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User:RoyGoldsmith/Tea Party movement History

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New Proposed Version

History edit

See also: Tax revolt
See also: Tea Party protests; List of Tea Party protests, 2009; and List of Tea Party protests, 2010

Background edit

 
A Tea Party protester holds a sign saying "Remember: Dissent is Patriotic" at a Nashville Tea Party on February 27, 2009.

The theme of the Boston Tea Party, an iconic event of American history, has long been used by anti-tax protesters with libertarian and conservative viewpoints.[1][2][3] It was part of Tax Day protests held throughout the 1990s and earlier.[4][5][6][7]

The libertarian theme of the "tea party" protest was previously used by Republican Congressman Ron Paul and his supporters as a fundraising event during the primaries of the 2008 presidential campaign to emphasize Paul's fiscal conservatism, which they later claimed laid the groundwork for the modern-day Tea Party movement.[8][9][10][11]

On January 19th, one day before Obama took office, someone on FedUpUSA posted an invitation "to a Commemorative Tea Party" protest in Boston on February 1st.[12] On February 11th, talk radio host and Fox Business Network personality Dave Ramsey appeared on Fox and Friends, waving tea bags and saying "It's time for a Tea Party."[13]

But the dominant theme seen at some of the earliest anti-stimulus protests was "pork" rather than tea.[14] The term "porkulus" was coined by radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh on his January 27, 2009, broadcast[15] in reference to both the 2009 "stimulus" bill, which was just introduced to the House of Representatives the day before, as well as to pork barrel spending and earmarks[16]. This proved very popular with conservative politicians and commentators[17], who began to unify in opposition against stimulus spending after the 2008 General Election.

First protest events edit

According to FreedomWorks campaign director Brendan Steinhauser[18][19], activist Mary Rakovich[20] was the organizer of a February 10, 2009 protest in Fort Myers, Florida, calling it the "first protest of President Obama's administration that we know of. It was the first protest of what became the tea party movement."[21]

New York Times journalist Kate Zernike reported that some leaders within the Tea Party movement credit Seattle blogger and conservative activist Keli Carender with organizing the first Tea Party protest on February 16, 2009, although the term "Tea Party" was not used and this was not the first protest of the Obama administration or of the stimulus.[22] Other articles, written by Chris Good of The Atlantic[23] and NPR’s Martin Kaste[24], credit Carender as "one of the first" Tea Party organizers and that she “organized some of the earliest Tea Party-style protests”.

Carendar first organized what she called a "Porkulus Protest" in Seattle on Presidents Day, February 16, the day before President Obama signed the stimulus bill into law[25]. Carender said, "Without any support from a national movement, without any support from any official in my city, I just got fed up and planned it." She said 120 people participated.

Carender had contacted conservative author and Fox News contributor, Michelle Malkin in order to gain her support and publicize her event. Malkin promoted the protest in several posts on her blog, saying that "There should be one of these in every town in America," and that she would be supplying the crowd with a meal of pulled pork. Malkin encouraged her readers to stage similar events in Denver on February 17 where President Obama planned to sign the stimulus bill into law.

Carender then held a second protest on February 27, 2009. "We more than doubled our attendance at this one."[22]. By Tax Day six weeks later, 1,200 people gathered for a Tea Party protest.[26]

First events identified as "Tea Party" protests edit

On February 19, 2009,[17] in a broadcast from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CNBC Business News editor Rick Santelli loudly criticized the government plan to refinance mortgages, which had just been announced the day before. He said that those plans were "promoting bad behavior"[27] by "subsidizing losers' mortgages". He then raised the possibility of putting together a "Chicago Tea Party in July"[28][29]. A number of the derivative traders around him cheered on his proposal, to the apparent amusement of the hosts in the studio.

In response to Santelli, websites such as ChicagoTeaParty.com (registered in August 2008 by Chicago radio producer Zack Christenson) were live within twelve hours.[30] About 10 hours after Santelli's remarks, reTeaParty.com was bought to coordinate Tea Parties scheduled for July 4 and, as of March 4, was reported to be receiving 11,000 visitors a day.[30] Santelli's outburst was called "a rant heard 'round the world"[31]. It quickly went viral after it received a "red siren" headline on the popular news aggregation website, the Drudge Report.[32]

According to The New Yorker writer Ben McGrath[17] and New York Times reporter Kate Zernike[22], this is where the movement was first inspired to coalesce under the collective banner of "Tea Party." By the next day, guests on Fox News had already begun to mention this new "Tea Party." [33]

As reported by The Huffington Post, a Facebook page was developed on February 20 calling for Tea Party protests across the country.[34] Soon, the "Nationwide Chicago Tea Party" protest was coordinated across over 40 different cities for February 27, 2009, thus establishing the first national modern Tea Party protest.[35][36]


Old, Updated Version

History edit

See also: Tax revolt
See also: Tea Party protests; List of Tea Party protests, 2009; and List of Tea Party protests, 2010

Background edit

 
A Tea Party protester holds a sign saying "Remember: Dissent is Patriotic" at a Nashville Tea Party on February 27, 2009.

