The TEA Party Is The Most Powerful Organization In America And Getting More Powerful Every Day

The tea-party convention

 

The growing power of the tea-party movement will make it hard for Republican politicians to compromise with the president

Feb 11th 2010 | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | From The Economist print edition

 MAKING a virtue of a necessity, Barack Obama has talked endlessly in recent weeks about the wonders of bipartisanship. He has to, now that the Republicans’ capture of Ted Kennedy’s old seat in the Senate last month has deprived the Democrats of the supermajority they were banking on in order to enact much of their legislative programme. Mr Obama has invited congressional leaders from both parties to a summit on health reform at the end of the month. And on February 9th he appealed for both sides to transcend “petty politics” and reach for compromise.
Will they? Democrats and Republicans pay lip service to bipartisanship all the time. But the Republicans have two good reasons not to heed the president’s plea right now. The first reason is that it suits them nicely to keep the Democrats in Congress floundering as November’s mid-term election approaches. The second reason is the tea-party movement.
A year ago this movement did not exist. Now it is by some accounts the most potent force in American politics. So when the “Tea Party Nation” began its first national convention in Nashville, Tennessee, on February 4th, Republicans paid particular attention. The event’s grand finale was a tirade against Barack Obama by the movement’s unofficial patron saint, Sarah Palin, who now says that she might run for president in 2012. But although the former governor and self-described “hockey mom” from Alaska captured the headlines, she was shrewd enough not to claim leadership of a movement that is suspicious of leaders. The bigger message to the Republicans from Nashville was this: whatever else they may or may not stand for, tea-partiers do not want to see Republicans making compromises in Washington.
Even after a long weekend of speeches and workshops in Nashville, the precise composition, aims and ideology of this movement remain hard to pin down. That is because the tea-party is precisely what its supporters say it is: not an artificial “Astroturf” creation of the Republican Party, but a genuine grassroots movement, highly decentralised and composed of many people who have not participated in politics before. They have no agreed platform and no unified national organisation: the Tea Party Nation is itself only one of many tea-party organisations that have sprung up spontaneously around America. These people are learning their trade, honing their tactics and defining their politics as they go along.

One thing that became clear in Nashville however was that the 600 or so solid conservative types, mostly middle-aged and many of them women, who shelled out $549 for a ticket to attend were not interested in minor modifications of Mr Obama’s health plan, budget or cap-and-trade legislation. As a name that harks back to the Boston Tea Party suggests, they see themselves as revolutionaries, or counter-revolutionaries. They want to “take back” an America which they say has been going wrong for generations as successive administrations have bloated the federal government and trampled on the constitution and the rights of states and individuals. Many of those attending said that Mr Obama’s election and big-spending, deficit-expanding first year had been a sort of negative epiphany. “Suddenly I’m awake,” said Kathleen Gotto from Colorado Springs, who had not previously been involved in politics.
Tom Tancredo, a former congressman and presidential candidate from Colorado, caught the mood and earned thunderous applause for thanking God that Mr Obama had defeated John McCain in 2008. Had Mr McCain won, America would have continued the long drift to the left that set in with Franklin Roosevelt. For decades, he said, Americans had been like the proverbial frog, boiling unawares by slow degrees in the cauldron of the nanny state. But when voters who could “not even spell the word ‘vote’ or say it in English” put that “socialist ideologue”, Barack Hussein (Mr Tancredo’s emphasis) Obama, into the White House, he turned the heat up so high that voters at last woke up to what was happening and started to jump out of the cauldron.
If the tea-party movement confined itself to venting steam in speeches, it might not present such a potent challenge to established politics. But it can mobilise big numbers: tens of thousands of supporters (tea-partiers claim a million or so) rallied in Washington, DC, last September. And now it is moving beyond rallies to a hard focus on elections. Much of the Nashville event was devoted to teaching the fired-up newbies practical skills, such as using Facebook and Twitter to spread the word, raise money and get out the vote so that “true conservatives” could challenge Democrats and RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) in local elections and primaries.
The organisers promised to set up a political action committee to recruit and support candidates who would champion fiscal responsibility, lower taxes, smaller government and national security. Tea-partiers have already claimed scalps. They forced a moderate Republican out of the race for New York’s 23rd congressional district last year (though the perverse result was that this allowed a Democrat to win in a normally safe Republican seat), and claim the credit for electing Scott Brown last month in Massachusetts.
Plainly, any congressional Republican tempted to betray the counter-revolution by heeding Mr Obama’s calls for compromise would be a prime target for attack. But if it is dangerous for Republicans to antagonise the tea-partiers, is it also dangerous to flirt with them?
For all the talk about practical electioneering, some of those in Nashville teetered on the edge of the extreme and wacky. Thus the newly awakened Ms Gotto said she was researching Mr Obama’s family records for evidence that he was not eligible to be president. Mr Tancredo denounced the “cult of multiculturalism” and accused immigrants of swamping America’s Judeo-Christian values. “This is our country,” he declared to wild cheers, “Take it back!” Andrew Breitbart, the founder of a news site (Breitbart.com), railed in a speech against the hostile “mainstream media” in hock to the far left. At one point he had almost the entire audience on its feet, turned to the reporters and cameramen at the back of the room, pumping fists and yelling “USA, USA”.
Such displays may fire up angry conservatives, but they are also in danger of repelling voters in the centre. Republicans ignore tea-partiers at their peril. Embracing them may be no less dangerous.

