The Tea Party Platform, in their own words
TheTeaParty.net is a division of Stop This Insanity Inc. and is a national non-profit 501 (c)(4) organization created in 2009 for the education and advancement of the constitutional conservative values of the Tea Party movement. This organization was created to help give the power of government back to the people.
We believe, like many of you, that our government has grown out-of-control in a death spiral of unsustainable and barely imaginable trillion-dollar deficits and a national debt rivaling Gross Domestic Product. This government has ignored the Constitution that defines us; invaded the liberty from which our nation was born; and daily drains away the individuality and entrepreneurial spirit of Americans in order to advance a radical, socialist policy built on the back of American taxpayers. We—like many of you—decided to stand up and do something about it.
The Mission of TheTeaParty.net
First, let us explain what the Tea Party movement actually is. There is no single national “TEA PARTY” organization, so do not let anyone tell you otherwise. This is a truly grassroots Movement embracing many issues and many names—TEA, Patriot, Liberty, Conservative. There are several thousand, completely independent groups across the Nation fighting in their own way to restore our America before it is too late.
Like many of you, we decided to stand up so our children inherit as great a nation as we did—not a socialist paradise crippled by debt. Like many of you, we looked at what we could do, and do well, to make a difference. With so many already in the fight across the nation, we decided to find ways to connect individuals and organizations, to share the message, and, above all, to bring more Americans into this Movement. That is what TheTeaParty.net is about—bringing our shared message to as many Americans as possible, giving them the tools to get involved, and connecting them to others locally to make a difference.
Our mission is to recruit like-minded Americans to the Tea Party movement in order to advance the principles of limited government, fiscal restraint, and individual liberty at all levels of government through promotion and education.
The Tea Party movement is a grassroots movement of millions of like-minded Americans from all backgrounds and political parties. Tea Party members share similar core principles supporting the United States Constitution as the Founders intended, such as:
• Limited federal government
• Individual freedoms
• Personal responsibility
• Free markets
• Returning political power to the states and the people
As a movement, the Tea Party is not a political party nor is looking to form a third political party any time soon. The Tea Party movement is, instead, about reforming all political parties and government so that the core principles of our Founding Fathers become, once again, the foundation upon which America stands.
Doug Ross @ Journal: EXPOSED: The Real Tea Party Platform
directorblue.blogspot.com11/28/12
EXPOSED: The Real Tea Party Platform. Yes, the fabric of our society has unraveled to the point where the following principles are reviled as “extreme” and “right wing” by antique media and the punditry class: Thousands of …
There are a variety of opinions on the subject, but all of them follow this simple structure (taken from the Tea Party Platform – Graph website):
Fiscal Responsibility * Limited Government * Free Market
It has been over 800 days since the United States Senate last passed a budget.
Without a well defined plan, how can the American people trust Congress to make the right decisions to curb the overspending, eliminate the deficit, and begin to pay down our massive debt of $14.4 trillion and counting?
Last night the President of the United States displayed once again that he refuses to put forth an actual plan, written down, in detail, to keep our country from barreling off of a cliff.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives proposed a debt ceiling plan that calls for just over $1 Trillion in deficit reduction over the next 10 years in exchange for an immediate increase in the debt ceiling. In other words, he is willing to cave and give the President a debt ceiling increase in exchange for a promise of cuts over the course of 10 years that are not defined, that WILL NOT eliminate the deficit, that WILL increase our national debt, and will still risk a downgrade of our credit rating. We’ve heard it all before: more current spending in exchange for future promises. The American People are tired of broken promises.
Today on Capitol Hill many supporters of the President in, response to his call to action last night, are pummeling congressional offices with phone calls to let them know to continue with the unsustainable status quo, to raise taxes, and keep feeding the beast. We MUST respond to this and show Congress how the majority of Americans feel.
The mask is off, the curtain drawn back – we have a FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP, in both parties.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
This is no longer about Democrats or Republicans. This is about the future of America. The current crop of politicians have ZERO credibility when it comes to promising to cut spending. Their political careers are more important than their service to their country and those they represent.
