Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party: February 2011

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Tea party may fight GOP over Chris Lee’s seat
Rep. Allen West Confronts Islamic Activists
Sen. Scott Brown says, ‘I’m not a Tea Party member,’ welcomes GOP primary
Labor, Tea Party groups to duel over Wisconsin workers
Union dues in crosshairs of John Thrasher bill

Tea party may fight GOP over Chris Lee’s seat

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 08:47 AM PST

By Robert J. McCarthy, Buffalo News

Tea party activists, slumbering since last fall's gubernatorial election, may be awakening and ready to challenge the Republican process for choosing a successor to Christopher J. Lee in the 26th Congressional District.

Rus Thompson of Grand Island, a tea party figure who was active in Carl P. Paladino's GOP campaign for governor, said Sunday he and others disapprove of the way Republican leaders are rushing toward the nomination of Assemblywoman Jane L. Corwin of Clarence. She remains the GOP front-runner for an anticipated special election stemming from Lee's Feb. 9 resignation from Congress.

Thompson strongly hinted that the movement might coalesce behind a third-party candidacy by David Bellavia, an Iraq War veteran who mounted a strong effort for the 2008 GOP nomination eventually won by Lee.

"David Bellavia is bound and determined to run a third-party line," Thompson said Sunday. "Because of the way Republicans have been treating this, people are talking about a third-party line."

Rep. Allen West Confronts Islamic Activists

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 08:45 AM PST

By Henry J. Reske, NewsMax

The Muslim faith has been responsible for atrocities throughout history so don't try "to blow sunshine up my butt" about attacks on Americans, Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., told an Islamic activist who tried to confront him at a town hall meeting. West was responding to a challenge from Nezar Hamze, executive director of the South Florida chapter of the Council of American Islamic Relations.

Hamze appeared at the town hall meeting at St. Mark's Catholic School and, with a copy of the Koran in hand, demanded to know where in the Koran it says to carry out attacks against Americans.

"Of course it doesn't say attack America or attack Americans," West quickly responded to the cheers of the audience. "The book was written around the eighth or ninth century, so America wasn't even around. But … there is talk about killing infidels."

Sen. Scott Brown says, ‘I’m not a Tea Party member,’ welcomes GOP primary

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 08:40 AM PST

By Michael O’Brien, The Hill

“You’re talking about being an ideologue? If you’re looking for one, I’m not it,” said Sen. Scott Brown.

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) said he doesn’t consider himself a member of the Tea Party movement and would welcome any primary challenger.

Brown, the Republican senator from deep-blue Massachusetts whose win in a special election last year in part catalyzed the Tea Party movement, said he considers himself just a Republican, though one with sympathies toward some Tea Party issues.

“Hey, nothing wrong with a primary. I welcome all challengers,” Brown said Tuesday morning on MSNBC.

He said Monday evening that he didn’t identify as a member of the Tea Party movement.

Labor, Tea Party groups to duel over Wisconsin workers

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 08:37 AM PST

By Kyle Cheney, Boston Herald

Although the epicenter of the fight is 1,200 miles away, Massachusetts labor groups plan to rally late Tuesday afternoon on Beacon Hill in support of Wisconsin public employees whose collective bargaining power would be stripped under a proposal by Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

But they won't be alone. The Greater Boston Tea Party is mobilizing supporters for a counter-rally at the foot of the State House, arguing that Walker's actions were "common sense" and that they represent "private sector taxpayers."

Both events are planned for 4 p.m. and both promise to deliver highly charged messages.

Gov. Walker's proposals and the backlash against them have turned the nation's eyes on Wisconsin and stimulated debate all over the country about the rights and benefits of workers, the economy and state budget difficulties. In Massachusetts, there's been a debate simmering for years over whether to loosen restrictions on privatizing state services and public employee unions face growing unrest among municipal government officials who want enhanced authority to control employee health care costs.

Union dues in crosshairs of John Thrasher bill

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 08:32 AM PST

By Marc Caputo, St. Petersburg Times

Sen. John Thrasher, former state GOP chairman, looks like he has filed a bill (SB830) to starve unions like the Florida Education Association, SEIU, AFL-CIO, firefighters, police unions or AFSCME by banning the Democratic-leaning organizations from using salary deductions for political purposes. The legislation also says any “public employer may not deduct or collect” union dues, etc. Lastly, it says that any public employee who didn’t specifically authorize the use of his money could be entitled to a partial refund.

The bill doesn’t seem to go as far as Wisconsin’s by ending collective bargaining rights in Florida, though in a right-to-work state there’s only so much union bargaining that can take place. Still, the language about union dues sure looks like it’s right out of the playbook of the tea party and Wisconsin’s Gov. Scott Walker (who incidentally is not a high-speed rail fan, either).

