Tea party seeks Capitol clout after election gains WASHINGTON (AP) - Tea party activists and other conservatives, eager to transform electoral gains into clout on Capitol Hill, are pressuring Republican leaders to take a hardline approach in the next Congress, shunning compromise for confrontation with Democrats.
The strategy is likely to bring gridlock on major issues - particularly tax cuts and spending - and make it more difficult for President Barack Obama and Congress to find common ground on virtually any measure. It's also leaving key Republicans, in charge of the House and with larger numbers in the Senate, less room to maneuver as they seek to show they can make the big changes they've promised.
GOP leaders have bowed to the pressure already this week.
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said he'd go along with a ban on the practice of earmarking - in which lawmakers steer federal spending to pet projects in their states and districts. The decision narrowly averted an internal party fight over earmarks, and gave the tea party a high-profile victory reflecting its growing influence.
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Tea party seeks Capitol clout after election gains
We have established a *toe hold*, nothing more.
Some are already looking at the GOP gains in the recent election and are saying *Mission Accomplished*. The couldn't be further from the truth. The work has barely begun for Conservatives and TEA Party members. Conservative leader Richard Viguerie said: "Today begins the process of repairing the Republican brand."
I sincerely hope that *brand* can be repaired, it would likely be a more acceptable endeavor to most Conservatives than the effort required to for a viable 3rd party.
If the GOP is to be repaired, let it begin with the routing of ALL RINOs.
FreedomWorks retreat seeks to refocus Republican lawmakers on tea party goals FreedomWorks, the conservative political organization that spent millions of dollars helping to elect tea party-backed candidates across the country, is hosting a retreat in Baltimore on Thursday and Friday to encourage congressional Republicans to stay true to the small-government principles they espoused during the campaign.
FreedomWorks' chairman, former House majority leader Richard K. Armey, and its president, Matt Kibbe, will talk to incoming and returning Republicans about not setting aside their advocacy for lower taxes and spending in the interest of finding favor with Republican leaders or scoring valuable committee assignments.
"We have to move from the election cycle and a year in which Americans across the country have been expressing concern and talking about what they don't want from their government to where we start to move toward with what we do want," said Republican Sen.-elect Mike Lee of Utah in a telephone interview from the Hyatt Regency on Baltimore's Inner Harbor. "We will be talking about ideas on how to move forward."
The retreat highlights the potential for conflict between Republican leaders and new members who campaigned forcefully on a message to change the culture of Washington - and who, in some cases, took aim as much at Republicans as Democrats for their role in allowing spending, earmarks, taxes and the national debt to spiral upward.
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FreedomWorks retreat seeks to refocus Republican lawmakers on tea party goals
That's a great start, keep it in their heads, 'YOU work for US and WE can, and WILL fire you if you make a move to The Dark Side'.Earlier today, I posted this on my personal blog: Earmark dispute splits GOP senators.
It can't be stressed too often, we must be ever vigilant. Our nation faces great peril from ALL fronts, one of the greatest perils we face is the GOP (RINOs) and Democrats that spend OUR money like there is no tomorrow.
At the rate these guys have been going, there may well BE no tomorrow if we're not careful and keep a constant eye on what goes on in American politics.And so it begins…
The RINOs love pork just as much as the Dems. I told my readers before the election, ‘as soon as the elections are over, we’ll see a resurgence in the RINO herd’, and we are. NOW is the time to put a lid on it too. STOP these out of control RINOs from spending money this nation doesn’t have. NOW is the time for the entire GOP and ALL Conservatives to stand and tell a few Senators NO! A word that HATE to hear.
Tea Party or Establishment, GOP Looks for GainsWILMINGTON, Del. -- In the turbulent year of the tea party, Republican Rep. Mike Castle of Delaware set out to jangle no nerves as he ran for a Senate seat long held by Vice President Joseph Biden. It's the way Republican strategists originally envisioned 2010, a roster of seasoned politicians pointing the party toward significant gains in the Senate.
"He brings our style of civility and independence to Washington and works to develop solutions," is the soothing, even quaint message on the 71-year-old lawmaker's campaign website, which shows him in a suit and tie, working alone at his desk. Experience "is hugely important," he said in an interview.
After two terms as governor and nine as the state's lone congressman, Castle appears better positioned than other veterans who faced a tea party-backed challenge this year. If he prevails over Christine O'Donnell on Sept. 14 -- he and GOP officials have launched a fierce counterattack -- he would join more than a half-dozen other veteran Republican officeholders on the ballot in Senate races.
In matters of style as well as policy and political experience, they are the polar opposite of Rand Paul of Kentucky, Sharron Angle of Nevada and Ken Buck in Colorado, all of whom tapped into an anti-government sentiment, espouse politically risky positions, won primaries over establishment candidates, and now face particularly difficult races in the fall.
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Tea Party or Establishment, GOP Looks for Gains
One thing is a certainty, the TEA Party has garnered a great deal of attention and we have a lot of notice from politicians on ALL sides of the spectrum.
The Democrats call us names and the Republicans are thinking that maybe we're taking the Grand Old Party over and making it go Conservative again.
That means we ARE doing the RIGHT thing.
One thing bothers me greatly, the GOP has made it clear, they intend to co-opt the TEA Party."We don't need a lot of Jim DeMint disciples," Lott told the Washington Post, referring to the conservative South Carolina senator who has been a gadfly for party leadership and a champion for upstart conservative candidates. "As soon as they get here, we need to co-opt them." Republican Lobbyist Trent Lott: "As Soon As Tea Party Candidates Arrive, We Need To Co-opt Them"
I don't know about you, but speaking for ME, I won't be co-opted by anyone, especially the RINO infested GOP.
I am personally acquainted with a TEA Party group, not a part of it, I just know quite a few of their members, and that group is a GOP creation. Inspired and created to promote GOP ideas in their town and county. For that very reason, I have personally cut all ties with that group.
The TEA Party was NOT designed to be a wing of the GOP. It was NOT designed to be co-opted BY the GOP. The TEA Party was designed to take the Conservatives of this nation to a place they haven't been in a while. A place where true Conservatism is the plan. A place where RINO politics isn't allowed.
For those that don't know, RINO = Republican In Name Only, in other words, a conservative Republican when the mood strikes them, or the need hits them. Think John McCain.
It's all about our Core Values America, and standing up for what's RIGHT, not necessarily what's popular.
