Tea Party Celebrates Fifth Anniversary

[Dos Equis]

Happy Birthday.   

Tea Party Celebrates Fifth Anniversary
Wednesday, 19 Feb 2014
By Courtney Coren

Wednesday marks the fifth anniversary of the modern tea party movement, which began with a single rant from CNBC's Rick Santelli on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

"A lot of people have been credited with starting the modern-day tea party but make no mistake, it was Rick Santelli," conservative talk show host Glenn Beck said  in an email to Business Insider. "His off the cuff monologue spoke the words that millions of Americans felt but could not nor dare not speak."

Santelli was ranting, as he is known to do on CNBC, on Feb. 19, 2009 about the homeowner bailout that was being proposed by the Obama administration.

"We're thinking of having a Chicago tea party in July," Santelli said in 2009. "All you capitalists that want to show up to Lake Michigan, I'm going to start organizing."

In 2010, Santelli called the rant the "best five minutes of my life."

He told Business Insider that he doesn't "feel any differently now."

"Lots of people, companies and agencies played a role but that day I was focused on the homeowners that failed in their personal financial responsibility," he said. "It was about contract law and about the government promoting bad behavior."

Santelli said he thinks that he "said something that lit the fuse" that led to the modern-day tea party movement.

"I was fed up, the country was fed up ... taxpayers were on the hook after the credit bubble popped," Santelli said.

The tea party is credited for fueling the GOP's win in the House in 2010 and still remains a force in the Republican Party and politics.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/tea-party-CNBC-Rick-Santelli-fifth/2014/02/19/id/553593#ixzz2toVJVr8p

[240 is Back]

they peaked in 2 years and have been a footnote ever since.  it's a shame, because their fiscal message was a great one.

however, their inability to enact change within the system was their downfall, IMO.  They couldn't work with dems and moderates to bring them in.  Instead, it was zero compromise.  They shut it down, but what did that achieve?  Repubs quietly removed the re-election funds and let the tea parties all lose in their primary 2 years later.

I don't like career politicians, but some of the people that won office... grown men in congress screaming "shut it down!" because they wanted to inflame the base, and they probably didnt know all the ramifications of doing so... military and disabled folks not getting their checks, etc. 

So maybe they'll try it again in a few years.   Call themselves something else, bring the financial responsibility issue, but bring better candidates.  Oh, and keep the party STRICTLY about fiscal things.  The moment extremism in other areas entered the tea party brochure, half their membership left.  I mean, strict constitutionalists say "keep the govt out of it!" while strict religious people say "i want the govt to intervene on a number of social issues, overriding what the states want!"

Those two VERY different mindsets put an instant line down the tea party.  At least the dems agree - they're all shitbird libs who love govt being involved and legalizing everything they agree with.  40% every time, they got it.  But the tea party - they were cut down the middle by this, IMO. 

so next time - stick to the fiscal and get more qualified people that will fix things within the system, not exist simply to break things they don't konw how to fix.

[FredHayekowski]

Santelli, the putative father of the Tea Party, had a televised fit b/c a gov. solution was offered to those in tanking mortgages.

Let's rephrase that.  A multi-millionaire broker / trader predicted tyranny and Cuba-style communism if mortgage based relief was granted to those devastated by the economic collapse.

Let's amplify that.  The speculative traders and brokers and financial experts, of which Santelli is a card carrying member, that actually created the economic disaster are calling for the punishment of the victims of that crime.  As if.

Then right wing 'grass roots' efforts wholly financed by big moneyed republican interests started to spring up.  

Then costumed citizens started showing up at these events positing themselves as concerned Americans for a government gone awry (where were they the past 8 years?) while calling for secession from the US (in Texas of course).

They are wholly ignorant of economics, government and history.  That's not a disparaging comment. It's descriptive.
Happy Birthday indeed.

[JOHN MATRIX]

Both of you two spouting the standard liberal party line i see.

'Waaaa the mean Tea Party wont play along and do everything the dems wantscompromise!!! They 'shut down the government'!! They want 'crazy, radical ' things like sticking to the constitution, financial responsibility, and limiting the size and power of the federal government!!! Omg how HORRIBLE is that!! Waaaaaaaaa!

Hahaha what a bunch of obama pajamas wearing tools

[240 is Back]

they owned the House.  And they didn't get results. 

