Thread: GOP hopes to build momentum behind 'tea parties'

Time for an email to the GOP.......we don't support the GOP, you are part of the problem. YOU HELPED TO GET US IN THIS MESS.

GOP hopes to build momentum behind 'tea parties'
By SHANNON MCCAFFREY (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
April 16, 2009 4:52 AM EDT

ATLANTA - Republicans have lost their grip on Congress and the White House, but they claim to have American anger over taxes and the economy on their side as tens of thousands turned out for anti-tax "tea parties" around the country.

Wednesday's rallies used the dreaded April 15 - the U.S. deadline to file income taxes - as a hook to vent about government spending and corporate bailouts in an homage to the Boston Tea Party.

The tea parties were promoted by FreedomWorks, a conservative nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington and led by former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas, who is now a lobbyist.

Organizers said the movement developed organically through online social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and through exposure on Fox News and promotion from conservative pundits and bloggers.

While FreedomWorks insisted the rallies were nonpartisan, they have been seized on by many prominent Republicans who view them as a promising way for the party to reclaim its momentum against President Barack Obama's administration and other Democrats.

"All you have to be is a mildly awake Republican candidate for office to get in front of that parade," said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.

Some Republicans considering 2012 presidential bids and others with upcoming campaigns for state and congressional offices hitched a ride with the movement.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich took the podium in front of New York's City Hall while the crowd of about 2,000 chanted, "We are America!"

He urged people to tell their lawmakers to vote against big spending or else "we're going to fire you."

As the former House speaker left after his 11-minute speech, passers-by yelled, "2012, Newt!" and "Run for president!" But when asked about a run, Gingrich shook his head emphatically and said, "I'm just part of a citizen movement."

Another possible candidate, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, sent an e-mail to his supporters, letting them know about tea parties throughout the state. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford attended two tea parties.

"This is critically important, what you're doing," Kansas Republican Sen. Sam Brownback, a likely candidate for governor in 2010, told the crowd in Topeka. "You've got to keep it up."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, facing re-election next year, told protesters in Austin that officials in Washington have abandoned the country's founding principles of limited government. He recently rejected $550 million in federal economic stimulus money slated to help Texas' unemployment trust fund.

While the political implications of the rallies remain to be seen as Obama's administration pursues its economic recovery plan, thousands of protesters turned out in loud and colorful ways to express their frustration with Obama and Washington in general.

Indianapolis small business owners Ben and Bree Finegan brought their two children to a local rally. Two-year-old Kate held a sign from her stroller reading, "In diapers & in debt."

The crowd in Carson City, Nev., included a 5-year-old boy holding a sign that read, "My share of the national debt is $36,500." Some wore cowboy hats with tea bags dangling from them.

In Boston, a few hundred protesters gathered on the Boston Common, a short distance from the original Tea Party in 1773. Some dressed in Revolutionary garb and carried signs that said "Barney Frank, Bernie Madoff: And the Difference Is?" and "D.C.: District of Communism."

In Atlanta, thousands of people gathered outside the Capitol, where Fox News Channel conservative pundit Sean Hannity broadcast his show Wednesday night. One protester's sign read: "Hey Obama you can keep the change."

Julie Reeves, of Covington, Ga., brought her Chihuahua, Arnie, who wore a tiny anti-IRS T-shirt. "I want the government to get its hand the hell out of my wallet," Reeves said.

Duncan Philp, of Carpenter, Wyo., carried a flag in Cheyenne reading "Don't Tread on Me" and dragged a United Nations flag on the ground. Philp said he's a member of the Wyoming Tyranny Response Team, a group dedicated to the Bill of Rights.

He said Congress ignored Americans' request not to bail out financially troubled banks.

"Bush and Obama have done the same thing," Philp said. "They've given out loans for money they don't have."

In Helena, Mont., protesters stomped on boxes labeled to represent various taxes, such as income and a proposal to tax carbon dioxide output.

"It's a stepping stone to one day being able to tax you for the very air that you breathe," said event organizer Jim Walker.