DON’T THEY GET IT?? WE DON’T TRUST THEM!
They have NEVER lived up to their promises of cutting spending, and we don’t expect them to do it now.
The President has abdicated his role completely in leading this country and he is focused solely on his reelection campaign.
The Democrats in Congress are playing political games, desperately trying to maintain the bloated and unsustainable size of government, while trying to help the President get reelected.
Republican Leadership is avoiding responsibility, trying to convince the American people with their rhetoric that THIS time we can trust them, while their actions lead us down the same path that the Democrats would like to take us.
This really is a tipping point. It’s time for the politicians in Washington to decide whose team they are on. If the Republicans only care about what is best for the Republican Party and the Democrats only care about what is best for the Democrat Party, then who is looking out for what is best for the American people?
The stakes are high. We must remain resilient because if we don’t stop this spending path of destruction, where will we turn – - if in America – - liberty cannot survive?
Call your Congressmen and Senators and tell them enough is enough. The American people will no longer stand for promises of the future. We demand REAL cuts and REAL action NOW!
the tea party platform: Warning: Don’t Do It!
theteapartyplatform.com11/30/12
This is my advice to Republicans in the Congress. Do not abandon the principles that made you acceptable as a candidate to the millions of Republicans who elected you to hold the line. Those with a modicum of …
The Tea Party movement (TPM) is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009. It endorses reduced government spending, opposition to taxation in varying degrees, reduction of the national debt and federal budget deficit, and adherence to an originalist interpretation of the United States Constitution.
The name “Tea Party” is a reference to the Boston Tea Party, a protest by colonists who objected to a British tax on tea in 1773 and demonstrated by dumping British tea taken from docked ships into the harbor. Some commentators have referred to the Tea in “Tea Party” as the backronym “Taxed Enough Already”.
The Tea Party movement has caucuses in the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States. The Tea Party movement has no central leadership but is composed of a loose affiliation of national and local groups that determine 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 noted national figures include Republican politicians such as Sarah Palin, Dick Armey, and Ron Paul, with Paul described as the “intellectual grandfather” of the movement. As of 2011, the Tea Party movement is not a national political party, but has endorsed Republican candidates. Polls show that most Tea Partiers consider themselves to be 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. 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”.
NY Times: Republican Establishment attacks Tea Party as modern …
www.therightscoop.com12/4/12
Former RNC Research Director David Welch took to the pages of the NY Times to attack the Tea Party and call for more “moderate voices” in the Republican Party. Below are a few highlights, but you can … See the link I left above denbren52. http://twitter.com/BlissDesignz Tabitha Taylor. That would be the Constitution Party.. Check out their Platform. 
http://constitutionparty.com/OurPrinciples/2012Platform/tabid/127/Default.aspx. theresaaa. We no longer need or …
Background and history
The theme of the Boston Tea Party, an iconic event in American history, has long been used by anti-tax protesters. It was part of Tax Day protests held throughout the 1990s and earlier. More recently, the anniversary of the original Boston Tea Party was commemorated by Republican Congressman Ron Paul supporters who held a fund raising event for the 2008 presidential primaries advocating an end to fiat money and the Federal Reserve System, disengaging from foreign entanglements in Iraq and Afghanistan, and upholding States’ rights. Fox News commentator Juan Williams says that the TPM emerged largely as a result of Paul’s 2008 primary campaign, although on-air comments delivered on CNBC by Rick Santelli are credited with inspiring a number of Tea Party-themed websites and events.
Early local protest events
On January 24, 2009, Trevor Leach, chairman of the Young Americans for Liberty in New York State organized a “Tea Party” protest in response to “obesity taxes” proposed by New York Governor David Paterson, and out-of-control spending. Several of the protesters wore Native American headdresses similar to the band of 18th century colonists who dumped tea in Boston Harbor to express outrage about British taxes.
Some of the protests were partially in response to several Federal laws: the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and a series of healthcare reform bills.