Whether they didn't have the know-how, the discipline, I dunno... but looking back... did they actually change anything?

I like the fiscal idea, but I think they were infiltrated with so many social wedge issues that they fell apart.  And, I can't recall any awesome legislation they wrote which fixed things.

Blame the dems, but when you own the house and the american public is on your side, you oughta be able to capitalize upon it.  Heck, by 2012 their influence was so weak that a shit RINO like Romney was able to beat every self-proclaimed tea party favorite.   

[JOHN MATRIX]

You cant 'get anything done' if you only control one of the 3 branches of government

[Dos Equis]

Coulter: 'Shysters' Claiming to Represent Tea Party Hurt GOP
Thursday, 20 Feb 2014
By Greg Richter

Ann Coulter says she supports the tea party but isn't convinced all the people who claim the title are legitimate.

"There are shysters," the conservative author said Wednesday on Fox News Channel's "Hannity." "Don't trust anyone saying they are trying to defeat 'establishment Republicans.'"

"Of course, I love the tea party," Coulter said, but she limits them mostly to people in the "heart of America" who want to see change. She said tea party groups such as the Senate Conservatives Fund are just trying to bilk donors of their money.

Rather than focusing on defeating Republicans, the tea party should focus on getting a majority in the Senate, Coulter said.

"If it weren't for shysters running against 'establishment Republicans' we would have 51 Republicans Senators right now," she told host Sean Hannity. "One big election this year and we would have a veto-proof majority. So thank you, shysters and con men."

Repealing Obamacare should be the tea party's main goal, Coulter said.

"Keep your eye on the ball. It is going to wreck the country," she said, adding that the healthcare law will not, as some Republicans believe, fall of its own weight.

"Public education sucks, and that hasn't fallen on its own," she said, and neither have the subway system, airport security or the Internal Revenue Service.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Ann-Coulter-Sean-Hannity/2014/02/20/id/553710#ixzz2tsrBT6TZ

[RRKore]

You cant 'get anything done' if you only control one of the 3 branches of government

I'd add that, for one thing, the Republicans as a whole don't really own the legislative branch (yet).  Just The House. 

The other thing, and this has been pretty big, is that the Tea Party faction doesn't cooperate so well (and that's putting it nicely) with the mainstream Repubs. 

This seems to hurt overall Republican chances of "getting anything done" more than almost anything else, it seems to me.

[RRKore]

My comment is lame because it doesn't say anything more than what blacken and BB aleady said, lol.   Sorry.

[JOHN MATRIX]

I'd add that, for one thing, the Republicans as a whole don't really own the legislative branch (yet).  Just The House. 

The other thing, and this has been pretty big, is that the Tea Party faction doesn't cooperate so well (and that's putting it nicely) with the mainstream Repubs. 

This seems to hurt overall Republican chances of "getting anything done" more than almost anything else, it seems to me.

True even in the house they are the minority to the establishment GOP, which is truly a seperate party at this point. They basically just go along with whatever the dems want, after feigning a half hearted attempt to 'fight it'.

Id say the TP are the only ones actually trying to 'get anything done' for the good of the country, there just arent enough of them yet.

The dems and their toothless GOP collaborators are pulling the country as far left as they can, driving it further and further into debt, weakness and decline.

The TP is the only one of them opposing open borders and the surrender of US national sovereignty

[240 is Back]

You cant 'get anything done' if you only control one of the 3 branches of government

true.   they coulnd't stop obamacrapcare.

[240 is Back]

The TP is the only one of them opposing open borders and the surrender of US national sovereignty

I dunno... palin and Rubio and Rand Paul are all "tea party favorites" or were, very recently.

All 3 have made some pretty pro-amesty statements.

Cruz might be the only anti-amnesty, major profile, tea partier left.

[JOHN MATRIX]

I dunno... palin and Rubio and Rand Paul are all "tea party favorites" or were, very recently.

All 3 have made some pretty pro-amesty statements.

Cruz might be the only anti-amnesty, major profile, tea partier left.

True, once in power most people fold to the temptation and embrace the establishment. Palin i never considered much more than a distraction, shes not the brightest bulb. Rubio is a dork, like you say looks like a confused kid half the time. Paul's stances lately are a bit puzzling...