Here are some excerpts from Thrasher’s bill, SB 830, which doesn’t seem to have a house sponsor. Yet.

“Deductions may not be made for purposes of political activity, including contributions to a candidate, political party, political committee, committee of continuous existence, electioneering communications organization, or organization exempt from taxation under s. 501(c)(4) or s. 527 of the Internal Revenue Code.”

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

New Hampshire House Passes Right-to-Work Measure, Governor Promises to Veto
Poll indicates strong Tea Party support for Romney in NH
Flake Picks Up Tea Party Group Endorsement In Arizona
Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Lawfully-owned Guns
Putting Politics Over Security, Obama Moves to Unionize TSA
Tea Party group to GOP: Don’t ‘reward collaborators’ on healthcare law

New Hampshire House Passes Right-to-Work Measure, Governor Promises to Veto

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 12:45 PM PST

By LaborUnionReport, RedState

On Tuesday afternoon, the GOP-led House in New Hampshire voted 221-131 to make the Granite State the 23rd state in the nation to outlaw unions' ability to have workers fired for not paying union dues. The bill to make New Hampshire a Right-to-Work state now moves to the New Hampshire Senate where Republicans enjoy a 19-5 majority. However, before the bill become law it must be signed by the Democratic Governor, John Lynch, who has said he would veto it.

According to Republican Steve Vaillancourt, overriding Democrat Lynch's expected veto is possible, but it may be difficult:

House Bill 474, better known as the Right To Work bill ("relative to freedom of choice on whether to join a labor union"), will pass the New Hampshire House overwhelmingly this week (either late Tuesday or early Wednesday), but the number to watch is 31.

Poll indicates strong Tea Party support for Romney in NH

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 12:40 PM PST

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON – Former Governor Mitt Romney has struggled to attract support among Tea Party activists in pockets throughout the country, but he appears to have secured broad support among the movement's supporters in New Hampshire.

In a new WMUR poll, his favorability among supporters of the Tea Party is strikingly high – 77 percent and far exceeds any other candidate.

"People hear Tea Party and think small government, and the small government message is something people in this state are raised with," said Andy Smith, who conducted the poll as director of the UNH Survey Center. "Romney's attractiveness here is because he's philosophically attuned to most of the Republicans in the state."

Flake Picks Up Tea Party Group Endorsement In Arizona

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 12:34 PM PST

By Evan McMorris-Santoro, TalkingPointsMemo

Hours after Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) announced his campaign for the seat being vacated by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), tea party umbrella group FreedomWorks, best known as the arm of the movement led by former House Republican leader Dick Armey, endorsed Flake in an email blast sent by its PAC.

“Endorsing Jeff Flake is a no-brainer,” FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe said in a statement. “He’s principled, he’s consistent, and he’s fearless in the fight for lower taxes, less government, and more individual freedom. If the Tea Party is going to reduce the size of government, it will need more Jeff Flakes in the United States Senate.”

The backing of FreedomWorks helps solidify Flake as the national fiscal conservative choice. He’s already got the endorsement of the Club For Growth, which has promised to lend a hand in getting him elected.

Early polling shows Flake may not enjoy the support in Arizona he does on the national circuit. A poll taken several days before Flake formally announced his Senate campaign showed him trailing Sheriff Joe Arpaio, another a tea party national star. Arpaio has not said if he’ll run, though there are reports he is considering it.

Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Lawfully-owned Guns

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 12:25 PM PST

BY PATRICK KREY , The New American

The Philadelphia Daily News reported on a disturbing story that should horrify every gun owner in this nation. Brian Aitken, a 25-year-old successful media consultant who was going through a separation with his wife, was in the process of selling his home in Colorado and moving to a suburban New Jersey apartment to be closer to his two-year-old son when he was arrested in an odd series of events.

On January 2, 2009, Brian was visiting his parents in Mount Laurel while taking a break from moving to nearby Hoboken. After Brian's former wife canceled his scheduled visit with his son, he became distraught and said something to the effect of "life's not worth living anymore" to his mother and drove away. His mother, a trained social worker, became worried about a possible suicide risk and called 9-1-1 but hung up after having second thoughts. Law enforcement traced the call and soon arrived at the scene. The police called Brian, who was on his way to his new residence in Hoboken, and asked him to return to his parents' home because they were worried. When he returned, the cops searched his vehicle and found two handguns, both locked and unloaded as New Jersey law requires, inside the trunk, in a box stuffed into a duffel bag with clothes. Brian was arrested and, according to his attorney, the subsequent trial and conviction were the "perfect storm of injustice."