New York Times journalist Kate Zernike reported that leaders within the Tea Party credit Seattle blogger and conservative activist Keli Carender with organizing the first Tea Party in February 2009, although the term “Tea Party” was not used. Other articles, written by Chris Good of The Atlantic and NPR’s Martin Kaste, credit Carender as “one of the first” Tea Party organizers and state that she “organized some of the earliest Tea Party-style protests”.
Tea Party Protest, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D.C., 9/12/2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Carender also contacted conservative author and Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin, and asked her to publicize the rally on her blog. Carender then held a second protest on February 27, 2009, reporting “We more than doubled our attendance at this one.”Carender first organized what she called a “Porkulus Protest” in Seattle on Presidents Day, February 16, the day before President Barack Obama signed the stimulus bill into law. Carender said she did it without support from outside groups or city officials. “I just got fed up and planned it.” Carender said 120 people participated. “Which is amazing for the bluest of blue cities I live in, and on only four days notice! This was due to me spending the entire four days calling and emailing every person, think tank, policy center, university professors (that were sympathetic), etc. in town, and not stopping until the day came.”
According to pollster Scott Rasmussen, the bailouts of banks by the Bush and Obama administrations triggered the Tea Party’s rise. The interviewer adds that the movement’s anger centers on two issues, quoting Rasmussen as saying, “They think federal spending, deficits and taxes are too high, and they think no one in Washington is listening to them, and that latter point is really, really important.”
Tea Party vs. Progressive Republicans — Battle for the Soul of the …
www.theblaze.com12/3/12
Specifically, many now wonder what the sobering 2012 election results means for the right-leaning Tea Party, the champions of personal freedom and smaller government who exploded on the political scene in the 2010 midterm elections. The re-election of a progressive like … The group’s mantra of uncompromising fiscal conservatism and limited government has remained a driving force in shaping Republican platform. For proof of this, one need look no further than …
First national protests
On February 19, 2009, in a broadcast from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CNBC Business News editor Rick Santelli criticized the government plan to refinance mortgages, which had just been announced the day before. He said that those plans were “promoting bad behavior” by “subsidizing losers’ mortgages”. He suggested holding a tea party for traders to gather and dump the derivatives in the Chicago River on July 1. A number of the floor traders around him cheered on his proposal, to the amusement of the hosts in the studio. Santelli’s “rant” became a viral video after being featured on the Drudge Report.
tea party (Photo credit: spychic)
In response to Santelli, websites such as ChicagoTeaParty.com (registered in August 2008 by Chicago radio producer Zack Christenson) were live within 12 hours. About 10 hours after Santelli’s remarks, reTeaParty.com was bought to coordinate Tea Parties scheduled for Independence Day and, as of March 4, was reported to be receiving 11,000 visitors a day.
According to The New Yorker writer Ben McGrath and New York Times reporter Kate Zernike, this is where the movement was first inspired to coalesce under the collective banner of “Tea Party”. By the next day, guests on Fox News had already begun to mention this new “Tea Party”.
As reported by The Huffington Post, a Facebook page was developed on February 20 calling for Tea Party protests across the country. Soon, the “Nationwide Chicago Tea Party” protest was coordinated across over 40 different cities for February 27, 2009, thus establishing the first national modern Tea Party protest. The movement has been supported nationally by at least 12 prominent individuals and their associated organizations.
Symbols
Beginning in 2009, the Gadsden flag has become a favorite among the Tea Party movement nationwide, serving as an alternative to the stars and stripes for Tea Party protesters who feel patriotism for their country and are upset at the government. It was also seen being displayed by members of Congress at Tea Party rallies. Some lawmakers have dubbed it a political symbol due to the Tea Party connection, and the political nature of Tea Party supporters.
The Second Revolution flag gained national attention on January 19, 2010. It is a version of the Betsy Ross American flag, with a Roman Numeral II in the center of the circle of 13 stars, symbolizing the second Revolution in America. The Second Revolution flag has been called synonymous with Tea Party causes and events.
Membership and demographics
Several polls have been conducted on the demographics of the movement. Though the various polls sometimes turn up slightly different results, they tend to show that Tea Party supporters are mainly white and slightly more likely to be male, married, older than 45, more conservative than the general population, and likely to be more wealthy and have more education.
