Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 00:41, 1 May 2010

It has been suggested that Teabagger be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since April 2010.

The Tea Party movement is a populist United States protest movement that emerged beginning in early 2009 through a series of local and nationally coordinated Tea Party protests. The protests are partially in response to the 2008 bailouts and the 2009 stimulus package. In 2010, the British magazine The Economist described the Tea Party movement as "America's most vibrant political force."

In general, the Tea Party movement supports constitutionally limited government, fiscal responsibility and free markets. More specifically, the movement is anti-stimulus, anti-deficit, and anti-bailout. Some demonstrators have also opposed federal support for the ailing automobile industry.

The name "Tea Party" is a reference to the historic Boston Tea Party of 1773, a protest by American colonists against taxation by the British government when the colonists had no representation in the British Parliament. The Boston Tea Party pre-dated and laid the groundwork for the American Revolutionary War. Tea Party protests have sought to evoke themes, images, and slogans similar to those used during this iconic, pre-Revolutionary period in American history.The name may also refer to the often-used acronym, "TEA Party," a play on a party slogan: "Taxed Enough Already."

History

Background

The theme of the Boston Tea Party, an iconic event of American history, has long been used by anti-tax protesters with libertarian and conservative viewpoints. It was part of Tax Day protests held throughout the 1990s and earlier.

The libertarian theme of the "tea party" protest was previously used by Republican Congressman Ron Paul and his supporters as a fundraising event during the primaries of the 2008 presidential campaign to emphasize Paul's fiscal conservatism, which they later claimed laid the groundwork for the modern-day Tea Party movement.

On January 19, someone on FedUpUSA posted an invitation "to a Commemorative Tea Party" protest in Boston on February 1. On February 11, talk radio host and Fox Business Network personality Dave Ramsey appeared on Fox and Friends, waving tea bags and saying, "It's time for a Tea Party."

But the dominant theme seen at some of the earliest anti-stimulus protests was "pork" rather than tea. The term "porkulus" was coined by radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh on his January 27, 2009, broadcast in reference to both the 2009 "stimulus" bill, which was just introduced to the House of Representatives the day before, as well as to pork barrel spending and earmarks. This proved very popular with conservative politicians and commentators, who began to unify in opposition against stimulus spending after the 2008 General Election.

Early local protest events

According to FreedomWorks state and federal campaigns director Brendan Steinhauser, activist Mary Rakovich was the organizer of a February 10, 2009 protest in Fort Myers, Florida, calling it the, "first protest of President Obama's administration that we know of. It was the first protest of what became the tea party movement."

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 of 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."

Carender first organized what she called a "Porkulus Protest" in Seattle on Presidents Day, February 16, the day before President 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."

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.". On Tax Day, six weeks later, 1,200 people gathered for a Tea Party protest.

First national Tea Party 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 derivative traders around him cheered on his proposal, to the apparent amusement of the hosts in the studio. Video of Santelli's 'rant' went viral after it received a "red siren" headline on the news aggregation website, Drudge Report.

In response to Santelli, websites such as ChicagoTeaParty.com (registered in August 2008 by Chicago radio producer Zack Christenson) were live within twelve hours. About 10 hours after Santelli's remarks, reTeaParty.com was bought to coordinate Tea Parties scheduled for July 4 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.

Commentaries on the movement

Dan Gerstein, a former Democratic Party political advisor, argued in Forbes that the protests could have tapped into real feelings of disillusionment by American moderates but the protesters had too many incoherent messages being put forth. Bridgett Wagner of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, has compared the protests to the tax revolts of the 1970s and 1980s, which included the successful Proposition 13 in California that capped property taxes. Jeremi Suri, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin, viewed them as "not dissimilar from what we had in 2003 with the anti-war protests, where a lot of people were uncomfortable with the war, but also uncomfortable with the anti-war position, recognizing there are terrorists out there."

Ned Ryun, President of American Majority, an organization which offers training for many Tea Party activists, believes this movement is not about political parties stating, "It's very much anti-establishment at both parties....They don't care about party labels." He has also said that "I think we're getting to the point where you can truly say we're entering a post-party era. They aren't going to be necessarily wed to a certain party -- they want to see leadership that reflects their values first.....They don't care what party you're in; they just want to know if you reflect their values -- limited government, fixing the economy."

An article by Thomas B. Edsall in The New Republic concludes that the findings of Robert D. Putnam that diversity has resulted in a withdrawal of many from varied community life provides valuable insight into the Tea Party movement's "explosive growth". Political historian Rick Perlstein has observed that "the story they're telling is that somehow the authentic, real America is being polluted."

Composition of the movement

According to a New York Times/CBS poll, 18 percent of Americans identify themselves as Tea Party supporters. Tea Party supporters tend to be "white, male, married and older than 45." In general, they are "wealthier and more well-educated" than the general public, and hold conservative views on a range of issues. Although most are registered Republican, they tend to be more conservative than Republicans at large. Political correspondent Liz Sidoti of the Associated Press, the Tea Party movement "an ideological mix of libertarianism and conservativism with the common denominator being lower spending and smaller government." The general consensus within the Tea Party is that "big" government, along with big spending, is to be avoided.

The Tea Party movement is still without formal organization. Though several groups have emerged to try to capture the agenda, a majority agree on principles without formally aligning themselves with one or the other. The groups that have emerged to date each have slightly different approaches to their advocacy, and include

• The Tea Party Patriots are a national organization that claims to have over 1000 local chapters, run with the help of Freedomworks, a conservative nonprofit led by former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey.

• The Tea Party Express is a national bus tour run by Our Country Deserves Better PAC, a conservative Political Action Committee created by Sacramento-based GOP consulting firm Russo, Marsh, and Associates.

• Tea Party Nation held a National Convention February 4–6, 2010. The event featured Sarah Palin as keynote speaker, but was criticized for charging $549 per ticket, as well as the fact that Palin was apparently paid $100,000 USD for her appearance. In the face of criticism by Tea Party activists, Palin has said she plans to donate the fee to unspecified conservative causes. Former Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo at the Tea Party convention in Nashville stated to applause, "People who could not even spell the word 'vote' or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House..his name is Barack Hussein Obama."

• A new National Tea Party Federation was formed on April 8, 2010, by several of the major players in the Tea Party movement to help spread its message and to respond to critics with a quick, unified response.

The Tea Party movement has also attracted some followers of fringe organizations such as the LaRouche Movement, the white separatist Council of Conservative Citizens, and the John Birch Society.