The guns were lawfully purchased by Aitken when he was a Colorado resident. He had passed an FBI background check to buy the guns from a Bass Pro shop in Denver, and he had even contacted New Jersey State Police to discuss the proper way to transport them into New Jersey. In Colorado, all Brian needed was a background check to own the guns, but in New Jersey, which has some of the strictest laws in the nation, a purchaser's permit is required to own the guns and another carry permit is required to transport them in his car. Aitken's attorney, Evan Nappen, who specializes in gun laws, told the news that Brian had a legal exemption to have the handguns in his car because he was moving from his parents' home to a residence in Hoboken.

Putting Politics Over Security, Obama Moves to Unionize TSA

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 12:16 PM PST

By Rory Cooper, The Heritage Foundation

Last night, on a purely partisan 47–51 vote, the Senate rejected an amendment that would have stopped government unions from organizing Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees. The vote was made possible by an announcement two Fridays ago by President Barack Obama political appointee and TSA Administrator John Pistole. Pistole rejected TSA's original policy that collective bargaining's inherently adversarial process would impair TSA's ability to protect American air travelers. Pistole's decision, coupled with Democratic control of the Senate, will net the labor movement—a majority of whom already work for the government—45,000 new members and $18 million a year in dues that are ultimately paid for by you, the taxpayer.

Pistole's order would initially allow the TSA union to collectively bargain over work rules but not wages and benefits. But that will surely change. Already the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) and the American Federation of Government Employees are fighting over the $18 million in government union dues TSA employees will soon be paying. To win this battle, and keep their new union members happy, these government unions will use this money to campaign for and lobby politicians to grow the TSA and expand the permissible subjects of negotiation.

This has already happened. The government unions that already exist spent hundreds of millions of dollars electing President Obama so he could appoint Pistole to run the TSA. Now that investment is paying off. This will only continue. More government unions breeds more campaign cash for liberals, which breeds more government spending and agencies, which breeds more collective bargaining for those government employees, and the cycle continues.

Tea Party group to GOP: Don’t ‘reward collaborators’ on healthcare law

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 12:05 PM PST

By Julian Pecquet, The Hill

Republicans should refuse to “reward collaborators” by not helping industry groups that supported the healthcare law unless they support its full repeal, the conservative FreedomWorks organization told House leaders in a confidential memo sent Monday.

“Don’t reward collaborators,” the memo states.

The memo suggests repeal is within reach, and advises House leaders to start offering their own proposals for healthcare reform.

“We’re sending this memo because we believe your ultimate success depends as much on how you handle the ‘replace’ as the ‘repeal’ side of the strategy,” says the memo to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). “We think it’s time to start emphasizing what you’re for as much as what you're against.”

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Minn.’s Dayton wants to tax wealthy to fix deficit
‘Kill Switch’ Internet bill alarms privacy experts
‘America’s toughest sheriff’ considering Arizona Senate run
Union Workers, Republicans Spar Over Compensation
Senate Votes to Extend Patriot Act Provisions
Michelle v. Michele: The Breastfeeding Battle

Minn.’s Dayton wants to tax wealthy to fix deficit

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 04:55 PM PST

By MARTIGA LOHN, Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is looking to the wealthy to erase about half the state’s $6.2 billion deficit.

The Democrat proposed new top income taxes Tuesday that would give Minnesota the nation’s highest income tax rate.

Dayton’s plan would raise almost $3 billion through a new 10.95 percent income tax rate, 3 percent temporary income surtax and property tax on million-dollar homes.
The taxes are part of a two-year, $37 billion budget proposal that includes cuts for state-subsidized health care and nursing homes and more money for schools.

‘Kill Switch’ Internet bill alarms privacy experts

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 04:43 PM PST

By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — A raging debate over new legislation, and its impact on the Internet, has tongues wagging and fingers pointing from Silicon Valley to Washington, D.C.

Just as the Egyptian government recently forced the Internet to go dark, U.S. officials could flip the switch if the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset legislation becomes law, say its critics.

Proponents of the bill, which is expected to be reintroduced in the current session of Congress, dismiss the detractors as ill-informed — even naive.

The ominously nicknamed Kill Switch bill is sure to be a flashpoint of discussion at the RSA Conference, the nation’s largest gathering of computer-security experts that takes place here this week.

‘America’s toughest sheriff’ considering Arizona Senate run

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 04:37 PM PST

By Daniel Strauss, The Hill, The Washington Scene

Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Monday he is open to the possibility of running for the seat of retiring Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) in 2012.

Arpaio, the conservative sheriff famous for his hard-line anti-immigration stances, made the remarks in light of a poll released Monday by Summit Consulting Group Inc., which is fundraising for Arpaio’s reelection campaign for sheriff. The company’s Chad Willems is Arpaio’s campaign manager.

Arpaio said the deciding factor is neither the money, which he said he could raise, nor his ability to do the job. Rather, he said, it’s whether he would be willing to leave his job as sheriff.

Arpaio has served as sheriff for five terms and is currently running for a sixth. But, he said, that doesn’t mean he won’t run for the Senate.

