Posted on 08/04/2013 9:39:26 PM PDT by Olog-hai
This wasnt the revolution the tea party had in mind.
Four years ago, the movement and its potent mix of anger and populism persuaded thousands of costumed and sign-waving conservatives to protest the ballooning deficit and President Obamas health care law. It swept a crop of no-compromise lawmakers into Congress and governors offices and transformed political up-and-comers, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, into household names.
But as many tea party stars seek re-election next year and Rubio considers a 2016 presidential run, conservative activists are finding themselves at a crossroads. Many of their standard-bearers have embraced more moderate positions on bedrock issues such as immigration and health care, broadening their appeal in swing states but dampening grass-roots passion.
They keep sticking their finger in the eyes of the guys who got them elected, said Ralph King, a co-founder of the Cleveland Tea Party Patriots. A lot of people are feeling betrayed.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
I say the Tea Party needs to step forward, and if necessary form a new party.
Now is the time.
It is still early in the process, so we’ll have lots of time to work on all the fine details. But we need to make a change.
Maybe. :D
The strong arm of the IRS fractured the structure of the Tea Party.
The strong arm of the IRS fractured the structure of the Tea Party.
There is nothing “moderate” about allowing and encouraging invasion by illegal aliens...and definitely nothing “moderate” about the federal takeover of healthcare.
B.S. We're willing to compromise.
They want to grow government 25%. We want to shrink government 50%.
Let's compromise and shrink it 20%. We'll talk again next year.
There seems to be a sense that the desire is for smaller government, but a positioning of wanting MORE LOCALIZED government might be more accurate. Less FEDERAL control...devolved down to the local level...power to the people who actually live where the rules are imposed,understand the local issues, etc. This changes the dynamic from YES vs. NO dynamic. Just a thought.
what structure?
What I couldn’t believe was Paul Ryan collaborating with
Schumer. I guess that does it for me as far as Ryan is concerned.
ANYBODY who hooks up with Schumer has to realise .. it’s a set-up .. Schumer appears to have been tasked with taking out the top repubs in the House and Senate.
First it was McCain, then Rubio, and now Ryan.
As soon as Rubio signed on with the Gang of 8, I knew it was a set-up, and Schumer was going to play his little game of pretending to get along, but all the while he’s ratting on the whole procedure to the Regime so they can set up a trap.
The GOP better wake up and realise Schumer is NOT A FRIEND TO THE REPUBS.
There are no GOP stars.
There is no GOP anything.
Unfortunately, the AP and almost every other MSM outlet gets it wrong...but not because they try to get it right, they try to get it about them and their party. That’s okay, we know what is happening and it is a lot worse than they or any other MSM group would report.
Sorry but I think that the Republican Party has abandoned and disowned us. It is really time to be independent and vote as such. That is okay as the Republicans have long since become semi-Democrats, just a milder version.
Can things change - yes but only if we go in a different direction. Unfortunately, it might take years to accomplish but worth it - you bet! Sorry to say that I am no longer a Republican (never a Democrat) but will vote for anybody that is not either major party today. Sometimes it takes a lot of folks to turn before something happens - I’m sure hopping that it happens in my lifetime (but not likely).
I love the AP’s report though (they might have finally got it right)
The GOP has sold out. If there is a solution, it’s not with the GOP. Free thinking, freedom loving people are on their own. Has it ever really been otherwise?
Ryan? Dunno why anyone even cared/supported/pushed him. He’s a TARPer, and all TARPers are suspect.
It is hard to compromise when most Republicans had signed Grover Norquist’s no new taxes for anything pledge. I am still very puzzled why pro military people, who tend to be Republicans support this when it has been reported here at FR in some detail that Norquist has strong Islamic ties.
Listening to a report on how much damage the sequester has done to our military scares the shxx out of me. If hurting our military was a Norquist aim, he has apparently succeeded. I was surprised to see he supports immigration reform, but after looking at what is happening to Europe, that begins to make sense too. At any rate, I am glad my son is safely back from Afghanistan and just hope he doesn’t end up in Syria or Egypt.
They are politicians - do you really expect more? Honesty and Integrity are the past (too bad, they were really good traits) that are rare and likely not possible today. Do have hopes for a handful of politicians (most from Texas) but not betting on it - Time seems to corrupt all.
Yes it does. Sen. Ted Cruz could easily become Tom Coburn over the next 8 years. Coburn sounded a lot like us and Ted 8 or so years ago. He, Coburn, even wrote a book about how conservatives get co-opted by the system in DC the longer they stay.
Marco Polo GFY. You’re a lying disgrace.
Ted Cruz or lose!
Oh my, that comment gave me a pit in my stomach...so true and sure hope not but probably likely. Just about to give up on the whole bunch! To me, if Cruz go the way of Coburn, I give up on the whole political party thingy - they can have it all - I would just give up!
Last hope is Texas...
Agreed. As Mike Ditka would say, if not now, when?
By the time that happens we might have one or two more rising “stars” of our own.
It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged. —G.K. Chesterton
“Sorry but I think that the Republican Party has abandoned and disowned us.”
The GOP has gone corporate. Bought and paid for. Just look at the immigration issue as an example.
I am wondering about that. It worked last time because the various Tea Party organizations each faced the IRS in isolation, unaware that they were all being purposely targeted via a coordinated effort run at the national level.
The fact that this national effort has been exposed to the daylight removes a good percentage of its effectiveness. Not all, by any means, but a lot. We can move past this. But we need to be aware of what’s at stake.