The theme of the Boston Tea Party, an iconic event of American history, has long been used by anti-tax protesters with libertarian and conservative viewpoints.[37][38][39] It was part of Tax Day protests held throughout the 1990s and earlier.[40][41][42][43] The libertarian theme of the "tea party" protest was previously used by Republican Congressman Ron Paul and his supporters as a fundraising event during the primaries of the 2008 presidential campaign to emphasize Paul's fiscal conservatism, which they later claimed laid the groundwork for the modern-day Tea Party movement.[44][45][46][47]

[MOVE/DELETE?] As home mortgage foreclosures increased, and details of the 2009 stimulus bill became known, including the provision for the AIG executive bonuses, organized protests began to emerge.[48][49][50]

"Porkulus", tea bags and early mention of tea party edit

The dominant theme seen at some of the earliest anti-stimulus protests was "pork" rather than tea.[51] The term "porkulus" was coined by radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh on his January 27, 2009, broadcast[52] in reference to both the 2009 "stimulus" bill, which was just introduced to the House of Representatives the day before, as well as to pork barrel spending and earmarks[53]. This proved very popular with conservative politicians and commentators[17], who began to unify in opposition against stimulus spending after the 2008 General Election.

Even earlier, on January 19th, one day before Obama took office, someone on FedUpUSA posted an invitation "to a Commemorative Tea Party" protest in Boston on February 1st.[54] On February 11th, talk radio host and Fox Business Network personality Dave Ramsey appeared on Fox and Friends, waving tea bags and saying "It's time for a Tea Party."[55]

[DELETE? Not pertinent to the Tea Party movement.] Ramsey was on the show criticizing newly-confirmed Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, who that morning had outlined his plan to use the $300 billion or so dollars remaining in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds. He intended to use $50 billion for foreclosure mitigation and use the rest to help fund private investors to buy toxic assets from banks.[56]

[MOVE TO LEAD OR DELETE?] The letters T-E-A have also been used by some protesters to form the backronym "Taxed Enough Already".[57]

[DELETE? Not pertinent to the Tea Party movement. May be useful in Tea Party protests article.] Mary Rakovich, along with six to ten others, protested outside a townhall meeting featuring President Barack Obama and Florida governor Charlie Crist.[58] Interviewed by a local reporter, Rakovich explained that she "thinks the government is wasting way too much money helping people receive high definition TV signals" and that "Obama promotes socialism, although 'he doesn't call it that'"[58]. She was invited to appear in front of a national audience on Neil Cavuto's Fox News Channel program Your World[59]. Regarding the role FreedomWorks played in the demonstration, Rakovich acknowledged they were involved "Right from the start,"[60] and said that in her 2 1/2 hour training session, she was taught how to attract more supporters and was specifically advised not to focus on President Obama.[61]

[DELETE? Not pertinent to the Tea Party movement. Malkin's interaction with Carender reported below. May be useful in Tea Party protests article.] A protest at the Denver Capitol Building was already in the works, which Michelle Malkin reports was organized by the conservative advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity, and spearheaded by conservative activist group, Independence Institute as well as former Republican Representative and presidential candidate, Tom Tancredo.[62][63][64] Another protest, organized by a local conservative talk radio station KFYI was held in suburban Phoenix, Arizona, on February 18, and brought 500 protesters[65]. KFYI organized the protest in reaction to Obama's visit to the local high school to hold his first public talk on elements of the stimulus bill.[66] By February 20, Michelle Malkin was using her nationally-syndicated column to attempt to present these three protests as a movement to her fellow conservatives, and continued to call for more.[67] "There's something in the air," she wrote, "It's the smell of roasted pork."

Precursor protests in Fort Myers and Seattle edit

[DELETE?] Competing claims have emerged over which protest was actually the first to organize.

According to FreedomWorks state and federal campaigns director Brendan Steinhauser[68][69], activist Mary Rakovich[70] was the organizer of a February 10, 2009 protest in Fort Myers, Florida, calling it the "first protest of President Obama's administration that we know of. It was the first protest of what became the tea party movement."[71]

However, although it was not the first protest of the Obama administration or of the stimulus, New York Times journalist Kate Zernike reported that some leaders within the Tea Party credit Seattle blogger and conservative activist Keli Carender with organizing the first Tea Party in February of 2009, although the term "Tea Party" was not used.[22] Other articles, written by Chris Good of The Atlantic[72] and NPR’s Martin Kaste[24], credit Carender as "one of the first" Tea Party organizers and that she “organized some of the earliest Tea Party-style protests”.