Union Workers, Republicans Spar Over Compensation

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 04:33 PM PST

By Tom Murray, TMJ4NBC

MADISON – Early Tuesday morning at UWM in Milwaukee, graduate assistant Lee Abbott boarded a Madison-bound bus. He is worried about paying more for health care under Governor Scott Walker's Budget Repair Bill.

"On our salaries that we get paid here, we would not be able to afford them for our two children," Abbott told TODAY'S TMJ4 reporter Tom Murray.

Abbott joined thousands of city, county and state workers in Madison.

"Let our message of fairness and equity be heard," a speaker told an assembled crowd estimated at over 10,000 outside the Capitol.

Senate Votes to Extend Patriot Act Provisions

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 04:29 PM PST

From FOX News/AP

WASHINGTON — The Senate has voted to extend roving wiretap authority and other provisions of anti-terrorism law for 90 days, giving lawmakers more time to discuss the future of the law enforcement tools that some consider an infringement on civil liberties.

Michelle v. Michele: The Breastfeeding Battle

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 04:25 PM PST

By Rebecca Kaplan, National Review

Michelle Obama has found herself the target of criticism from yet another high-profile conservative woman who says that the first lady’s initiatives promote a "nanny state.”

Reports surfaced this week that Obama will highlight breastfeeding as a path to reducing childhood obesity and will try to remove barriers for women who choose that method of feeding their infant. The Internal Revenue Service helped the cause when it announced last week that it would offer a tax break on breastfeeding supplies, though it is unclear whether Obama has encouraged women to take advantage of the tax breaks.

But that didn't stop Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., from firing away at the first lady on Tuesday afternoon on conservative host Laura Ingraham's radio show. “I’ve given birth to five babies, and I breast-fed every single one,” Bachmann said. “To think that government has to go out and buy my breast pump for my babies? You wanna talk about the nanny state?"

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Bachmann hands out ‘Bachmann 12′ shirts at CPAC
Tea Party Patriots Team Up With Steve King On Last Ditch Effort To Destroy ‘ObamaCare’
CPAC victory in hand, Ron Paul takes on Tea Party

Bachmann hands out ‘Bachmann 12′ shirts at CPAC

Posted: 14 Feb 2011 01:20 PM PST

By Andy Birkey, The Minnesota Independent

Further fueling the speculation that Rep. Michele Bachmann may be making a bid for the White House in 2012, she handed out jerseys with "Bachmann" on the front and "12″ on the back at a reception Thursday evening. As promised, Bachmann also gave away vouchers for free drinks as she collected information from attendees at CPAC, an annual gathering of conservatives which has drawn over 11,000 attendees this week.

While Bachmann's spokesman Sergio Gor said the "12″ was a reference to the 12 Apostles and meant to convey "Obama out in 2012," the information gathering that Bachmann conducted in order for attendees to receive their shirts and free drinks suggests the number could also mean a run for president — or, at the very least, perhaps it was part of her campaign to win the CPAC presidential straw poll.

Tea Party Patriots Team Up With Steve King On Last Ditch Effort To Destroy ‘ObamaCare’

Posted: 14 Feb 2011 01:14 PM PST

By Brian Beutler, TalkingPointsMemo

The Tea Party Patriots are backing up Iowa Republican Steve King in a last-ditch effort to sink “ObamaCare” before the end of winter. But they’re running out of options.

King wants his party to be bold, and attach a measure hacking $100 billion out of the health care law to legislation that will fund the government from March 4 through the end of September. He knows the Democratic Senate and the White House won’t let that fly — but for him larger principles are at stake here, and if the government shuts down because of this fight, so be it.

Republican leaders aren’t wild about this idea, or they would’ve written King’s plan into the base spending package. So King’s trying to do an end-run around them. Monday evening, the House Rules Committee will decide whether to grant King’s plan protected status, so he can offer it on the House floor and pass it with a majority vote. It needs that protected status because it’s not really relevant to the appropriations legislation at hand — and if Rules Committee Republicans decide not to give it that waiver, it will need supermajority support, which it doesn’t have.

CPAC victory in hand, Ron Paul takes on Tea Party

Posted: 14 Feb 2011 01:00 PM PST

From Reuters

Libertarian Ron Paul, a godfather of the Tea Party movement, isn't altogether happy with his political progeny these days.

Fresh from victory in last week's CPAC presidential straw poll, the Republican congressman from Texas laments to MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that some Tea Partiers aren't measuring up when it comes to the tough defense and entitlement program cuts he believes are needed to save the United States from economic cataclysm.

"They don't want you to touch Social Security. They don't want you to touch anything but Obamacare," Paul says. "Some of them are real Republicans and they wouldn't dare touch Bush's increase in medical care costs, you know, prescription health programs."