Spotting a fringe protester with an anti-Obama sign at a Washington rally, Diana Reimer, a Philadelphia housewife who is now the National Coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, told the New York Times, "That's what gives us a bad name."

In a February 19, 2010, column in the Wall Street Journal, Republican strategist Karl Rove suggested that, to improve its effect on policy, the Tea Party movement dissociate itself from the militia movement, 'birthers', 9/11 deniers, cranks and conspiracy nuts.

Responses

Politics

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's political activist group American Solutions supports the protests, saying on its website that they are "our chance to communicate our anger and opposition to the irresponsible policies of politicians in Washington who have failed to solve problems." Gingrich spoke at the New York City protest on April 15.

Republican Texas governor Rick Perry attended a Tea Party rally in Austin, Texas. He has also discussed the protests on YouTube. Perry fielded a question at the rally about Texas secession, answering: "There's a lot of different scenarios. We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that? But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot."

The Tea Parties also drew the praise of some Republican officials. Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) said the protests showed that "this land is still owned by the people." Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) called the Tea Party movement "helpful" and "genuine."

Talk show host Leslie Marshall has remarked, in reference to the original Boston Tea Party, that "You have to look at our history. The reason these people revolted is they didn't want to pay taxes that were not presented by elected officials... Last time I checked, Obama's not taxing you to death — he is spending to stimulate the economy and he is an elected official." Political commentator Bob Cesca commented that "your neighbor's mortgage is your problem. Just watch your property values plummet as soon as there's just one foreclosure on your block." Historian Bruce Bartlett, a former U.S. Treasury Department official in the Bush administration, argued in Forbes magazine that higher taxes may not be as bad as they seem, writing that "Higher taxes may pay for services that people value and thus are not as burdensome as they might appear at first glance."

Many political candidates who are outside of "establishment" politics are gaining traction in their campaigns due to support from the Tea Party movement. US Senator from Massachusetts Scott Brown's support from the Tea Party movement made him a contender in what turned out to be an upset election. Many politicians in the 2010 election cycle are riding on grassroots support from the Tea Party movement, including Republican Pennsylvania gubernatorial contender Sam Rohrer, Texas gubernatorial contender Debra Medina and US Senate candidate Rand Paul.

Tea Party activists succeeded on April 13, 2010, in helping to nominate two Republican candidates for the Texas House of Representatives from two Lubbock-based districts. Charles Perry unseated 86-year-old incumbent Delwin Jones in District 83 and is unopposed in the November 2 general election. John Frullo won the nomination for the District 84 seat vacated by the retiring Carl Isett. Frullo defeated businessman Mark Griffin, a former Texas Tech University regent.

Organized labor

The leaders of labor union centers such as the AFL-CIO and Change to Win Federation have labelled the Tea Party protests as corporately funded astroturfing operations and have advocated for nonviolent counter-protests against Tea Party protest events, particularly during the string of townhall events at which many of the protests took place.

Public opinion polls

A December 7, 2009 poll made by Rasmussen found, in a three-way generic ballot test featuring a hypothetical "Tea Party" candidate, Democrats attracted 36% of the vote, the Tea Party candidate picked up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Among independent voters, the Tea Party bested both Democrat and Republican candidates, with 33% of all independent voters preferring the Tea Party candidate. In a December 16, 2009 Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, the Tea Party movement fared better than both the Republican and Democratic parties, with 41% of respondents saying they had a "favorable" or "somewhat favorable" view of it.

A late-January 2010 poll made by CNN/Opinion Research Corporation found that "one-third of Americans have a favorable view of the Tea Party movement," while "26 percent of the public has an unfavorable view." 40 percent either "have not heard of the movement or don't know enough to form an opinion." A Fox News poll of 900 registered voters from early February 2010 showed that 35 percent of voters view the Tea Party movement favorably, 22 percent view it unfavorably, and 42 percent don't know or have never heard of the movement.

A poll by CBS News/New York Times taken Feb 5-10, 2010, found that only 2% of Tea Party supporters think that President Obama had cut taxes compared to 12% of all respondents.

A CNN poll of 1023 adult Americans (with a sampling error of +/- 3%), conducted on February 12–15, 2010, found that:

• 35% of the sample either strongly or moderately supported the Tea Party
• 19% strongly or moderately opposed the Tea Party
• 16% would vote for a Tea Party candidate for Congress
• 2% have given money to the Tea Party Movement
• 5% have attended a rally or meeting associated to the Tea Party movement

In surveying only those who had participated in Tea Party activities (with a sampling error of +/- 9%), the CNN poll found that:

• 80% were white, compared to 71% of all respondents
• 60% were men, compared to 50% of all respondents
• 40% were college graduates, compared to 28% of all respondents
• 4% described themselves as Democrat, compared to 32% of all respondents.

A Quinnipiac University poll of 1,900 adult Americans conducted in March of 2010, found that of those who identified themselves as part of the Tea Party movement:

• 88% were white
• 77% voted for 2008 GOP presidential candidate John McCain
• 74% identified themselves as Republicans or independents who lean Republican
• 16% said they are Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents
• 60% have a favorable impression of the Republican Party
• 82% have an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party

A Bloomberg News poll found that Tea Partiers are not against increased government action in all cases. Seventy percent want the federal government to aid in job creation, although this may be more a reflection of a desire for the government to help by helping less than any sort of government program. Also, nearly half think the government should limit Wall Street bonuses, according to the nationwide poll which was conducted between March 19 and March 22, 2010.

In April, 2010, a New York Times/CBS poll found that Tea Party supporters are wealthier, more educated, more conservative and more likely to be Republican than the general public.The poll, which was said to be the “first reliable look at the tea party supporters” by the Los Angeles Times, found that:

• 18% or about 1 in 5 Americans consider themselves Tea Party supporters.
• 90% of Tea Party supporters think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
• Tea Party supporters tend to be Republican, white, male, married and older than age 45.
• 54% of Tea Party supporters have a “favorable opinion” of the Republican party compared to 38% of the general public.
• 6% of Tea Party supporters have a favorable opinion of the Democratic party compared to 42% of the general public.
• 30% think President Obama was born outside the United States compared to 20% of the general public.
• More than half (52%) told the pollsters they think their own "income taxes this year are fair."
• 25 percent think that the administration favors blacks over whites — compared with 11 percent of the general public.
• 7% approve of how President Obama is doing his job compared to 50% of the general public.
• 92% feel that President Obama's policies are moving the US towards socialism, compared to 52% for the general public.