One Gallup poll found that other than gender, income and politics, self-described Tea Party members were demographically similar to the population as a whole.
English: Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaking at the New York City Tea Party down in Wall Street (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When surveying supporters or participants of the Tea Party movement, polls have shown that they are to a very great extent more likely to be registered Republican, have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party and an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party. The Bloomberg National Poll of adults 18 and over showed that 40% of Tea Party supporters are 55 or older, compared with 32% of all poll respondents; 79% are white, 61% are men and 44% identify as “born-again” Christians, compared with 75%, 48.5%, and 34% for the general population, respectively.
Canvass and polls
Washington Post national Tea Party canvass
An October 2010 Washington Post canvass of local Tea Party organizers found 11% saying “concern over Obama’s race, religion or ethnic background” was “an important factor in the support the group has received so far”. By comparison, 99% said “concern about the economy” was an “important factor”.
GOP adopts most of Tea Party’s platform
www.conservativeactionalerts.com8/27/12
For the first time, the 2012 Republican Party’s platform committee is adopting most of the planks of the Tea Party’s conservative platform, according to the non-profit organization FreedomWorks. “FreedomWorks applauds the …
STICK A FORK IN THE GOP « The Burning Platform
www.theburningplatform.com12/6/12
Allen West, a black male candidate for the 22nd Congressional District of Florida, ran on a “Tea Party limited government platform” in 2010, and won by a margin of around 20,000 votes over Ron Klein, a white male Democrat.
Concluding thoughts on the Tea Party Platform
National and state polls
Polls have also examined Tea Party supporters’ views on race and racial politics. The University of Washington poll of registered voters in Washington State found that 74% of Tea Party supporters agreed with the statement “while equal opportunity for blacks and minorities to succeed is important, it’s not really the government’s job to guarantee it”, while a CBS/New York Times poll found that 25% think that the administration favors blacks over whites, compared with just 11% of the general public, and that they are more likely to believe Obama was born outside the United States. A seven state study conducted from the University of Washington found that Tea Party movement supporters within those states were “more likely to be racially resentful” than the population as a whole, even when controlling for partisanship and ideology. Of white poll respondents who strongly approve of the Tea Party, only 35% believe that blacks are hard-working, compared to 55% of those strongly opposed to the Tea Party, and 40% of all respondents. However, analysis done by ABC News’ Polling Unit found that views on race “are not significant predictors of support for the Tea Party movement” because they are typical of whites who are very conservative.
Views of supporters
Various polls have also probed Tea Party supporters for their views on a variety of political and controversial issues. A University of Washington poll of 1,695 registered voters in the state of Washington reported that 73% of Tea Party supporters disapprove of Obama’s policy of engaging with Muslim countries, 88% approve of the controversial immigration law recently enacted in Arizona, 82% do not believe that gay and lesbian couples should have the legal right to marry, and that about 52% believed that “lesbians and gays have too much political power”.
English: Tea Party 'Tax Day' protesters, April 15, 2011, Haggerty & Eight Mile Roads, Northville, Michigan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
More than half (52%) of Tea Party supporters told pollsters for CBS/New York Times that they think their own “income taxes this year are fair”. Additionally, a Bloomberg News poll found that Tea Partiers are not against increased government action in all cases. “The ideas that find nearly universal agreement among Tea Party supporters are rather vague,” says J. Ann Selzer, the pollster who created the survey. “You would think any idea that involves more government action would be anathema, and that is just not the case.”
The 2010 midterm elections demonstrated considerable skepticism within the Tea Party movement with respect to the dangers and the reality of global warming. A New York Times/CBS News Poll during the election revealed that only a small percentage of Tea Party supporters considered global warming a serious problem, much less than the portion of the general public that does. Opposition is particularly strong to Cap and Trade with Tea Party supporters vilifying Democratic office holders who supported efforts to mitigate climate change by emissions trading, which would encourage use of fuels that emit less carbon dioxide. An example is the movement’s support of California Proposition 23, which would suspend AB32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The proposition failed to pass, with less than 40% voting in favor.