This is what is so rare about Cruz...hes doing exactly what he campaigned to do. He doing what he said he would do. Hes standing up for the right thing, sticking to his principles, even in the face of immense heat and slander  from all sides.

This is why so many have rallied around him and support him, and also why he has struck such a nerve with his opponents. He isnt folding or selling out, he is instead methodically pointing out the problems and wrongness of the usual politics, and this is i furiating the establishment on both sides

[dario73]

they owned the House.  And they didn't get results. 
  

Better than the result obtained by Democrats who controlled Congress for a few years.

Their result: Flush the nation down the toilet.

[FredHayekowski]

Both of you two spouting the standard liberal party line i see.

...

I can see your reservation about my post.  It's based on critical thinking which to you seems to be carrying the liberal line.   

Your authoritarian slip is showing.

Cutting every safety net program is not financial responsibility.  That is reactionary bollocks sold to you by the people financing your propaganda (not a negative word in the days of Bernays).

If you could point out a constitutional argument of the tea party that's not insane, that might be a good starting point for discussion.

The federal government is huge and it's not going back in size.  I suggest you find ways to make it run better rather than trying to shrink it to the size where you can drown it...you know what I mean.  The size of government is never going to return to its halcyon days of the 1700s where, apparently all of the tea baggers reside in their collective minds.
 

[headhuntersix]

True, once in power most people fold to the temptation and embrace the establishment. Palin i never considered much more than a distraction, shes not the brightest bulb. Rubio is a dork, like you say looks like a confused kid half the time. Paul's stances lately are a bit puzzling...

This is what is so rare about Cruz...hes doing exactly what he campaigned to do. He doing what he said he would do. Hes standing up for the right thing, sticking to his principles, even in the face of immense heat and slander  from all sides.

This is why so many have rallied around him and support him, and also why he has struck such a nerve with his opponents. He isnt folding or selling out, he is instead methodically pointing out the problems and wrongness of the usual politics, and this is i furiating the establishment on both sides

That's why people either love him or hate him. I guess he figured he was elected for a reason...

[FredHayekowski]

Coulter: 'Shysters' Claiming to Represent Tea Party Hurt GOP
Thursday, 20 Feb 2014
By Greg Richter

Ann Coulter says she supports the tea party but isn't convinced all the people who claim the title are legitimate.

"There are shysters," the conservative author said Wednesday on Fox News Channel's "Hannity." "Don't trust anyone saying they are trying to defeat 'establishment Republicans.'"

"Of course, I love the tea party," Coulter said, but she limits them mostly to people in the "heart of America" who want to see change. She said tea party groups such as the Senate Conservatives Fund are just trying to bilk donors of their money.

Rather than focusing on defeating Republicans, the tea party should focus on getting a majority in the Senate, Coulter said.

"If it weren't for shysters running against 'establishment Republicans' we would have 51 Republicans Senators right now," she told host Sean Hannity. "One big election this year and we would have a veto-proof majority. So thank you, shysters and con men."

Repealing Obamacare should be the tea party's main goal, Coulter said.

"Keep your eye on the ball. It is going to wreck the country," she said, adding that the healthcare law will not, as some Republicans believe, fall of its own weight.

"Public education sucks, and that hasn't fallen on its own," she said, and neither have the subway system, airport security or the Internal Revenue Service.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Ann-Coulter-Sean-Hannity/2014/02/20/id/553710#ixzz2tsrBT6TZ

Do you have an opinion or do you just post other people's opinions?  I mean these articles you post bad-mouthing the government and the USA has sort of anti-American sentiments blaming public education, the IRS, or, for some reason airports and subways. 

This government has been on a crash course since "Rainbow Ronnie" drove it into the ground, but American education and the subway system are not the cause of the breakdown.  Neither is the post office, the IRS, Social Security, or Medicare.

[FredHayekowski]

true.   they coulnd't stop obamacrapcare.

You don't say.  A Heritage Foundation republican healthcare coverage plan is crapola???  I am shocked there's gambling in Vegas.

[RRKore]

Santelli, the putative father of the Tea Party, had a televised fit b/c a gov. solution was offered to those in tanking mortgages.

Let's rephrase that.  A multi-millionaire broker / trader predicted tyranny and Cuba-style communism if mortgage based relief was granted to those devastated by the economic collapse.