The telephone poll was conducted April 5-12 of 1,580 US adults. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for all adults and for Tea Party supporters.

An April 3, 2010 Rasmussen Reports poll of 1000 likely voters found that 48% said that the views of an average Tea Party member were closer to their own than President Obama's were, compared with 44% who said President Obama's views were closer to their own. The poll also showed that while 87% of members of the political class felt closer to Obama, 63% of mainstream Americans stated that their views were closer the Tea Party Movement.

The Obama Administration

On April 29, 2009, Obama commented on the Tea Party protests publicly during a townhall meeting in Arnold, Missouri, saying: "(When) you see folks waving tea bags around, let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over the long term, how we're going to stabilize Social Security ... But let's not play games and pretend that the reason is because of the Recovery Act, because that's just a fraction of the overall problem that we've got. We are going to have to tighten our belts, but we're going to have to do it in an intelligent way. And we've got to make sure that the people who are helped are working American families, and we're not suddenly saying that the way to do this is to eliminate programs that help ordinary people and give more tax cuts to the wealthy. We tried that formula for eight years, and it did not work, and I don't intend to go back to it."

On April 19, 2009, Senior White House Advisor David Axelrod, asked about the Tea Party protests on CBS News, said "I think any time that you have severe economic conditions, there is always an element of disaffection that can mutate into something that’s unhealthy." He also noted, "The thing that bewilders me is this President just cut taxes for ninety five percent of the American people. So I think the tea bags should be directed elsewhere, because he certainly understands the burden that people face."

On April 15, 2010, President Obama touted his administration's tax cuts, noting the passage of 25 different tax cuts over the past year, including tax cuts for 95% of working Americans. He then remarked, "So I’ve been a little amused over the last couple of days where people have been having these rallies about taxes. You would think they would be saying thank you. That’s what you’d think."

Controversy

This article's "criticism" or "controversy" section may compromise the article's neutrality. Please help rewrite or integrate negative information to other sections through discussion on the talk page. (March 2010)

Claims of bias in media coverage

The news networks have covered the Tea Party movement in vastly different ways. On CNN's Situation Room, Journalist Howard Kurtz commented that "much of the media seems to have chosen sides." He says that Fox News portrayed the protests "as a big story, CNN as a modest story, and MSNBC as a great story to make fun of. And for most major newspapers, it's a nonstory."

The protests have been derided by commentators such as Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, David Shuster, talk show host Leslie Marshall, New York Times columnist and Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman, author Andrew Sullivan, liberal public policy advocacy group MoveOn.org, political satirist Jon Stewart, and Thomas Frank. Conversely, the protests attracted support from and been promoted by conservative commentators such as Sean Hannity, Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck, and Glenn Reynolds, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, rock guitarist and political activist Ted Nugent, country musician John Rich, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, and conservative radio host Neal Boortz.

Prior to the Tax Day protests, Fox News ran 20 or more segments about the protests, over 100 commercial promotions of its coverage, directed viewers to a "virtual tea party" on FoxNation.com, and repeatedly described the protests as "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties" in their television coverage. US News and World Report reported that the nature of the coverage of the protests has become part of the story.

On April 12, Howard Kurtz said on CNN's Reliable Sources, "Fox News gets on board in a big way with this week's tea party protests" and "The folks at Fox News ... are firmly in favor of tea parties." On April 15, he said, "I don't think I've ever seen a news network throw its weight behind a protest like we are seeing in the past few weeks with FOX and these tea parties." Political commentator Rachel Maddow said, "The unofficial Republican Party media outlet, Fox News Channel, has explicitly endorsed these events." Political commentator Keith Olbermann said, "Despite claiming neutrality on those policies and the teabag movement itself, FOX has whipped up excitement for the parties, recruiting viewers to come out, guaranteeing huge outdoor gatherings, spilling into the streets, choking off traffic with all their teabagging." On April 14, ABC World News described the protests as "heered on by Fox News and talk radio". CNN reporter Susan Roesgen echoed this during the 2009 Tea Party protest in Chicago when she said, "I think you get the general tenor of this. It's anti-government, anti-CNN, since this is highly promoted by the right wing conservative network, Fox."

James Rainey of The Los Angeles Times said MSNBC's attacks on the tea parties paled compared to Fox's support, but Olbermann, Maddow and Matthews were hardly subtle in disparaging the movement. Howard Kurtz has said that, "These hosts said little or nothing about the huge deficits run up by President Bush, but Barack Obama's budget and tax plans have driven them to tea. On the other hand, CNN and MSNBC may have dropped the ball by all but ignoring the protests."

Eric Burns, president of Media Matters for America, a self-described progressive media watchdog organization, wrote an open letter to Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace asking him to "publicly address recent actions by Fox News personalities that unambiguously cross the line separating news and legitimate commentary from political activism and demagoguery." The Los Angeles Times noted that both Fox News hosts and MSNBC hosts had "prejudged the tea parties."

On the April 16 edition of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart observed, "So, in our new world order, Fox are the hippies and CNN is The Man. What does that make MSNBC?" He then played a montage of clips of MSNBC anchors using the "teabagging" terminology and concluded, "Hours of scrotum-based humor. Oh my God! MSNBC is us! They're The Daily Show! Well what the fuck am I supposed to do?"

On July 28, Fox Nation posted a promotional ad for the Tea Party Express using the headline, "Will You Join the Tea Party Express?" Griff Jenkins was the field reporter for Fox's coverage of the Tea Party Express tour. Greta Van Sustern clarified for viewers that Jenkins was not part of the bus tour.

Following the September 12 Taxpayer March on Washington, Fox News then controversially claimed it was the only cable news outlet to cover the emerging protests and took out full-page ads in The Washington Post, the New York Post, and The Wall Street Journal with a prominent headline reading, "How did ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN miss this story?" CNN news anchor Rick Sanchez disputed Fox's claim pointing to various coverage of the event. CNN, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, and CBS Radio News provided various forms of live coverage of the rally in Washington throughout the day on Saturday, including the lead story on CBS Evening News.