For Once They Didn't Blame Bush

How Obama And Biden Fought The Surge

As we have often noted before (see the related articles links below), Messrs Obama and Biden fought our winning strategy in Iraq – tooth and nail.
A fact you would never guess from Mr. Obama’s remarks yesterday at Camp Lejeune.
But here is another gentle reminder about their prescience, via YouTube:

Obama’s Hypocrisy On Iraq Success

Remember, we were supposed to ignore Mr. Obama’s stunning lack of experience because he has such excellent “judgment.”
Well, he was wrong about the surge. And his choice of a Vice President was not too stellar either.
So when have we ever seen any evidence of this alleged sound judgment?

Say what? Yes, the dumbest Vice President and “one heartbeat away” from the Presidency of the United States appeared on Larry King Live last night claiming that Iraq

“could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You’re going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You’re going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government.”

Even more from ABC:

The vice president said he’d been to Iraq 17 times and visits the country every three months or so. “I know every one of the major players in all the segments of that society” he said. “It’s impressed me. I’ve been impressed how they have been deciding to use the political process rather than guns to settle their differences.”
At the briefing today, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked about Biden calling Iraq one of the great potential achievements of the Obama administration given that Biden had previously advocated that the country should be divided into thirds and split among Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis, and then-Sen. Obama opposing the surge of US troops that many experts argue helped bring stability that allowed the reconciliation process to continue.
In fact, in January 2007 then-Sen. Obama said that he was “not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence. In fact, I think it will do the reverse.”
Gibbs said the achievement was “putting what was broken back together and getting our troops home, which we intend to do in August of this year.”
A reporter pointed out that the Status of Forces Agreement to bring troops home was signed before the president took office.
Gibbs called that agreement “something I think that the political pressure that the president, as a then-candidate, helped to bring about.”
The nation “will long debate Iraq,” Gibbs said. “We will long debate whether at a very important moment in our effort to root out terrorism, particularly in Afghanistan and in that border region with Pakistan, whether we took our eye off the ball. I think historians will debate that long after we are gone.” Gibbs suggested that by invading Iraq the US was “occupy(ing) a country that until we got there didn’t have a single member of Al Qaida,” and taking its eye off the ball.
Gibbs said that “the vice president’s been deeply involved in fixing the political process there so that elections can be held and so that our troops can come home as scheduled this summer.”                                                                                                                           Now while the left are bitching and moaning over the fact that some Republicans showed up to the ribbon cutting ceramonies for Stimulus based pojects. Obama and Joe Biden are taking creadit for winning in the Iraq war they said wouldn't work. And up until Obama became President he said he would pull out of Iraq  ASAP. Talk about hypocracy and just plain snakes. They take creadit for what Bush did and they fought tooth and nail against. We see how these political shisters are now and this is the lowest of the low. How can they go around acting like they did the good they didn't do and then blame all the bad they did on the group that didn't have the power to do what they accused them of doing? We have a president and VP without honor. Our military men and women are in big trouble knowing that these two men are in charge of their lives and wellbeing. This isn't a funny matter but it shows us the characture of the people that are in charge of this country. But the left wing kool-aid drinkers will be out in force protecting these dishonorable men while making a big deal about Republicans showing up for ribbon cutting ceramonies to civil projects that came from the taxpayers not the Democratic Party. I am ashamed to the max of Joe and 'H' and everyone should be. Pray for these men in charge of our country. They need it. Maybe if Obama went to Church more then 3 times last year he would know the difference between right and wrong, but that is another story.

Obamas Poll Numbers Are Doing Great. Keep It Up President Obama.