Let's amplify that.  The speculative traders and brokers and financial experts, of which Santelli is a card carrying member, that actually created the economic disaster are calling for the punishment of the victims of that crime.  As if.

Then right wing 'grass roots' efforts wholly financed by big moneyed republican interests started to spring up.  

Then costumed citizens started showing up at these events positing themselves as concerned Americans for a government gone awry (where were they the past 8 years?) while calling for secession from the US (in Texas of course).

They are wholly ignorant of economics, government and history.  That's not a disparaging comment. It's descriptive.
Happy Birthday indeed.

Ya lost me at "putative".  lol

Brother, you are trying to kill cockroaches with a nuclear bomb by using such a well-written and well-reasoned argument in an effort to write persuasively on this board which is largely a right-wing echo chamber and (generally) poorly-informed one at that.

Personally, I loved your post, though, and hope you stick around for a while.

Thank you.

[FredHayekowski]

True, once in power most people fold to the temptation and embrace the establishment. Palin i never considered much more than a distraction, shes not the brightest bulb. Rubio is a dork, like you say looks like a confused kid half the time. Paul's stances lately are a bit puzzling...

This is what is so rare about Cruz...hes doing exactly what he campaigned to do. He doing what he said he would do. Hes standing up for the right thing, sticking to his principles, even in the face of immense heat and slander  from all sides.

This is why so many have rallied around him and support him, and also why he has struck such a nerve with his opponents. He isnt folding or selling out, he is instead methodically pointing out the problems and wrongness of the usual politics, and this is i furiating the establishment on both sides

Cruz is insane.  But he did do what he promised:

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2013/07/19/ted-cruz-joins-the-defund-obamacare-or-shut-down-the-government-crowd



Too bad he hurt America with his political opportunism.  He is principled.  But so was Mussolini.

[FredHayekowski]

Ya lost me at "putative".  lol

Brother, you are trying to kill cockroaches with a nuclear bomb by using such a well-written and well-reasoned argument in an effort to write persuasively on this board which is largely a right-wing echo chamber and (generally) poorly-informed one at that.

Personally, I loved your post, though, and hope you stick around for a while.

Thank you.

You sound like Sinatra in that sailor's movie.  I did not know that sounded pedantic.  There I go again.

[RRKore]

You sound like Sinatra in that sailor's movie.  I did not know that sounded pedantic.  There I go again.

I wouldn't go so far as to say "pedantic" but you are talking to muscle-heads, ya know?

The ones dumb enough to be interested in bodybuilding and yet smart enough to have some real book-learnin' behind them aren't so common, I'm guessing. 

Even more rare are the ones that combine those qualities with compassion for their fellow man -- and that explains the general political leaning of this board, I think.

Sinatra in a sailor's movie?  That went over my head.  Hope it isn't too bad...lol

[FredHayekowski]

I wouldn't go so far as to say "pedantic" but you are talking to muscle-heads, ya know?

The ones dumb enough to be interested in bodybuilding and yet smart enough to have some real book-learnin' behind them aren't so common, I'm guessing. 

Even more rare are the ones that combine those qualities with compassion for their fellow man -- and that explains the general political leaning of this board, I think.

Sinatra in a sailor's movie?  That went over my head.  Hope it isn't too bad...lol

I train too.  I haven't since the birth of my twins for obvious reasons, but I'm going to get back on the horse again since they are a little older and not in need of constant care.

My allusions are old b/c I'm old.  Sorry about that.  I know about this board.  I've lurked here before.

And you are a 100% correct.  The far right wing faction flocks here like flies on a ribroast.  That's how the authoritarian crowd works.  They talk about 'freedom' but that is the last thing in the world they really want.  Anyone stepping out of line with their political dogma is attacked mercilessly.  That's the authoritarian way.

[Dos Equis]

Do you have an opinion or do you just post other people's opinions?  I mean these articles you post bad-mouthing the government and the USA has sort of anti-American sentiments blaming public education, the IRS, or, for some reason airports and subways. 

This government has been on a crash course since "Rainbow Ronnie" drove it into the ground, but American education and the subway system are not the cause of the breakdown.  Neither is the post office, the IRS, Social Security, or Medicare.

Both.   

[Roger Bacon]

Good people overall