"They treat the symptoms and they don't look at it philosophically," he adds.

This sounds like a new fissure in the divisions emerging among Republicans. The Tea Party movement swept Republicans into the majority in the House of Representatives last November, while narrowing the Democratic Party's hold on the Senate.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Tea Party opposition to changes in GA tax code
FL State Senator Garcia Proposes Red Light Camera Repeal
Republicans take a $100 billion whack at Obama budget
Maine Tea Party leader to challenge Snowe in 2012
Ron Paul wins CPAC straw poll
New D.C. order: Rookies rule CPAC

Tea Party opposition to changes in GA tax code

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 03:44 PM PST

By Jennifer Emert, WALB NEWS 10

ALBANY, GA (WALB) – A proposal to overhaul Georgia’s tax structure is getting opposition from one conservative group.

Georgia’s Tea Party says an effort to reform the state tax code would just shuffle the burden, but wouldn’t fix the problem. A council that studied tax reform recommended cutting personal and business income taxes and raising sales and use taxes. The Georgia Tea Party says it supports tax simplification. Mike Sabot of the Lee County Tea Party says he doesn’t think any changes will be made this year.

“It’s not going anywhere, there’s too many differences of opinion for example, he didn’t want a sales tax on food, because it would hurt people in their pocketbook where it hurts the most and this is not what this is supposed to be a about,” said Mike Sabot, Lee County Tea Party.

To read more, visit: http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=14015572

FL State Senator Garcia Proposes Red Light Camera Repeal

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 03:38 PM PST

By David Royse, The News Service of Florida

Tallahassee, FL – A law passed just last year that lets local governments install red light cameras and ticket drivers based on the pictures would be repealed under a bill filed by Sen. Rene Garcia.

The law is an "unwarranted, big-brother initiative," Garcia, R-Hialeah, said in a statement Tuesday announcing he had filed the bill (SB 672).

If it were to pass, the measure would require cameras be removed from state roads by next July. At least 50 communities in Florida had red light cameras last year.

The main objections have been that the cameras violate drivers' civil liberties, a fear of wrongful ticketing, and that they gouge unsuspecting residents. It took eight years to pass the measure over those objections.

"We need to ensure that citizens are treated fairly, and this bill will protect Floridians from intrusive snapshots and inaccurate ticketing," Garcia said. "Local governments have used these cameras to tax their citizens under the disguise of safety."

Republicans take a $100 billion whack at Obama budget

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 03:32 PM PST

By Brad Knickerbocker, Christian Science Monitor

In a move that has "tea party" written all over it, Republicans in the House of Representative propose to cut spending for the rest of this fiscal year by what they claim is "the largest single discretionary spending reduction in the history of Congress."

Will it pass? That's unlikely, given Democratic control of the Senate and President Obama's authority to veto what's called a "continuing resolution."

Still, the action sets the scene for what could be a knock-down-drag-out political fight. And while the amount in question is just a fraction of overall government spending, it wallops many popular programs – including some highly favored by the Obama administration.

Maine Tea Party leader to challenge Snowe in 2012

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 03:29 PM PST

From ajc.com

PORTLAND, Maine — The Maine coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots says he will run against U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe in the 2012 Republican primary.

Andrew Ian Dodge of Harpswell announced Friday that he’s challenging Snowe for the seat she has held since 1995. Calling Snowe a “rubber stamp for Obama,” Dodge says she’s vulnerable in the primary because of her moderate political positions.

He made his formal announcement at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

Ron Paul wins CPAC straw poll

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 03:24 PM PST

By Chris Cillizza and Rachel Weiner, The Washington Times

Ron Paul emerged victorious in the Conservative Political Action Conference’s annual presidential straw poll, the second straight year that the libertarian-leaning Texas Congressman has won the vote.

Paul took 30 percent while former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.) placed second with 23 percent. No other candidate received double digit support.

A total of 3,742 people — roughly a third of total CPAC attendees — cast votes.

Paul, who ran for president in 2008, is weighing another bid in 2012. He is considered a considerable longshot despite his loyal following among young people who are drawn to his less government messaging.

New D.C. order: Rookies rule CPAC

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 03:22 PM PST

By MARIN COGAN, Politico

This time last year, Kristi Noem was home on her South Dakota ranch mulling a run for Congress. Raul Labrador was a little-known state legislator waging a long-shot bid for the House that even his own party wasn't enthused about.

Now, though, the two Republican House freshmen are basking in the national conservative limelight. They are two of the brightest stars at the 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference, typically a playground for presidential hopefuls and the foot soldiers who love them.

And Noem and Labrador aren't the only GOP House rookies being celebrated at the annual conservative gathering. The roster of CPAC speakers and panelists included eight members of the mammoth 87-member House freshmen class and four newly-elected senators. Only one freshman—five-year Senator and former Congressman Jim DeMint—from either chamber spoke at last year's event.