Many of the movement’s members also hold conservative views on social issues such as illegal immigration. However, political analyst Dick Morris has argued that in a “fundamental change” evangelical or social issues do not dominate the Republican activists in 2010, because “economic and fiscal issues prevail. The Tea Party has made the Republican Party safe for libertarians.”
The Gadsden flag (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Leadership and groups
Morris says the Tea Party is a grassroots movement with no national leadership. “Those who conduct its affairs are mere coordinators of local groups where the real power lies. The entire affair is a grassroots-dominated movement.” He notes that the teapartypatriots.org umbrella group, with more than 2,800 local affiliates, has only seven paid staff members, and a payroll of $50,000 a month.
An October 2010 Washington Post canvass of 647 local Tea Party organizers asked “which national figure best represents your groups?” and got the following responses: no one 34%, Sarah Palin 14%, Glenn Beck 7%, Jim DeMint 6%, Ron Paul 6%, Michele Bachmann 4%.
The success of candidates popular within the Tea Party movement has boosted Sarah Palin’s visibility. Rasmussen and Schoen (2010) conclude that “She is the symbolic leader of the movement, and more than anyone else has helped to shape it.”
The movement has been supported nationally by prominent individuals and organizations, including:
501(c)(4) Non-Profit Organizations:
Tea Party Patriots, an organization with more than 1,000 affiliated groups across the nation that proclaims itself to be the “Official Home of the Tea Party Movement.
Americans For Prosperity, a grassroots organization founded by David H. Koch in 2003, and led by Tim Phillips. The group has over 1 million members in 500 local affiliates, and led protests against health care reform in 2009.
FreedomWorks, an organization led Dick Armey. Like Americans For Prosperity, the group has over 1 million members in 500 local affiliates. It makes local and national candidate endorsements.
Tea Party Express, a national bus tour run by Our Country Deserves Better PAC, itself a conservative political action committee created by Sacramento-based Republican consulting firm Russo, Marsh, and Associates.
For-Profit Businesses:
Tea Party Nation, which sponsored the National Tea Party Convention that was criticized for its $549 ticket price. and because Sarah Palin was apparently paid $100,000 USD for her appearance (which she put towards SarahPAC).
Informal Organizations and Coalitions:
The National Tea Party Federation, formed on April 8, 2010, by several leaders in the Tea Party movement to help spread its message and to respond to critics with a quick, unified response.
The Nationwide Tea Party Coalition, a loose national coalition of several dozen local tea party groups.
Prominent Individuals:
In July 2010, Representative Michele Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican, formed the House congressional Tea Party Caucus. This congressional caucus, which Bachmann chairs, will be devoted to the Tea Party’s stated principles of “fiscal responsibility, adherence to the Constitution, and limited government”. As of August 2, 2010, the caucus consisted of 49 Republican representatives. Jason Chaffetz and Melissa Clouthier accuse them of trying to hijack or co-opt the grassroots Tea Party Movement.
The red "GOP" logo used by the party for its website (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Contract from America
Main article: Contract from America
The Contract from America was the idea of Houston-based lawyer Ryan Hecker. He stated that he developed the concept of creating a grassroots call for reform prior to the April 15, 2009, Tax Day Tea Party rallies. To get his idea off the ground, he launched a website, ContractFromAmerica.com, which encouraged people to offer possible planks for the contract.
1.Identify constitutionality of every new law
2.Reject emissions trading
3.Demand a balanced federal budget
4.Simplify the tax system
5.Audit federal government agencies for waste and constitutionality
6.Limit annual growth in federal spending
7.Repeal the healthcare legislation passed on March 23, 2010
8.Pass an ‘All-of-the-Above’ Energy Policy
9.Reduce Earmarks
10.Reduce Taxes
The Tea Party Patriots have asked both Democrats and Republicans to sign on to the Contract. No Democrats signed on, and the contract met resistance from some Republicans who since created “Commitment to America”. Candidates in the 2010 elections who signed the Contract from America included Utah’s Mike Lee, Nevada’s Sharron Angle, Sen. Coburn (R-OK), and Sen. DeMint (R-SC).