Following the election of Scott Brown in the January 19, 2010 Massachusetts Senate Race, the British magazine The Economist said "America’s most vibrant political force at the moment is the anti-tax tea-party movement." In January 2010, New York Times columnist David Brooks, after reciting a number of recent opinion polls and other sources, suggested that the coming decade of 2010-2019 has the potential to become "The Tea Party Teens" in U.S. political history. Brooks has also characterized the Tea Party movement as "radically anticonservative." In an interview several months after his "rant", CNBC news editor Rick Santelli, credited as source of inspiration for the Tea Party movement, said "I think that this Tea Party phenomenon is steeped in American culture and steeped in American notion to get involved with what’s going on with our government. I haven’t organized. I’m going to have to work to pay my taxes, so I’m not going to be able to get away today. But, I have to tell you — I’m pretty proud of this."

Humor

The appellation emerged after protesters displayed placards using the words "tea bag" as a verb. The label has prompted puns by both commentators and protesters based on pre-existing use of the word to denote oral–scrotal contact as a sex act or prank. Tea Party activists have stated that they find the term to be dismissive and insulting.

Astroturfing allegations

Allegations of "astroturfing" appeared in a New York Times editorial as well as a Playboy article by Mark Ames and Yasha Levine in February 2009. The article was removed after libel claims, but no legal action materialized. The authors repeated and elaborated their allegations elsewhere—that the tea party protests were a "carefully organized and sophisticated PR campaign . . . for some of the craziest and sleaziest rightwing oligarch clans this country has ever produced," including the Koch family, Dick Armey and FreedomWorks. On October 3, 2009, David H. Koch said the tea party protests fulfilled "the vision" of the board of directors of the conservative political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity when it was founded in 2004. The movement has also been actively promoted by Fox News.

On April 9, 2009, the liberal blog Think Progress claimed that most of the 2009 protests were conservative lobbyist-created "astroturf" projects and not spontaneous grassroots protests. They argued that the protests were nationally coordinated and organized by conservative lobbyist organizations Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks. The story was picked up in a New York Times op-ed column by liberal economist Paul Krugman, writing that "the tea parties don't represent a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. They're AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects. In particular, a key role is being played by FreedomWorks, an organization run by Richard Armey." On April 15, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi agreed, saying "it's not really a grassroots movement. It's astroturf by some of the wealthiest people in America to keep the focus on tax cuts for the rich instead of for the great middle class." On the same day, liberal MSNBC pundit Rachel Maddow commented, saying that "corporate-funded PR shops and lobbying groups have done a lot of the organizing and promotion for these events. That's controversial because it's astroturfing. It's disguising a formal top-down organized paid for things as if it's some spontaneous grassroots event."

A December 28, 2009, article in the liberal Talking Points Memo detailed that Our Country Deserves Better (OCDB), the political action committee (PAC) behind the Tea Party Express, directed almost two thirds of all its funding to the Republican-affiliated political consulting firm that created the PAC in the first place. According to FEC filings, from July through November 2009, OCDB spent around $1.33 million, and of that sum, $857,122 went to a Sacramento-based GOP political consulting firm named Russo, Marsh, and Associates, or people associated with it. The article went on to detail that Tea Party Patriots, a rival faction of conservative activists denounced Tea Party Express as a creature of Republican political professionals that lacks grassroots authenticity, with one TPP member, who had examined the FEC filings asking: "What would the true grassroots people think if they knew their money is being spent in this manner?" The Los Angeles Times later confirmed the money paid to Russo, Marsh, and Associates went mostly to vendors and advertising, with about $100,000 going to the political consultants for fees and salary.

Participants vehemently deny the astroturfing charge. According to Atlantic Monthly, the three main groups that provide guidance and organization for the protests FreedomWorks, dontGO, and Americans for Prosperity state that the demonstrations are an organic movement. Law professor and conservative commentator Glenn Reynolds, best known as author of the Instapundit political blog, argued in The New York Post that: "These aren't the usual semiprofessional protesters who attend antiwar and pro-union marches. These are people with real jobs; most have never attended a protest march before. They represent a kind of energy that our politics hasn't seen lately, and an influx of new activists." Conservative political strategist Tim Phillips, now head of Americans for Prosperity, has remarked that the Republican Party is "too disorganized and unsure of itself to pull this off."

Marvel Comics

In February 2010, an outcry from Tea Party activists erupted when a Tea Party protest sign, based on a photo taken by journalist David Weigel, was added to a comic panel proclaiming, "Tea Bag the Libs before they tea bag you!" in an issue of Captain America. The comic drew criticism from Tea Party leaders, and Marvel Comics editor Joe Quesada later apologized for specifically identifying characters as associated with the Tea Party movement. Quesada said the edition will be changed in further printings and the trade paperback.

Reports of racism and homophobia

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (April 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Some critics have called those in the movement racist and homophobic. Some Tea Partiers blame the media for casting them as racists.

In April 2010, Racist comments, including a slur about Hispanics, posted on the Twitter page of the Springboro Tea Party caused cancellations by several local and statewide candidates and elected officials scheduled to speak at an event. The founder and president of the Dayton Tea Party responded to news reports by saying: “Even if we took on immigration as an issue, what was posted was way out of line. It’s classless.”

On March 20, 2010, as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Bill was being voted on in Washington D.C., it was reported that protesters against the bill used racial and homophobic slurs. Several black lawmakers said that demonstrators shouted the word "nigger" at them. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver said he was spat upon, and Congressman Barney Frank, who is gay, was called a "faggot." Representative André Carson said that as he walked from the Cannon House Office Building with Representative John Lewis, he heard the word coming from several places in the crowd, amid chants of "Kill the bill". One man "just rattled it off several times." Carson quoted Lewis as saying, "You know, this reminds me of a different time." Lewis had faced hostile crowds of whites as a Freedom Rider in 1961.

Conservative activist Andrew Breitbart asserted that the racial slurs never happened. He said that, "by crafting a highly symbolic walk of the Congressional Black Caucus through the majority white crowd, the Democratic Party was looking to provoke a negative reaction. They didn’t get it. So they made it up." Breitbart offered to donate $100,000 to the United Negro College Fund if John Lewis could either provide video evidence of racial epithets or pass a lie-detector test. In response, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said he had witnessed the events in question. William Owens, a black Tea Party activist from Nevada who was at the rally, said: "Never did I hear any type of racial slur."

The National Tea Party Federation sent a letter to the Congressional Black Caucus denouncing racism and requesting that the CBC supply any evidence of the alleged events at the protest on March 20, 2010.