The rise of the rookies represents a reversal of a traditional D.C. order that places first-term legislators at the bottom of the D.C. food chain, a dramatic expression of the place the newcomers occupy in the conservative constellation.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Two Pauls Are Better Than One!
Trump Electrifies CPAC and Infuriates Paul Supporters
Ruling against health insurance mandate is a ‘tea party’ milestone
Republican Leaders Yield to a Push for More Budget Cuts
Conservative Senator John Boozman Says No Thanks to Tea Party Caucus

Two Pauls Are Better Than One!

Posted: 11 Feb 2011 09:45 PM PST

Four years ago, Rand Paul was helping out his father on a presidential campaign that was not taken very seriously. This was fair, in horse-race terms. Ron Paul seemed like the sort of candidate who runs, makes a statement, introduces an issue, and fades away. The issues were abolishing the Federal Reserve, ending both wars in Central Asia, abolishing the entitlement state, and ending the war on drugs. No Republican candidate adopted any of these issues. Paul’s supporters, younger and rowdier and more akin to quoting Murray Rothbard than other Republicans, were grudgingly accepted.

Two Pauls Are Better Than One!

Fast forward to CPAC 2011. The economic portions of Ron Paul’s agenda are no longer controversial. Rand Paul is a U.S. senator who can command media attention and confused sports fans.

“It’s not just that Rand is a senator,” says William Thompson, a Georgia activist attending with Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty—the group he set up after shutting down his 2008 presidential bid. “He’s one of the senators everyone knows. If you ask somebody who doesn’t follow politics to name a politician, they might name him.”

This is incredible for the CPAC supporters of Paul and Paul who’ve been coming for years. In 2008, Paul didn’t have a booth in the exhibition hall; his fans occupied the one that Mitt Romney abandoned after dropping out of the race. In 2011, they have paid for booths that occupy most of a long row of the hall. They offer copies of Young American Revolution magazine, the official publication of Ron Paul’s youth group, and bumper stickers that decry “George W. Obama” alongside ones that say “We Used To Hunt Communists. Now We Elect Them.”

Paul and Paul’s fans are perhaps the only people in American politics right now who are head over heels in love with their politicians. President Obama’s supporters used to have enthusiasm like this, but it’s tempered. He’s had to disappoint them by governing the country.

The Pauls’ adherents can’t be disappointed. They got this far, didn’t they? And they are unavoidable at CPAC, aren’t they? According to Ron Paul’s camp, his organization spent about $100,000 on discounted tickets (students could attend for $15 through Campaign for Liberty) and booths. More than 1,000 people here are Paul supporters.

By: David Weigel
Read More: http://www.slate.com/id/2284686/

Trump Electrifies CPAC and Infuriates Paul Supporters

Posted: 11 Feb 2011 04:57 PM PST

From FOX Nation

If CPAC is a primary for self-confidence, Donald Trump won hands down.

The real-estate mogul with a genius for self-promotion gave the most-acclaimed – and most colorful – speech at the conservative gathering this afternoon, from the moment he took the stage to the song “Money, Money, Money.”
Continue Reading

With no visible sense of irony, he slammed libertarian Ron Paul as a losing hopeful who can’t capture the brass ring and got booed by some for it, said our current president came ‘out of nowhere,” and quoted a business magazine’s story about what a terrific entrepreneur he himself is.

Ruling against health insurance mandate is a ‘tea party’ milestone

Posted: 11 Feb 2011 08:17 AM PST

By David G. Savage and Kathleen Hennessey,, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Washington — For nearly two years, the “tea party” movement with its call for limited government has made inroads in the political arena, but a Florida judge’s ruling last week declaring the health insurance mandate unconstitutional may be remembered as its moment of arrival in the courts.

Another judge in Virginia had made a similar ruling, but U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson’s decision gave voice to the tea party’s rallying cry that the Constitution put strict limits on the national government. Harkening back to the time of the American Revolution and the Boston Tea Party, he observed that even the hated British did not go so far as to “force people to buy tea.”

“Surely this is not what the Founding Fathers could have intended,” Vinson said. “We would have a Constitution in name only” if Congress can force an unwilling person to buy health insurance, he wrote.

Republican Leaders Yield to a Push for More Budget Cuts

Posted: 11 Feb 2011 08:14 AM PST

By CARL HULSE, The New York Times

WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders said Thursday that they would accede to demands from conservatives and dig deeper into the federal budget for billions of dollars in additional savings this year, exhibiting the power of the Tea Party movement and increasing chances of a major fiscal clash with Democrats.

In response to complaints from rank-and-file Republicans that the party was not fulfilling a campaign promise to roll back domestic spending this year by $100 billion, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee said his panel would abandon its initial plan and draw up a new one to slice spending more aggressively.