There were several small counter-protests, including one that drew about a dozen people at Fountain Square in Cincinnati. A counter-protester held a sign that read, "Where were you when Bush was spending billions a month 'liberating' Iraq?" The anti-tax demonstration there, meanwhile, drew about 4,000 people.

Some Democrats said the Tax Day rallies offered little substance.

"The Republicans are going to have to do more than their standard rhetoric about taxes in order to be successful. They need some new ideas," said Brian Schatz, chairman of the Hawaii Democratic Party. "It's a tired old line of attack."

Do we really trust GOP?

Republicans are welcome to jump on the bus if they want to but they will have to become independents if they do.

This is a great time for a third party to gain ground. Americans are fed up with both Dems and Repubs.

RINOS don't fit in with the Tea Party.

Really, the Tea Party attendants are the Republican base that got turned off with Bush.

Dixie

If the GOP wants in, then they are going to have to prove themselves and I'd be willing to take that as far as to say they better be prepared to re-group as a third party.

I'm not listening to anymore of the same old crap only to have them get into office and either do the same thing time and again or just sit on their hands and do NOTHING at all while they watch what is happening to this country and We the People.

NO MORE!!!!

The elected officials don't do anything, they should be calling us, the people and telling us what they are going to do.

But instead we have to call, fax, and email and beg.

Originally Posted by vmonkey56

The elected officials don't do anything, they should be calling us, the people and telling us what they are going to do.

But instead we have to call, fax, and email and beg.

I agree....I'd much rather see my neighbor run for office than a professional politician. It wasn't meant to be the way it has become. Government by the people means exactly that. The average Joe was meant to represent the larger crowd of his constituents not become an elitist that lords over the rest of us making decisions based on whether he can get re-elected for it or not. I'll never vote party and I will not vote for a professional politician or any candidate that promotes party politics! The previously mentioned choices are just puppets for the elites. They don't mind people laughing at them for their faux paus or for getting caught in blatant lies. They are merely in it for the M-O-N-E-Y!!! Take George W. Bush for example. I have never seen anyone that made a fool of themselves so many times in front of the world, but he didn't care and quite possibly he is too stupid to even know it. He however is wheeling around a big wheelbarrow full of our hard earned money though.

I am not a party person; however, I have seen the Republicans fighting to stop the Stimulus bill, criminal Domocratic spending, and fighting to stop Amnesty related bills. I have seen almost All of the Democrats backing up anything King Obama and his court of Merry Communists dictate. The Democrats are no longer the party of the American people. They are on a wild power trip with our tax dollars, and our freedom, in tow.

The argument about Bush is not valid, he was backed up by the majority of liberal idiot Democrats in the house and Senate ironically the Republicans were not thrilled with him.

I hope that I am wrong but I think the way things are going now in Washington we will not have a legitimate voting process in 2012, so the issue of voting for anyone may not be relevent. Obama will have his criminal thug Acorn and/or his civilian military force threatening the American people to vote his way and/or Obama will have Amnestied in all of the illegals and their vote will push him through.

I pray that the Supreme Court will hear the case against Obama's legitimate right to be president and they find that he committed a fraud and send him packing. America needs a fresh start.

We can't rest on the success of the tea parties yesteday becaus the North American Union plans are brewing and loom ever closer. On C-Span today Obama, Biden and other political elites were discussing their plans to put into effect high speed rail ways systems. On the surface this sounds inviting however, on various sites the plans for the PPS outlined how our Government was going to put into effect high speed railway systems to connect us with Canada and Mexico.

It seems anytime I think Obama is attempting to do anything that would be helpful to the American people his agenda unfolds and something other than his stated goals appear. Keep a watchful eye on this Aliacers.


http://www.judicialwatch.org/SPP Read about the North American Union


http://www.c-span.org/Watch/C-SPAN_wm.aspx See Obama talking about the High Speed Railway systems


http://www.stopthenorthamericanunion.com/ Stop the North American Union details the plans for High Speed Rail system long before it was discussed today on C-Span by Obama, Biden and fellow criminal political elites.