Tea Party Agenda: Contract From America

The Contract From America is a political agenda of the Tea Party movement. It was unveiled officially on April 15, 2010 at the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. The preamble to the Contract From America states that it is based on the principles of individual liberty, limited government and economic freedom.

The Contract was inspired by former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich's 1994 Contract with America and has Gingrich's backing. The project was spearheaded by Ryan Hecker, a 29-year old lawyer from Houston, Texas, and was produced through an online voting process. It shows the online vote percentages which each agenda item received in parentheses.

The Contract From America lists 10 agenda items that it encourages congressional candidates to follow:

(1) Protect the Constitution: Require each bill to identify the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does (82.03%).

(2) Reject Cap & Trade: Stop costly new regulations that would increase unemployment, raise consumers prices, and weaken the nation's global competitiveness with virtually no impact on global temperatures (72.20%).

(3) Demand a Balanced Budget: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax hike. (69.69%)

(4) Enact Fundamental Tax Reform: Adopt a simple and fair single-rate tax system by scrapping the internal revenue code and replacing it with one that is no longer than 4,543 words -- the length of the original Constitution. (64.90%).

(5) Restore Fiscal Responsibility & Constitutionally Limited Government in Washington: Create a Blue Ribbon taskforce that engages in a complete audit of federal agencies and programs, assessing their Constitutionality, and identifying duplication, waste, ineffectiveness, and agencies and programs better left for the states or local authorities, or ripe for wholesale reform or elimination due to our efforts to restore limited government consistent with the U.S. Constitution's meaning. (63.37%)

(6) End Runaway Government Spending: Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of the inflation rate plus the percentage of population growth. (56.57%).

(7) De-fund, Repeal & Replace Government-run Health Care: Defund, repeal and replace the recently passed government-run health care with a system that actually makes health care and insurance more affordable by enabling a competitive, open, and transparent free-market health care and health insurance system that isn't restricted by state boundaries. (56.39%).

(8) Pass an 'All-of-the-Above' Energy Policy: Authorize the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries and reduce regulatory barriers to all other forms of energy creation, lowering prices and creating competition and jobs. (55.5%).

(9) Stop the Pork: Place a moratorium on all earmarks until the budget is balanced, and then require a 2/3 majority to pass any earmark. (55.47%).

(10) Stop the Tax Hikes: Permanently repeal all tax hikes, including those to the income, capital gains and death taxes, currently scheduled to begin in 2011. (53.38%).