"Our intent is to make deep but manageable cuts in nearly every area of government, leaving no stone unturned and allowing no agency or program to be held sacred," Representative Harold Rogers, the Kentucky Republican who leads the committee, said.

Conservative Senator John Boozman Says No Thanks to Tea Party Caucus

Posted: 11 Feb 2011 08:08 AM PST

By Jonathan Karl, ABC News

Arkansas’ freshman Republican, John Boozman, comes to the Senate with solid conservative credentials (including a 96 percent rating last year from the American Conservative Union), but he tells ABC News he has no intention of joining the Senate Tea Party caucus. “Well you know I’m very supportive of what the Tea Party is trying to do. They’re very concerned with spending, the deficit, the bailouts, you know all of those kinds of things,” Boozman said in an interview for the ABC News Subway Series. “But I really think that the strength of the Tea Party is being a grassroots movement.”

Forming a Tea Party caucus of Republican Senators, Boozman said, could make the movement seem like a wing of the Republican Party, which he says it should not be.

“If you have such a situation where it becomes an arm of the Republican Party, or it appears to be that way — and don’t think that the people who are doing this are trying to do that, but to the public it will appear that way — then you lose the Reagan Democrats, then you lose the independents,” Boozman said. “And I really, I think it’s really important that they continue to have that support.”

Friday, February 11, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Giffords is seen as shoo-in for Kyl’s seat
Allen West to close CPAC
Michele Bachmann to CPAC: ‘Hu’s Your Daddy!’

Giffords is seen as shoo-in for Kyl’s seat

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 07:10 PM PST

By Valerie Richardson-The Washington Times

Any discussion of who's likely to succeed outgoing Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona needs to factor in the following: If Rep. Gabrielle Giffords wants the seat, it's hers.

The three-term Democratic congresswoman explored the idea of running for the Senate seat in the event of Mr. Kyl's retirement before she was shot Jan. 8 at a constituent meet-and-greet in Tucson. Her rehabilitation from a gunshot wound to the head reportedly is proceeding faster than expected.

Mr. Kyl announced Thursday that he would not seek a fourth term in 2012. If Ms. Giffords decides she's game for a Senate run and if her health permits, she would be virtually impossible to defeat, said Bruce Merrill, Arizona State University professor emeritus and longtime pollster.

"If one assumes she'd be healthy enough to run, there's nobody who could beat her," said Mr. Merrill. "Now she's got 100 percent name identification and 100 percent sympathy from the public. If she was well enough and she wanted the nomination, I don't think there's any question."

Allen West to close CPAC

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 07:00 PM PST

By MOLLY BALL, Politico

Rep. Allen West, the tea party-allied Florida congressman, has been tapped to give the keynote speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday.

West announced he'd been given the prestigious final speaking slot in a tweet from his official account Wednesday morning.

"I've been asked today to have the honor of giving the closing keynote address at CPAC Saturday," the Republican freshman wrote. "I'm humbled."

CPAC begins Thursday, but until today, the closing address had been a major void on a schedule otherwise filled with potential 2012 presidential contenders and other Republican luminaries.

Michele Bachmann to CPAC: ‘Hu’s Your Daddy!’

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 06:54 PM PST

By Patrick O’Connor, The Wall Street Journal

"Hu's your daddy!"

That's Rep. Michele Bachmann's assessment of the country's debt obligations, delivered Thursday as she kicked off the 38th annual Conservative Political Action Conference.

"With all the money we owe China, I think we might rightly say, 'Hu's your daddy!'" the Minnesota Republican and tea party favorite said, referring to Chinese President Hu Jintao, whose country holds more U.S. debt than any other.

The genial firebrand warned the crowd of conservatives gathered in a cavernous conference room that "our friendly Chinese bankers" are the only ones who benefit from the swelling U.S. debt.

In a speech tailor-made for conservative activists, Ms. Bachmann, who is flirting with a presidential bid, told the cheering auditorium, "There's no question — and I have no reservation in saying this — we have seen President [Barack] Obama usher in socialism under his watch over the last two years."

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Job Tax Plan Lands With a Thud
House seen blocking healthcare funds
Congressional Tea Party Caucus Holds Tele Townhall
26 Repubs who supported liberty & rejected the Patriot Act: Who are they?
Two GOP Senate Hopefuls Help Block PATRIOT Act

Job Tax Plan Lands With a Thud

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 07:44 AM PST

By JONATHAN WEISMAN And DAMIAN PALETTA, The Wall Street Journal

Republicans on Capitol Hill responded with hostility Tuesday to a White House proposal to allow cash-strapped states to raise unemployment-insurance taxes. But in some states struggling with rising debt and empty coffers, officials said the plan should be considered.

