my rights are in place of the constitution. Hell being for the constitution is radical not conservative.
There are three things I think the tea party should be about:
1) go back to the constitution
2) economic freedom
3) keep our country safe; secure the border and deal honestly with the problem of Islamist terrorism
If we can get the tea party to focus on those and only those, and if we can get those within the tea party to actually do them (take away those welfare benefits, but not MY welfare benefits!), then that is enough work for at least the next decade, without bringing peripheral issues like gay marriage or religion or legalizing drugs into the mix. We all have opinions on these, but arguing over them now is like arguing over the drapes while the house is on fire. Let's put the fire out in America, rebuild the foundations, and then we can go back to arguing about the drapes.
Apparently it has your panties in a wad, and that's good enough for most. Since as you say the two are polar opposite – which is the worst – glass half-empty or half-full? Did the chicken come before the egg? All these clueless questions but I'm certain you'll provide us some entertaining answers. Seriously, I expect you'll be like the chicken who looked across the road and was made part of the pavement.
"……There are also voices of caution from within Tea Party circles who do not want to see the Tea Party become an extension of the Republican party…….."
OK fellow Tea Party members,….
the ball is in our court right now,…….
let's not get star struck,………
I for one would love nothing more than to have a one on one,……..
with any DC Republican S.O.B. who still does not know what we stand for
and tell them where they can stick their little condescending comments.
Steny Hoyer's remarks should be brought to the attention of anyone who made fun of George Bush, Dan Quayle, Sara Palin, etc.
good plan
My 5th grade English teacher would have sent Steny Hoyer to third grade to learn how to form a complete sentence.
is this not an important distinction?
A Great Test for the Tea Party will be how they handle the Liberal Lindsay Gram (R) and John McShamnesty (R). These two guys have to go along with some other RINOs. Let the Tea Party run a candidate against them.
Hmmm. Representation?
Yeah, I like the sound of that.
A day without Bachmann is like a day without sunshine.
"……..I'm not sure what you are saying, but the two are VERY different,……."
but of course you have it all figured out there rappy.,……..
and oh yes,…..you could not have been there when the movement started,………
that would make you around 234 years old
Well known and universal fact. Liberalism is a mental disorder. Everything they think is through a spectrum of race, gender and class. You're exactly right.
This is a first step!
Now, to establish the Caucus' own rules.
The first rule should be that no member of the Tea Party Caucus shall vote for any bill that is paid for with the means to pay for it including the raising of taxes.
The second rule should be that no member of the Tea Party Caucus will vote for any bill that increases the public debt.
Any member of the Caucus that violates these or future rules shall be immediately tarred and feathered and then tossed out of the Caucus onto their heads.
I thought the whole point of the Tea Party was to avoid this political crap and send new face's to DC not to gather the very people (Right & Left) who need to be replaced. I like Bachmann but still believe that voter imposed term limits are the only way to save America!
Amen Brother
How do you suggest that they are by definition 'polar opposites'?
AMEN.
DittO
It's funny how the R's that are on the Rino fence are the ones scurrying away.
God bless the Republican women. They have spines of steel. I sent Michelle Bachman's campaign money today. She's more than earned it.
I think she has something like 8 adopted children, too. Wow.
.
or just as likely will attract them as Reagan did. Perhaps the moderates are more right leaning than we think from the point of view of wanting someone to stand up for something.
Very important, and absolutely wonderful. I champion the Tea Party. However, I won't be lulled into debating a witless troll who believes in the principles and practice of political progressives. Take that up with Huffpo or the Clinton klan.
Exactly, Cowboy. The name of the organization is just as segregationist as Gore Sr., George Wallace, Robert Byrd and Strom Thurmond.
The key is to get them elected at the more local levels than at the federal level.
Tea Party candidates at the local state level will effectuate change more efficiently than anything at the federal level.
Are there no libertarians here?
Allen West is great; and Tim Scott GA looks good, too. Cedra Crenshaw is getting spiked by the IL machine, but is hanging; Star Parker in CA is another who is a real dynamo. Go team.
Herman Cain for president? Why not. He's no squishy Colin Powell that's for sure.
I view it as two time horizons. Over the long term, I think you are right. In the short term, however, we need to stop the march towards socialism at the federal level or it will be game over at all levels. Just my view.
I have done the same. She shows more courage and common sense than any Dem and most of the GOP.
You are only partially correct. The movement is certainly a fiscally conservative movement. It is ambivalent and neutral on the social issues as a matter of it's function, but because of that function, it has an inherent socially conservative-leaning aspect to it. That is, by it's very nature it tends to bleed into the social aspects of life and when it does so, it holds a mostly socially conservative aspect.
The new year of the woman. No liberal women, but conservative women. My hat is off too all of these women standing up for America, and in our founders beliefs and words. Restore the Republic, and we will with these women. This is the kind of change I can believe in.
I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Michelle is gutsy and I like Mike Pence, but the fever that grips DC is toxic. They need an anchor that is outside Washington. I've often thought that we should lessen our reps time in DC. I've never thought "Let's join them in DC."
The point of the Tea Party is to get a government responsive to the will of the people and to stop spending money!
The government has passed legislation that has put this country into a perilous financial position over the objections of the people.
It has been brewing for much longer than Rick Santelli, but he was the spark that ignited it with his rant on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The people are fed up with government spending, the borrowing and the saddling of them, their children and their grandchildren with debt that will never allow future generations to have a better standard of living than this generation has enjoyed.
It's all about the money and the debt we owe! It's about the every aspect of government that flows from that source of anger. The bailouts, entitlement programs, unemployment benefit extensions, housing subsidies, etc. It's about the unnecessary bureaucracy that occupies DC and the piles of money they consume and the larger piles of IOUs that they smother us with.
That's the Tea Party in a nutshell.
Yeah…Like cockroaches when the Light hits 'em.
“The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their Houses, and Farms, are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they consigned to a State of Wretchedness from which no human efforts will probably deliver them. The fate of unborn Millions will now depend, under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this army” — Gen. George Washington, to his troops before the battle of Long Island
Moderates? There aren't any. They just claim they are, makes them feel "safe".
A thousand thumbs up for that one!!
Trust but Verify? Works for me.
Sunshine the best disinfectant
Don't forget the biggest RACIST of all Pres. Wilson
check it out.. .http://boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/07/mass_may_join_e.html http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/ http://facethestate.com/articles/14702-democrats-...
One step at a time
We can't change the system from the outside without bloodshed
I think it's a good start
Sempr Fi
Yes, but God help them and our Constitutional Republic if they ruin this.
What form of government do we have? Do you really know?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DioQooFIcgE&fe
only if we accept your view of the world there rappy,……
oh the good ole days of ah …a year ago .. when the media and pelosi were like … the tea party is nothing !!!!
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