See also

• 9-12 Project
• Tea Party protests

References

1. Halloran, Liz (February 5, 2010). "What's Behind The New Populism?". Politics. NPR.com. Retrieved April 9 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
2. ^ Servatius, David (March 6, 2009). "Anti-tax-and-spend group throws "tea party" at Capitol". Deseret News. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
3. "Angry Americans" (Paid subscription required). The Economist. March 5, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
4. ^ Tapscott, Mark (March 19, 2009). "Tea parties are flash crowds Obama should fear". The San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
5. ^ Think Progress, 09 April 2009, Spontaneous Uprising? Corporate Lobbyists Helping To Orchestrate Radical Anti-Obama Tea Party Protests
6. Barnes, Tom (March 8, 2009). "Harrisburg Tea Party protests ongoing bailout". Local/State. post-gazette.com. Retrieved April 9, 2010.
7. Ferrara, Peter (April 15, 2009). "The Tea Party Revolution". The American Spectator. Retrieved June 18, 2009.
8. Seleny, Jeff (September 12, 2009). "Thousands Rally in Capital to Protest Big Government". New York Times. Retrieved Sept 28, 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
9. ^ "Big government: Hostility to the state" (Paid subscription required). The Economist. January 21, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
10. "Formation of 'National Tea Party Federation' Announced". Yahoo! News. PR Newswire. April 8, 2010. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
11. Tysver, Robynn (April 2, 2010). "It's a Tea Party in Omaha". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved April 25, 2010. Limited government is our only solution, our only foundation should be our Constitution, rapped a singer from Waco, Texas, calling himself Polatick.
12. Mastre, Brian (April 1, 2010). "Tea Party Draws Thousands". Retrieved April 25, 2010. I'm disgusted with government and the takeover of everything... says Allyson Bendorf of Harlan, Iowa
13. Ellen, Martha (March 28, 2010). "Tea party rallies planned April 15 at NNY sites". Watertown Daily Times. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
14. "Tea party movement makes mark on Nebraska" (Fee required). North Platte Telegraph (Nebraska). March 28, 2010. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
15. "Research and Markets: A New American Tea Party: The Counterrevolution Against Bailouts, Handouts, Reckless Spending, and More Taxes". Fox Business. Business Wire. March 4, 2010. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
16. Magloff, Spencer (March 25, 2010). "Tea Party Protester Sorry For Mocking Man with Parkinson's". CBS News. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
17. Berger, Judson (February 5, 2010). "Tea Party Convention Gives Boost to Newcomer Politicians". FoxNews.com. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
18. ^ Oneal, Michael (April 16, 2009). "Anti-Obama rebellion poses risk for the GOP". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 25, 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
19. ^ Last, Jonathan V. (March 4, 2009). "Opposition To The Foreclosure Bailout Rises". Weekly Standard (reprinted by CBS News.com). Retrieved April 25, 2010.
20. "Taxpayers Strike Back With 'Tea Parties'". Special Report with Bret Baier. FoxNews.com. March 16, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
21. "Please support TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party Day, April 15". American Family Association. March 18, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
22. "Libertarians to plan tea party to protest tax". Daily News (Bowling Green, Kentucky). Associated Press. April 5, 1984. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
23. "State Republicans call for anti-tax 'tea party'". Victoria Advocate (Victoria, Texas). July 12, 1991. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
24. "Tea bag protesters would toss away state's future" (Fee required). Austin American-Statesman. July 24, 1991. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
25. "Smith refuses to defend tax proposition". Boca Raton News. Associated Press. July 14, 1983. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
26. "Demonstrators hurl tea bags in bid against raising taxes". Victoria Advocate. Associated Press. July 23, 1991. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
27. "'Tea Party' Protests Taxation, But Don't Expect A Revolution". October 20, 1991. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |format= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product= ignored (help)
28. "Boston Tea Party Is Protest Template". UPI.com. UPI. April 20, 2008.
29. "Statement on Ron Paul and "Tax Day Tea Parties"". Business Wire. April 15, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
30. Levenson, Michael (December 16, 2007). "Ron Paul raises millions in today's Boston Tea Party event". Boston.com. Retrieved April 9, 2010.
31. "Paul supporters hold Tea Party re-enactment in Boston". Boston Herald. Associated Press. December 17, 2007. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |acccessdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
32. Levenson, Michael (December 16, 2007). "Ron Paul's tea party for dollars". Boston Globe. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
33. "New Protest Announced, February 1, 2009". FedUpUSA.org. January 19, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
34. "Homebuyer Helper: Can you benefit from 'TARP 2'?" (Video). Fox News. February 11, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
35. Beutler, Brian (April 14, 2009). "FreedomWorks' Long History Of Teabagging". TalkingPointsMemo.com. Retrieved April 25, 2010. ... but they didn't have an explicitly tea-based theme. If they had a theme of any kind it was "pork" and government waste. – Brian Beutler
36. Tom Kuntz (February 8, 2009). "Idea of the Day: 'Porkulus'". Week In Review. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
37. Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D. (November 10, 2004). "Is Pork Barrel Spending Ready to Explode? The Anatomy of an Earmark". The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
38. ^ McGrath, Ben (February 1, 2010). "The Movement - The Rise of Tea Party Activism". Reporter at large. The New Yorker. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
39. Steinhauser, Brendan (February 9, 2009). "Members Protest President Obama in Fort Myers". FreedomWorks. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
40. Steinhauser, Brendan (March 29, 2009). "Cape Coral Tea Party is ON!". FreedomWorks. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
41. Steinhauser, Brendan (February 9, 2009). "FreedomWorks Plans to protest Obama in Fort Myers, Florida Tuesday!". FreedomWorks. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
42. Bennett, George (February 9, 2010). "Woman's year-ago protest launched tea party movement in Florida". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
43. ^ Zernike, Kate (February 27, 2010). "Unlikely Activist Who Got to the Tea Party Early". New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2010. But leaders of the Tea Party movement credit her with being the first. – Kate Zernike
44. Good, Chris (February 4, 2010). "Is Palin's Tea Party Speech A Mistake? Tea Partiers Have Mixed Opinions". The Atlantic. Retrieved April 25, 2010. Keli Carender, 30, of Seattle, who is credited with hosting one of the first ever Tea Party protests in February of 2009, before the movement really got started. – Chris Good
45. Kaste, Martin (February 2, 2010). "Tea Party Star Leads Movement On Her Own Terms". National Public Radio. Retrieved April 25, 2010. Keli Carender...organized some of the earliest Tea Party-style protests — before they were even called Tea Party protests. – Martin Kaste
46. KIRO Tv (February 16, 2009). "Video: Dozens Gather At 'Porkulus' Protest" (Video). Retrieved 2009-03-29.
47. ^ "Meet Keli Carender, Tea Party organizer in Seattle, Washington". TaxDayTeaParty.com. undated. Retrieved April 24, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
48. Zernike, Kate (February 28, 2010). "Unlikely Activist Who Got to the Tea Party Early". New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
49. Montopoli, Brian (April 15, 2009). "Tax Day Brings Out "Tea Party" Protesters Protests Planned Across Country Against Government Taxation And Spending As Some Question Whether Movement Has Been Co-Opted". CBS News. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
50. "Rick Santelli's Shout Heard Round the World". CNBC.com. February 22, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
51. Santelli, Rick (March 2, 2009). "Rick Santelli: I Want to Set the Record Straight". CNBC.com. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
52. Rosenthal, Phil (February 23, 2009). "Rant raises profile of CNBC on-air personality Rick Santelli". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 23, 2010. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |1= and |2= (help)
53. "Traders Revolt: CNBC Host Calls For New 'Tea Party'; Chicago Floor Mocks Obama Plan". DrudgeReport.com. February 19, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
54. "Worst Case Scenario No. 3". FoxNews.com. February 20, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
55. "A Teabagger Timeline: Koch, Coors, Newt, Dick Armey There From The Start". HuffingtonPost.com. April 15, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2010. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Text "last-Hamsher" ignored (help)