Foreign policy
In an August 2010 article for Foreign Policy magazine, Ron Paul outlined foreign policy views the Tea Party movement should emphasize: “I see tremendous opportunities for movements like the Tea Party to prosper by capitalizing on the Democrats’ broken promises to overturn the George W. Bush administration’s civil liberties abuses and end the disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A return to the traditional U.S. foreign policy of active private engagement but government noninterventionism is the only alternative that can restore our moral and fiscal health.”
tea party! (264/365) (Photo credit: reallyboring)
Walter Russell Mead analyzes the foreign policy views of the Tea Party movement in a 2011 essay published in Foreign Affairs. Mead says that Jacksonian populists, such as the Tea Party, combine a belief in American exceptionalism and its role in the world with skepticism of American’s “ability to create a liberal world order”.
When necessary, they favor total war and unconditional surrender over “limited wars for limited goals”. Mead identifies two main trends, one somewhat personified by Ron Paul and the other by Sarah Palin. “Paulites” have a Jeffersonian, “neo-isolationist” approach that seeks to avoid foreign military involvement. “Palinites”, while seeking to avoid being drawn into unnecessary conflicts, favor a more aggressive response to maintaining America’s primacy in international relations. Mead says that both groups share a distaste for “liberal internationalism”.
Fundraising and support
Sarah Palin headlined four “Liberty at the Ballot Box” bus tours, to raise money for candidates and the Tea Party Express. One of the tours visited 30 towns and covered 3,000 miles. Following the formation of the Tea Party Caucus, Michele Bachmann raised $10 million for a political action committee, MichelePAC, and sent funds to the campaigns of Sharron Angle, Christine O’Donnell, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio. In September 2010, the Tea Party Patriots announced it had received a $1,000,000 USD donation from an anonymous donor.
Impact on the 2012 election cycle
In February 2011, the Tea Party Patriots organized and hosted the American Policy Summit in Phoenix, Arizona. The 1,600 attendees were polled regarding their preference for a 2012 presidential candidate. Georgia radio host Herman Cain, the first of the 2012 candidates to form a presidential exploratory committee, won the poll with 22%. Runners up were Tim Pawlenty (16%), Ron Paul (15%) and Sarah Palin (10%). Ron Paul won the Summit’s online poll.
Public opinion
A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted in March 2010, found that 28% of those surveyed considered themselves supporters of the Tea Party movement, 26% were opponents, and 46% were neither. These figures have remained stable through January 2011, as has public opinion of the movement. In the USA Today/Gallup poll conducted in January 2011, approximately 70% of adults, including approximately 9 out of 10 Republicans, feel Republican leaders in Congress should give consideration to Tea Party movement ideas. A CBS News/New York Times poll in September 2010, showed 19% of respondents supported the movement, 63% did not, and 16% said they did not know. In the same poll, 29% had an unfavorable view of the Tea Party, compared to 23% with a favorable view. The Center for American Progress, a progressive group, used this poll to assert that the Tea Party movement holds views that differ from those the general public. The Tea Party differed on views related to Roe v. Wade, income taxes, and Obama. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll later the same month found 27% considered themselves Tea Party supporters. In that poll, 42% said the Tea Party has been good for the U.S. political system; 18% called it a bad thing. Those with an unfavorable view of the Tea Party outnumbered those with a favorable view 36–30%. In comparison, the Democratic Party was viewed unfavorably by a 42–37% margin, and the Republican Party by 43–31%.
A poll conducted by Quinnipiac University found that only 13% of national adults identified themselves as part of the Tea Party movement but that the Tea Party had a positive opinion by a 28–23% margin with 49% who do not know. A similar poll conducted by the Winston Group found that 17% of American registered voters consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement.
As a grass-roots movement the American Tea Party’s goals and aspirations vary somewhat by location, but the general ideas held by all are simple.