A pair of polls released today show that the electorate continues to sour on Barack Obama and his agenda after the State of the Union address.  Quinnipiac’s survey of over 2600 registered voters produces a 45% approval rating with a 46% disapproval, the highest yet from Quinnipiac.  Trust in government has plunged as well:

American voters remain deeply divided about President Barack Obama’s job performance, giving him a 45 – 46 percent job approval, but disapproval of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress tops 2-1. This could explain why only 2 percent trust government to do what is right almost all of the time, and 16 percent trust government to do right most of the time, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
While President Obama’s ratings on the economy and job creation remain low, voters strongly support the steps he has proposed to put Americans back to work, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University survey finds.
American voters still disapprove 54 – 35 percent of Obama’s health care reform plan, but they say 52 – 44 percent they want Congress and the President to keep trying on health care reform rather than giving up and moving on to other matters.

But how exactly do people want Obama and the GOP to continue working on health-care reform?  Rasmussen’s survey of likely voters says a wide majority wants to shred the current ObamaCare proposals and start from scratch:

President Obama this week called for a televised bipartisan summit to get his health care reform plan back on track, but 61% of U.S. voters say Congress should scrap that plan and start all over again.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds just 28% who think it is better to build on the health care plan that has been working its way through the House and Senate.
Support for and opposition to the existing plan remain at the same levels they’ve been at since just after Thanksgiving.

The Rasmussen numbers on ObamaCare look about the same as Quinnipiac, 58-39 opposed.  Majorities in every age and income demographic support starting over from scratch, as well as 66% of independents.  Democrats support building on current proposals, but only by a 53/35 majority.
The internals of Obama’s approval ratings look increasingly desperate.  Independents disapprove 40/49, as do middle class voters 41/51 ($50-100K) and 43/54 ($100K-250K).  He has now lost Catholics, 41/52, while Jewish voters split evenly 49/49 — which are two big red flags among- usually loyal Democratic groups, especially the latter.
Obama has now gotten two bad days of polling news, and one thing is clear: attempting to pose as bipartisan at the House Republican Caucus meeting and in the State of the Union speech did Obama no long-term good at all.  Voters still dislike Obama’s policies, and his demand for Republican cooperation hasn’t rallied anyone to his standard.  Republicans apparently managed to win the long-term argument from those appearances — which should give them confidence in standing their ground and continuing the debate.

Dean: Republicans 'Don't Believe in Science'

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: With some climate-change skeptics using the record snowfall totals to argue that global warming doesn’t exist -- the family of Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., built an igloo near the Capitol and labeled it “Al Gore’s New Home” -- former DNC Chairman Howard Dean today blasted back.

In an interview with ABC News, Dean said this attitude reflects a GOP rejection of science.

“One of the most disturbing things about the Republican Party over the last couple of decades is that just they don’t believe in science any more. And that is not an approach that is likely to generate any kind of creative thinking,” Dean said.                                                                                                                                                            They told us the science was in and the debate was over. Well the science was fake and the debate is on again. But this doesn't follow the Progressive agenda. While the Republicans wanted the data that backed the science. They gave us voodoo cult science. The only ones that are fighting like it's the end of their religion are the American Progressives. The rest of the world is looking at this as criminal but the Democrats are pushing on harder then ever. Why would they be holding on to this made up voodoo science? Well they have a dog in the race. And a lot of money and power to be gained. That is why they are fighting so hard to keep the lie alive. The progressive minion are just too involved and put their name to that cause to just give it up. Their reality is changing and they can't stand the change that is coming. People will be making fun of those bleeding heart liberals that bought the whole global warming cult theology. When we say that global warming doesn't exist it's like saying their god isn't real. Theories come and go all the time. We need to ask why are the emotions so high on this theory if that is what it is to them? They act more like religious zelots then supporters of a disproved theory. When the data for the cold fusion experiment was found out to be false it was all thrown out. And then they started over again. That is what needs to happen with this theory. And because there is so much involved in this hoax there also needs to be the posibility that criminal actions be made if neglegence is found. In Time Megazine 1974 they had all the scientific evidance of a coming ice age. Lets look at this with cool heads and some common sense. Instead of just jumping into a progressive tax that will further harm Americans to futher a lost cause like global warming.

Read His Lips "Not One Dime" when it comes to taxing the middle class

President Obama says he is now "agnostic" about raising taxes on households making under $250,000 a year to help cut budget deficits, signaling a possible retreat from a campaign pledge.

In an interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek on newsstands Friday, Obama said a presidential budget commission needs to look at all options for deficit reduction - including tax increases and cuts in spending on such programs as Social Security and Medicare.