56. Berger, Judson (April 9, 2009). "Modern-Day Tea Parties Give Taxpayers Chance to Scream for Better Representation". FoxNews.com. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
57. Roesgen, Andy (February 27, 2009). "Protestors Gather for Self-Styled Tea Party". myfoxchicago.com. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
58. Gerstein, Dan (April 29, 2009). "Dangerous Thoughts: Tea Party Foul". Forbes. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
59. ^ Dorell, Oren (April 13, 2009). "Tax revolt a recipe for tea parties". USA Today. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
60. Jonsson, Patrik (April 18, 2009). "Arguing the size of the "tea party" protest". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
61. Hornick, Ed (January 21, 2010). "Independents' anger in Massachusetts a sign of things to come?". CNN.
62. Edsall, Thomas B. (January 20, 2010). "Ghost Story". The New Republic. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
63. "Tea Party supporters affluent, educated," The New York Times, April 17, 2010.
64. Zernike, Kate (April 14, 2010). "Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated". New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
65. ^ Sidoti, Liz (February 5, 2010). "Where is "tea party" heading? Leaves are unclear". Salon.com. Associated Press. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
66. Hopkins, Christopher Snow (February 4, 2010). "12 Tea Party leaders to watch". National Journal. Retrieved April 23, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
67. Bowers, Stephen (August 13, 2009). "Grassroots Group Grabs Attention Grassroots Group Grabs Attention, Meridian, Miss". WTOK.com. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
68. Rucker, Philip (August 6, 2009). Health "Rowdy protests at health forums". Seattle Times. Retrieved April 23, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help); Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
69. ^ Brant-Zawadzki, Alex. "Tea Party Convention Loses Main Sponsor". Retrieved April 23, 2010. {{cite news}}: Text "dateJanuary 14, 2010" ignored (help)
70. "About Tea Party Patriots". 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
71. Vogel, Kenneth P. (March 25, 2010). "Tea Partiers air doubts about Dick Armey". Politico. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
72. ^ Roth, Zachery (December 28, 2009). "Majority Of Tea Party Group's Spending Went To GOP Firm That Created It". TPMMuckraker. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
73. Adelmann, Bob (January 18, 2010). "Turning Republicans into Teapublicans". TheNewAmerican.com. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
74. Foster, Rick (January 4, 2010). "On board the Tea Party Express". The Sun Chronicle. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
75. Jonsson, Patrik (January 30, 2010). "Why the Tea Party Convention is tea-tering on the edge". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
76. Diaz, Kevin (January 26, 2010). "Palin, Bachmann Tea Party sessions closed to press". Retrieved April 23, 2010. {{cite news}}: Text "StarTribune.com" ignored (help)
77. Zernike, Kate (January 26, 2010). "Tea Party Disputes Take Toll on Convention". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
78. Montanaro, Domenico (January 15, 2010). "Tea Partying for profit?". MSNBC.com. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
79. "Palin prête pour une révolution" (in French). February 20, 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
80. Zernike, Kate (February 6, 2010). "Palin Assails Obama at Tea Party Meeting". New York Times.
81. "Rachel Maddow blasts Tom Tancredo (literacy tests)". DemocraticUnderground.com. February 9, 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
82. Hennessey, Kathleen (April 8, 2010). "Tea parties form a federation, but don't call them organized". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
83. ^ Gaynor, Tim (March 18, 2010). "Brewing tensions between the Tea Party and GOP". Reuters. Retrieved March 27, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
84. Werschkul, Ben (March 27, 2010). "Why I joined the tea party" (Video). New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
85. Zernike, Kate (March 27, 2010). "With no jobs, plenty of time for the Tea Party". New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
86. "New York Tea Party". Worldmag.com. April 16, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
87. "Tax day 'tea parties' stir passion in Dallas-Fort Worth, U.S." Star Telegram. April 12, 2009.
88. Selby, W. Gardner (April 17, 2009). "Perry stands by secession comments". Statesman.com. Retrieved April 24, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
89. Kucinich, Jackie (June 24, 2009). ""Anti-Tax Groups Reprise Tea Parties" (Subscription required). Rollcall.com. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
90. ^ Berger, Judson (April 13, 2009). "Move Over, MoveOn: Tea Parties Spark Conservative Insurgency Online". Fox News. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
91. Bartlett, Bruce (April 10, 2009). "Tax Tea Party Time? Higher taxes may not be as bad as they seem". Forbes. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
92. Powell, Scott S. (January 19, 2010). "Scott Brown: the tea party's first electoral victory". CSMonitor.com. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
93. "State Rep. Sam Rohrer Campaigning For Governor". KDKA.com. January 21, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
94. "Debra Medina, Texas gubernatorial candidate, raises eyebrows with comments on 9/11, Obama's birth certificate". WashingtonPost.com. February 12, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
95. Howard, Audrey (February 12, 2010). "Tea Party Movement Backing Kentucky Senate Race Leader Rand Paul". AmericasNewsOnline.com. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
96. "Anatomy of Perry's victory over Jones could hold key to party's direction". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. April 2, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
97. Stein, Sam (August 6, 2009). "Unions To Take On Conservative Groups Health Care Town Halls". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
98. "Tea Party Tops GOP on Three-Way Generic Ballot". Rasmussen Reports. December 7, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
99. "WSJ/NBC News Poll: Tea Party Tops Democrats and Republicans". The Wall Street Journal. December 16, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
100. Steinhauser, Paul (January 5, 2010). "Poll: Tea Party movement fails to make any impression on 4 out of 10". CNN. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
101. "Fox News Poll Opinion Dynamics" (PDF). February 4, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
102. "Poll Reveals Most Americans Don't Know They Got a Tax Cut". CBS News. February 12, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
103. "CNN / Opinion Research Poll" (PDF). cdn.turner. Opinion Research Corporation. Released February 17, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
104. U.S. Census Bureau. "Data Set: 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates". Survey: American Community Survey. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
105. Vogel, Kenneth P. (March 23, 2010). "Poll: Tea Partiers Like GOP". Politico. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
106. Przybyla, Heidi (March 26, 2010). "Tea Party Advocates Who Scorn Socialism Want a Government Job". Bloomberg News. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
107. Zernike, Kate (April, 14, 2010). "Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated". New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
108. Rutten, Tim (April 17 2010). "Crashing The Tea Party: A New York Times/CBS poll reveals much about the movement". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
109. "CBS/NY Times Poll: National Survey of Tea Party Supporters". New York Times. April 12, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
110. "Tea Party 48% Obama 44%". April 5, 2010. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
111. Politicalticker. CNN. April 29, 2009. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
112. "Transcript Face the Nation: Guests David Axelrod, Governor Ed Rendell, Wayne LaPierre" (PDF). CBS News. April 19, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
113. Travers, Karen (April 15, 2010). "Obama at Democratic Fundraiser: Tea Partiers Should Be Thanking Him for Tax Cuts". Political Punch. ABC News. Retrieved April 23, 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
114. Remarks by the President at DNC Reception, 4/15/10 White House Press Office - Transcript; April 16, 2010
115. ^ "'Tea Party' Rallies Protest Obama Policies". US News and World Report. April 16, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
116. ^ "Cable Anchors, Guests Use Tea Parties as Platform for Frat House Humor". Fox News. April 16, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
117. ^ Krugman, Paul (April 12, 2009). "Tea Parties Forever". The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
118. "The Tea Tantrum Mystery". The Daily Dish. The Atlantic. April 10, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
119. Leo, Alex. "Tempest In A Tea Party: The "Daily Show" Takes On Teabaggers". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
120. Frank, Thomas (March 4, 2009). "Conservatives and Their Pity Parties". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 24, 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |author_link= ignored (help)
