Posted on 02/01/2010 9:28:15 AM PST by steve-b
High prices have driven Tea Party speakers and supporters from attending the group's first convention this week. Many fear the group is losing its grassroots momentum to Republican profit-driving. Brett Neely reports.
Steve Chiotakis: The Tea Party protest movement is set to hold its first political convention Nashville, Tenn. on Thursday. But grassroot's gotten pretty pricey. Tickets are 550 bucks. And if you just want to hear Sarah Palin speak, that's $350. As Brett Neely reports, it has a lot of Tea Partiers choking on their Earl Grey.
Brett Neely: Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann dropped out of the Tea Party Convention late last week. She worried that attending a for-profit event could violate House ethics rules. Other Tea Party supporters also backed out.
Phillip Glass: You know we're concerned about the appearance of profiteering, exploitation of the grassroots movement. Simple as that....
(Excerpt) Read more at marketplace.publicradio.org ...
Are these prices for real??
This is exactly what we don’t need.
(1) Generally speaking, Tea Partiers are pro-profit.
(2) Trust the market.
In venues where seating is limited, it makes sense that you can’t just throw the doors open.
Price is driven by demand. If demand can carry high prices, it will. If you want to go, but don’t want to pay ... vote with your wallet. If more money can be made at $20 a head in pro-football stadium, rather than $350 a head in a small venue, it will be moved.
These things aren’t free — venues cost, concessions cost, speakers cost. I have no problem with charging admission to a private event. I have no problem with profit ... and, to the extent I think the profit is excessive, my participation will be limited (though my support for the cause will not).
If you want a public event with no admission, stage one.
SnakeDoc
The oganizers of this convention will propably turn over the names and address’s of those attending to the RNC for future fund raising efforts.
Republicans are surely trying to take over the Tea Party. They will try and use it to stay in office. The Tea Party needs to stay independent and not let money drive their cause. I don’t understand the high prices either. I surely wouldn’t pay it. Bring it back to grass roots and do it now.
Got’cha!
Why are we posting this individual’s opinions ?
Brett Neely is a radio and print journalist living in Berlin who has filed stories and features for National Public Radio, Marketplace and Agence France-Presse and other outlets from Germany and around Europe.
Before moving to Berlin in 2007, Brett was a producer for the public radio program, Marketplace. Born in Belgium, Brett grew up in Munich, Germany. He has an MA from the University of Chicago and a BA from Occidental College.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brett-neely
I have been keeping my eye on this convention because it is looking like the “Tea Party Nation” is just one organization of many Tea Party movement groups that have formed under the Tea Party moniker.
I am a member of a group called Tea Party Patriots that has already filed and received its 501C status and to remain with that status comes issues like profits and political party endorsement limitation that on the surface seem to run counter to what the Tea Party Nation is doing.
The movement has come a long way in less than a year and now it has gotten to the point of the separate groups credibility to be tested both in message and scope. I am standing by to see what comes of this particular group’s convention to determine where they are going or if they have just hijacked a name to fleece those so desiress of an alternate source to channel their distrust and distain for the current political class.
I was on the radio for an hour yesterday representing out local TEA Party movement. http://TEANewYork.com and this was a topic of discussion. Everyone wants to tie us to this national convention and the national movement.
I have no idea who the hell these people are. No clue. It ticks me off that whoever they are seem to be trying to hijack a movement that all started on local levels.
Who are they? Anyone know?
I find it amusing that people who embrace free market principles would complain about someone making a profit...and these prices are “high” clearly no one has compared the prices to CPAC which are twice as high...or any one who has ever been to a conference for their particular trades (the last one I attended for business was $1500 for 3 days)
Freepers, of all people, know there is no Soros on our side helping to fund things. We all know how often we have reached into our own pockets to fund things. But in this economy, with all that we have laid out for years, why would anyone except one of us to lay out hundreds of hours of work, with all the job, family sanity that requires, and not at least be able to pay some bills???
The Tea Party’s attractiveness is that it is not a “Party” and that it does not take orders from some central authority.
Tea Party participants are truly grass roots phenomena who are symbiotically functioning because of consensus, not command. Save for the always necessary organizers at the local level - the guy who sets up a rally, the gal who gets the charter bus, the homemaker who organizes the chili dinner - the Tea Party does not need some national self-appointed chairman or director, who are usually the type who are in it for themselves - power, control, MONEY!
It is doing quite well on its own. I am suspect of anyone who thinks he is “running” the Tea Party. The Minutemen saga of recent years shows what happens when grass roots functions get over organized. It leads to family fueds and corruption.
It is better to keep the Tea Party a spontaneous, consensus-driven force rather than another special interest group led by some opportunistic charlatan.
Steve enjoys dragging articles into the forum that denigrate, trash or cause suspicion/doubt about conservatives in general and Republicans in particular. That’s all he does. You’ll get used to it.
If you are holding a ralley in the street, no need to charge admission. If you have to rent a hall, then you will probably need to charge admission.
If you are raising funds for further political action, then for sure you will want to charge admission.
If the ‘costing’ is not handle rightly (correctly?), then it could give the wrong impression.
The Republican and Democrat national conventions cost over $50 MILLION each. The cost was paid be Federal grant dollars (that’s us), and fundraising undertaken by each party.
So, bottom line - SOMEONE HAS TO “PAY” SOMEONE - to reserve and use this much space and resources to accomodate several thousand people.
The prices are for real. Our tea party officers have told us that there is NO affiliation between the local tea party and the group holding this national convention.
Somebody is trying to divide and conquer IMHO.
We’ll see how it goes. Without knowing any details it does sound rather expensive for the average Al.
I wonder who the sponsors really are?
Big deal. A group wrapped themselves in the tea party flag and got some speakers to speak and charged high prices to raise money. Some speakers have already backed out.
One convention does not make the tea party.
Unlike our current administration, the sponsors, a few, are listed on the website for the convention and there for all to see and transparent.
All of the attempts to divide from within on this thread, and with throwing out an adult version of the telephone game “Our Tea Party officers have told us....yadda yadda” is truly appreciated by the DNC I am sure.
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