"The whole point of it is to make sure that all ideas are on the table," Obama said. "So what I want to do is to be completely agnostic, in terms of solutions."

Obama repeatedly vowed during the 2008 campaign to spare households earning less than $250,000 a year from tax increases.

When top economic officials last August suggested going back on the pledge, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs quickly reiterated the promise.

Meanwhile, Obama Wednesday won over skeptical African-American leaders who agreed to join his effort to get Congress to pass a jobs bill.

At times, black leaders have criticized Obama for failing to address their community's hardships, but they insisted they put all that aside yesterday.

"I think he feels the gravity of the problem, and not exclusively as an African-American problem but as a problem for all people out of work. We need a jobs bill," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who braved the blizzard here to attend the Oval Office session.
NAACP President Benjamin Jealous compared Senate Republicans with the Dixiecrats who 40 years ago blocked civil rights legislation. "If the Senate Republicans want to kind of keep on using tactics ... from the last century that were used against black people in this century, against working people, then we're going to hold them to account," he said.
Sharpton noted unemployment has hit African-Americans harder, but said the meeting was not a gripe session to complain that Obama has forgotten his own.
"He's focused on lifting everybody equally. There's not going to be an African-American jobs bill," Sharpton said.

May We Never Forget 9/11 Nor Should We Act Like 9/10

Don't forget what our country looked like because of the Islamic terrorist. Even if the Democrats have forgot we the people need to remind them. We all paid a big price that day and after. If we act like 9/10 another 9/11 is sure to follow.

The Man-made Global Warming Hoax

The Man-made Global Warming Hoax (Part 1)

Although Al Gore and his media cronies endlessly bleat that "global warming" is an unprecedented global crisis, they really think of it as a dream come true. Why? Because "global warming" is the ideal scare campaign for leftist demagogues like Gore who are doing all they can to secure strict control over the economy and the minutest details of individual life. But now, in The Man-Made Global Warming Hoax tears the cover off the Left's manipulation of environmental issues for political purposes, and lays out incontrovertible evidence for the fact that global warming is just more Chicken-Little hysteria, not actual science. If you global warming religious fanatics want to do something then pay for it youself. Why should we pay for your false religion?

 

Global Warming Summit Cancelled Due To An Act Of God

It's cold because it's warm...

Department of Commerce news release announcing the new “climate service" actually said the following, "More and more Americans are witnessing the impacts of climate change in their own backyards..."  Can you believe these global warming fanatics? They want us to believe everything that happens is global warmings fault. As more and more evidence piles up of the massive hoax/scam that many at the top have pulled they want us to keep believing them. I don't know who is dumber the person selling this global warming or the people that are buying it. That like someone saying that Toyotas are the best and safest cars in the world right after one of the largest recalls in history. The next time you hear global warming come out of someones mouth just laugh right in their face. That should shut them up for a change. Oh, and for all of you global warming glass lickers God is in charge of the temperature more then we are. And we are all laughing at the way God has put you global warming fanatics in your place this year. Only all these acts of God,not acts of man, could do this in every city you have been in with you summits.

Obama and the Democrats Fiddle While America Burns

 Yeh I know Bush did it. He did the debt and Obama just made it bigger. Whatever! While the left are playing political games about the Tea Party,Sarah Palin and all the other BS China is making a threat to destable our economy if we don't get out of Taiwan our friend. Thanks to Bush,Obama and the Democrats in Congress we are being held hostage by the debt holders. If China sells our debt we will be in the greatest depression. But Gibbs is playing funny with his Sarah Palin jokes. Obama keeps playing the Washington politial games of blame. And the media is trying to find ways to get Sarah Palin and the Tea Parties. These idiots in Washington better start taking this stuff serious. The reccession isn't ending and they want to add almost $2 trillion more in debt. All this and the left keep proping up their Party. While the Progressives are defining us in the Tea Party as racist,dumb,hatemongers. We are the only ones that can define who we are. We are Democrats,Republicans,Libertarians and Independents. One thing we all in the TEA Party agree with is that we need to be fiscally responsable,smaller government and we believe in the Constitution. The only people that don't agree with those three things are Progressives. We need to find fiscally conservative people to run and win. We need to get rid of everyone in Washington that is calling for a raise in the national debt to China. Get involed or we will have China breathing heavier down our backs and calling the shots in American policy. And thanks to Bush,Obama and Congress they gave away America. It's time to stop fiddling and start doing something that has worked instead of doing things that have never worked other then in  a Progressives warped  minds.