Administration officials say the proposal, to be included in President Barack Obama’s budget plan for the next fiscal year, is intended to help states that so far have borrowed $42.4 billion from the federal government to keep benefits flowing after exhausting the reserves used to pay unemployment benefits.

Some of those 31 states have borrowed so heavily, and repaid the loans so slowly, that they triggered automatic tax increases designed to reimburse the federal government.

Already, employers in three states—Michigan, Indiana and South Carolina—are paying higher federal unemployment taxes because of state debts to Washington. More than half the states could be hit by the end of the year.

House seen blocking healthcare funds

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 07:38 AM PST

By Reuters

The U.S. House of Representatives is likely to vote to block funding for President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare overhaul when it takes up a budget plan next week, House Republican Leader Eric Cantor said on Tuesday.

“I expect to see one way or other the product coming out of the House to speak to that and to preclude any funding to be used for that,” Cantor said at a news conference, referring to an effort to block implementation of the health-care law.

House Republicans aim to pass a spending measure next week that would immediately cut at least $32 billion from the government’s $3.7 trillion budget in an effort to trim budget deficits that could hit an estimated $1.5 trillion this year.

Details of the Republican spending-cut package will be made public on Thursday ahead of a wide-ranging debate on the House floor next week.

Cantor’s office said the language blocking funding for the healthcare law is expected to be offered as an amendment during the House debate next week. Republicans, trying to make good on a campaign pledge for a more open legislative process, plan to debate a number of amendments to the spending bill.

Congressional Tea Party Caucus Holds Tele Townhall

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 07:30 AM PST

By Tony Lee, Human Events

At a Tea Party town hall event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Monday, Amy Kremer, Chairwoman of the Tea Party Express, which hosted the event, said that "if we want to change what is going on in Washington, you have to the change the players."

Those who spoke at the event — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), Rep Michele Bachmann (R-Minn), and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) — reiterated Kremer's point throughout the evening.

Paul, who started the Tea Party caucus in the Senate (three Senators — Paul, Lee, and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) — are members), said that critics of the Tea Party movement said that Tea Party backed candidates would be co-opted once they got to Washington.

To read more, visit: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=41671

26 Repubs who supported liberty & rejected the Patriot Act: Who are they?

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 07:14 AM PST

By Martin Hill, LA County Libertarian Examiner

Out of the 26 Republican Congressmen who voted no on the Patriot Act, eight of them are Repblicans who voted no on it in last year. Ten Republicans total voted no on the Patriot Act in 2010, so that leaves an explanation due for two of those ten. Vern Ehlers of Michigan, who served eighth terms in Congress after first being elected in 1993, retired and did not seek office for 2011. Ehlers was replaced by Justin Amash, a Tea Party candidate who is pro-life, for lower taxes and smaller government. He is of Palestinian and Syrian descent, “the first Palestinian American in Congress”. Amash is Christian, and a former Michigan statehouse member who voted no on more bills than anyone else. Amash voted no on the Patriot Act.

The second out of the ten who voted no last year is Jason Chaffetz of Utah. He just began his second term in Congress, and it is not clear at this time why he changed his vote from no to yes on the Patriot Act this year.
Following are brief profiles on the remaining eight reps who voted no both this year and last:

Roscoe Bartlett from Maryland: Serving his 10th term, his website states “Roscoe G. Bartlett considers himself a citizen-legislator, not a politician.”

Continue reading on Examiner.com: http://www.examiner.com/la-county-libertarian-in-los-angeles/26-repubs-who-supported-liberty-voted-no-on-the-patriot-act-who-are-they#ixzz1DTTazvZw

Two GOP Senate Hopefuls Help Block PATRIOT Act

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 07:04 AM PST

By Josh Kraushaar, National Journal

In the wake of the PATRIOT Act reauthorization defeat last night, the conventional wisdom has held that it was the Tea Party freshmen who played a crucial role in preventing it from passing. But in reality, the Republican opposition was much more mainstream – and was joined by two Republicans who have their eyes on the Senate in 2012.

Both Reps. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.) were among the 26 Republicans who voted against the reauthorization. Mack is seriously mulling a Senate campaign, and has been positioning himself as a center-right candidate on immigration as he prepares for a race. Nonetheless, he has a solid conservative voting record in the House – with a 100 percent ACU score in 2008.

Heller, meanwhile, is considering challenging ethically-plagued Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) in a primary – and some Republican strategists privately would prefer Heller, given his lack of personal baggage. Nevada has a libertarian streak, though, and Heller represents the huge, empty swath of territory where many of his constituents hold distinctly anti-government sentiment.

But their votes could certainly come back to haunt them in a Republican primary, especially in a state like Florida where national security issues are front and center. One of Mack’s potential Senate rivals, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, has positioned himself as a foreign policy hawk and would likely use Mack’s vote against him.

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Friday, February 11, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

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