121. ""Glenn Beck: Tea Party"". April 9, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
122. "Dick Armey to Speak at Atlanta Tea Party" (Transcript). Interview Archive. Fox News. April 15, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
123. Ditzian, Eric (April 15, 2009). "What's A Tax Day Tea Party?". MTV.com. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
124. "John Rich Attends a Tea Party". Great American TV. April 15, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
125. Smith, Ben (April 15, 2009). "Huck's grievances". The Politico. Retrieved April 24,2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
126. "Supporters of national sales tax gather in SC". Charlotte Observer. April 16, 2009.
127. "Media verdict is in: Fox News driving force behind tea parties". Media Matters. April 17, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
128. Rainey, James (October 30, 2009). "At Fox, opinion taints the news". On The Media. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
129. ^ "CNN Reliable Sources: Gay Marriage, White House Pooch; Obama Coverage; Palin Family Coverage". Transcripts. CNN.com. April 12, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
130. "'The Rachel Maddow Show' for Friday, April 10, 2009" (Transcript). MSNBC. April 13, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
131. "'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Tuesday, April 14" (Transcript). MSNBC. April 15, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
132. Kurtz, Howard (April 16, 2009). "Reading the Tea Leaves". Washington Post. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
133. Roesgen, Susan (April 15, 2009). "CNN Newsroom Transcript of Tea Party coverage". CNN. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
134. Carpenter, Amanda (April 17, 2009). "Tea Party Bias". Hot Button. Washington Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
135. ^ Rainey, James (April 15, 2009). "Fox News, MSNBC prejudge 'tea parties'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
136. "April 16, 2009: Nationwide Tax Protests". The Daily Show. April 15, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
137. "Will You Join the Tea Party Express?". FoxNation.com. July 28, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
138. Brantzawadzki, Alex (December 11, 2009). "Anatomy of the Tea Party Movement: The Media". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
139. Krakauer, Steve (September 21, 2009). "Internal Fox News Email Addresses "Standards" After 9/12 Flap". Mediaite. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
140. ^ "Networks respond to false Fox ad". CNN. September 18, 2009. Retrieved April 24,2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
141. Calderone, Michael (September 18, 2009). "WaPo defends running Fox ad". Politico. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
142. ^ Ariens, Chris (Septenber 18, 2009). "In Full Page Ad, Fox Asks Where Were Other Media on 9/12. The Answer: They Were There". MediaBistro.com. Retrieved April 24, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
143. "Fox News, Your Facts Are Wrong: CNN's Rick Sanchez takes FOX News" (Video). CNN. September 18, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
144. Linkins, Jason (September 18, 2009). "Fox News Newspaper Ad Makes False Claims About Tea Party Coverage". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
145. Brooks, David (January 4, 2009). "The Tea Party Teens". New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
146. Brooks, David (March 4, 2010). "The Wal-Mart Hippies". New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
147. "Articles". BusinessandMedia.org.
148. Weigel, David (February 27, 2009). "Scenes from the New American Tea Party". Washington Independent. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
149. Koppelman, Alex. "Your guide to teabagging". Salon.com. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
150. Humphrey, Steve. "What are YOU doing for Jesus today?". The Portland Mercury. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
151. "Cable Anchors, Guests Use Tea Parties as Platform for Frat House Humor". Fox News. April 16, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
152. Ames, Mark (March 3, 2009). "The Rick Santelli 'Tea Party' Controversy: Article Kicks Up a Media Dust Storm". AlterNet.org. Retrieved April 24, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
153. Ames, Mark (April 15, 2009). "Fake Teabaggers Are Anti-Spend, Anti-Government: Real Populists Want to Stop Banks from Plundering America". Alternet.org. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help); Text "http://www.alternet.org/workplace/136688/fake_teabaggers_are_anti-spend,_anti-government:_real_populists_want_to_stop_banks_from_plundering_america/" ignored (help)
154. Weigel, David (October 5, 2009). "Tea Party Patrons Point New Recruits Toward 2010". The Washington Independent. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
155. Breitbart, Andrew (April 20, 2009). "Question Democratic Authority? Not!". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
156. "'The Rachel Maddow Show' for Wednesday, April 15" (Transcipt). MSNBC.com. April 16, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
157. Hennessey, Kathleen (January 25, 2010). "Still a disorganized 'tea party'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
158. Good, Chris (April 13, 2000). "The Tea Party Movement: Who's In Charge?". Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
159. Reynolds, Glenn H. (April 13, 2009). "Tea Parties: Real Grassroots". The New York Post. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
160. Weigel, David (February 27, 2009). "Scenes from the New American Tea Party". The Washington Independent. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
161. Quesada, Joe (February 10, 2010). "Political Controversy and The Heroic Age: Is this thing still on?". Cup O' Joe. Comic Book Resources. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
162. McMillan, Graeme (February 12, 2010). "Why Captain America Hates America, Apparently". io9.com. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
163. Miller, Joshua Rhett. "Tea Party Jab to Be Zapped From Captain America Comic, Writer Says". Fox News, February 10, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
164. Itzkoff, Dave (February 10, 2010). "Stars and Gripes: Tea Party Protests Captain America Comic". Arts Beat. The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
165. Winter, Jana (April 27, 2010). "Anti-Tea Party Teacher Back in the Classroom". Fox News. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
166. Campo-Flores, Arian (April 26, 2010). "Are Tea Partiers Racist?". Newsweek. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
167. Budd, Lawrence (April 12, 2010). "Racial slur by Tea Party leader hits home". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
168. ^ "Tea Party Protesters Dispute Reports of Slurs, Spitting Against Dem Lawmakers". Fox News. March 22, 2010. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
169. ^ "Racist epithets fly at tea party health protest". HeraldNet.com. McClatchy News. March 20, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
170. "Wrong Video of Health Protest Spurs N-Word Feud". New York Times. Associated Press. April 13, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
171. Arsenault, Raymond (2006). Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 202-204. Retrieved April 25, 2010. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
172. Breitbart, Andrew (April 2, 2010). "Barack Obama's Helter-Skelter, Insane Clown Posse, Alinsky Plans to 'Deconstruct' America". BigJournalism.com. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
173. Galloway, Jim (March 26, 2010). "Breitbart offers $10k reward for proof that n-word was hurled at John Lewis". Political Insider. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
174. York, Byron (April 8, 2010). "AFL-CIO Chief Claims he Witnessed Disputed Racial Insult at Health Care Rally". Washington Examiner. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
175. "Letter to the Congressional Black Caucus from Tea Party Federation: Please Provide Evidence of Cannon N-Word Incident". April 24, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2010. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |publisherBig Government= (help)
176. Tea Party Activists Unveil 'Contract from America', ABC News, April 15, 2010

Additional reading

O'Hara, John M. (2010). A New American Tea Party: The Counterrevolution Against Bailouts, Handouts, Reckless Spending, and More Taxes. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. 336. ISBN 978-0470567982. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

Media related to 2009 Tea Party protests at Wikimedia Commons

• Tea Party Finds Inspiration In Boston History - audio report by NPR
• "Tea Party Lights Fuse for Rebellion on Right", David Barstow, The New York Times, February 15, 2010 with image slideshow'

• Articles to be merged from April 2010
• Misplaced Pages neutral point of view disputes from March 2010
• Misplaced Pages neutral point of view disputes from April 2010
• 2009 in American politics
• 2010 in American politics
• Conservatism in the United States
• Late 2000s global financial crisis
• Libertarianism in the United States
• Political movements in the United States
• Protests in the United States
• Tax resistance