Any attempt to form a third national party will be met with scorn and derision by everyone who had a stake in the status quo, which includes the the Democrat and Republican organizations down the to the state and county levels, the media in almost all national forms, and a lot of our favorite name brand Conservatives, including El Rushbo.
We need a national figure to take charge and start the ball rolling. But who?
Well, it’s nice that you have future hopes even if not realistic. I do like your attitude though - looking forward and hopeful. Must be a bit younger than I am and sure hope you’re right! Seems to me that Texas is the last refuge and it is going south much faster than I expected. I really don’t wish to move for political reasons... There are very few states left!
Sorry, this is necessary when you look at the actions of todays Republicans!
Sorry, but rising stars does nothing for the reputation of the Republican party. They are in it for their benefit and nothing about protecting the Constitution.
Yes, you’ve recognized the problem - the question is what do we do about it?
Absolutely!!
Even worse, some of us are thinking about supporting the Democrats who are running against our weakest Republicans, such as John Boehner. We can afford to lose a few seats in the House if we can eliminate the Republicans who are determined to compromise with Obama on key issues.
Sorry, but voting for a Democrat is beyond my imagination! If you do that you are just continuing the problem... Do NOT do that!
I hate political parties. So did the Framers. Take a look at our Constitution, and you won't find a single mention of political parties. They're not an integral part of our system of government.
The principles upon which this nation was founded, are all that matter to me. Screw partisan politics. They're nothing more than a means for the ruling elite to steal our freedoms and subjugate us like the feudal lords of old.
I can see voting against Boehner, but for a Dem? Not on your ever lovin' life. I don't vote for Communists.
The real solution is better candidates.
Ah yes...the hope of reading the elders (so much smarter than those today). If only the politicians of today had such beliefs!
Yes, you are not only right but would it not be wonderful if those elected did as you say - just support their folks instead of their party. Would be such a better world!
Ah to dream of such a world...
I used “stars” to mock this article. The fact is that we will always need new blood in the movement, the shelf life of a conservative in DC is very short
I gave up long ago. There’s always a Cruz or someone who comes along to keep our attention long enough to keep us voting for these pigs. I’ve been done.
Let’s have a REAL Tea Party. Enough with this, ‘well, we should if ...”
All action begins with thought (dreams). If we would achieve it, we must first conceive it.
This is one of the main reasons I object to demoralizing comments on this site. Poison the mind, and you destroy a man's potential to do great things.
True... Unfortunately, that is true for all politicians. I think we have found the problem but not the solution.
Oy my...you have express my opinion well... unfortunately. I have all but given up on the Republicans and am looking earnestly at a solution. The problem is that there seems to be none - at least not in my lifetime. I have decided to either vote Libertarian or not at all rather than give my influence to the Republican Party as they have become as corrupt as the Democrats.
I have long been a member of the Tea Party and that does NOT mean a member of the Republican Party - as they seem to take for granted. The Republican Party will rue the day that they turned their backs on the Constitution!
I guess you forgot that the sequestration that presents a problem to our defense was Obama’s idea. The low taxes you complain about and smaller govt. that come with it have nothing to do with what Obama devised.
I agree with complaining about a system that causes the functioning 20% of the budget to bear 50% of the cuts while the dysfunctional 80% of the budget pretends to make the rest of the cuts. But I don’t agree that taxes need to be raised on our great great great etc. grandchildren to pay for our unwillingness to act responsibly and do what is right.
Norquist is all cozy with the Muslim Brotherhood so there is no reason to listen to him at all now.
I don’t agree with your son who has gone over to the other side on immigration but honorable service to our country in the military covers a great deal. I’m glad he is home safely. God bless him and your family.
Hate to say it but you are a victim of reading the MSM news. If you really want truth about anything, please try multiple sources and not the standard mainstream news.
If you really believe that a few percent of cuts are that drastic then you are not just wrong but ignorant, sorry to say.
let's hit back and call the new party "the Liberal Progressive party" with a Tea-Party agenda
i'll bet the leftists will get purple in the face when they hear the name :)
bkmk
Heh, would confuse too many folks.
RINO hunting time continues.
Pretty accurate for AP story
damn straight.
nothing moderate of voting for living in a surveillance state worse than east germany ever could be, in violation of the constitution.
If amnesty passes, Texas will be gone.
Any effort to correct the system and install constitutional loving Americans will be a daunting and an arduous task. But, culling the herd of the spineless, traitorous and backstabbing Communist-lites is essential for the health of our country.
I firmly believe one or more prominent Rino, two-faced republicans should be politically sacrificed each election cycle. Just as Rove and his Bush buddies gang up on conservatives, we should adopt an eye for an eye, if you will.
Rats would never take this action; they are beholden to ideology vice having fundamental love of country they despise America. So, voting for one doesnt compute with me either.
However, sending another Lugar like idiot home to garden seems to me a compassionate conservative move. ;-) Oh, thats right; Lugar didnt even hold a residence in Indiana when his ass got bounced. Pick em off one by one.
Boehner, McLame, Gramnesty, Ryan, Rubio, Saxby Clueless or pick your favorite repub POS. Send a very clear, distinct message with our money and votes. We wont give the rats anything but a political carcass smelling of their own stink to pick over! Feel free to add your own names to the political no longer American list, then vote and fund them out! Save the real juice and effort for true conservatives.
The biggest lie in the world!
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