[EDITED the following three paragraphs.] Carendar first organized what she called a "Porkulus Protest" in Seattle on Presidents Day, February 16, the day before President Obama signed the stimulus bill into law[25]. Carender said, "Without any support from a national movement, without any support from any official in my city, I just got fed up and planned it." She said 120 people participated.

Carender had contacted conservative author and Fox News contributor, Michelle Malkin in order to gain her support and publicize her event. Malkin promoted the protest in several posts on her blog, saying that "There should be one of these in every town in America," and that she would be supplying the crowd with a meal of pulled pork. Malkin encouraged her readers to stage similar events in Denver on February 17 where President Obama planned to sign the stimulus bill into law.

Carender then held a second protest on February 27, 2009. "We more than doubled our attendance at this one."[22]. By Tax Day six weeks later, 1,200 people gathered for a Tea Party protest.[73]

[THIS is what I want to delete from the paragraphs above.] [DELETE? Wrong position in the History section.] before, as she says, "Rick Santelli’s rant!" referring to the CNBC reporter who called for protests after the announcement of the AIG executive bonuses in the face of increasing home mortgage foreclosures. [DELETE? Not pertinent.]

"The bluest of blue cities" needs to stay. This movement crosses all lines and Carender, on just 4 days notice got 120 people to show up in Seattle, of all places. "Which is amazing for the bluest of blue cities I live in, and on only four days notice!! This was due to me spending the entire four days calling and emailing every person, think tank, policy center, university professors (that were sympathetic), etc. in town, and not stopping until the day came." [DELETE? Not pertinent.] and that is very much due to the fact that I had collected email addresses at the first one and was able to tell a couple hundred people at once about the second rally.

What Carender has to say tells the reader what she did and how she did it. This goes to the grassroots/populist. We can't edit out Carender. And Rick Santelli's 'rant' was called 'the rant heard 'round the world,' and certainly deserves to be expanded. He called for dumping derivatives in the Chicago river on July 1st, etc. Also there needs to be mention of the FEDUP protests, because they are the precursors to these 'tea parties.'Malke2010 12:31, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

Birth of the "Tea Party" movement edit

On February 19, 2009,[17] in a broadcast from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CNBC Business News editor Rick Santelli loudly criticized the government plan to refinance mortgages, which had just been announced the day before. He said that those plans were "promoting bad behavior"[74] by "subsidizing losers' mortgages". He then raised the possibility of putting together a "Chicago Tea Party in July"[28][29]. A number of the derivative traders around him cheered on his proposal, to the apparent amusement of the hosts in the studio.

In response to Santelli, websites such as ChicagoTeaParty.com (registered in August 2008 by Chicago radio producer Zack Christenson) were live within twelve hours.[30] About 10 hours after Santelli's remarks, reTeaParty.com was bought to coordinate Tea Parties scheduled for July 4 and, as of March 4, was reported to be receiving 11,000 visitors a day.[30] Santelli's outburst was called "a rant heard 'round the world"[75]. It quickly went viral after it received a "red siren" headline on the popular conservative blog drudgereport.com.[76]

According to The New Yorker writer Ben McGrath[17] and New York Times reporter Kate Zernike[22], this is where the movement was first inspired to coalesce under the collective banner of "Tea Party." By the next day, guests on Fox News had already begun to mention this new "Tea Party." [77]

[EDITED the following paragraph.] As reported by The Huffington Post, a Facebook page was developed on February 20 calling for Tea Party protests across the country.[34] Soon, the "Nationwide Chicago Tea Party" protest was coordinated across over 40 different cities for February 27, 2009, thus establishing the first national modern Tea Party protest.[78][79]

[THIS is what I want to delete from the paragraph above.] [DELETE? Not needed; unsourced.] Group administrators included Eric Odom of the conservative activist group FreedomWorks, and the group was created by Phil Kerpen from the conservative advocacy organization Americans for Prosperity -- the same group credited for the Denver "porkulus" protest as well as Mary Rakovich's early February 10 protest.


[30] <-- Ignore this.

References edit

  1. ^ Libertarians to plan tea party to protest tax
  2. ^ State Republicans call for anti-tax 'tea party'
  3. ^ Tea bag protesters would toss away state's future
  4. ^ Smith refuses to defend tax proposition
  5. ^ Demonstrators hurl tea bags in bid against raising taxes
  6. ^ 'TEA PARTY' PROTESTS TAXATION, BUT DON'T EXPECT A REVOLUTION
  7. ^ 'The Rachel Maddow Show'for Tuesday, April 14
  8. ^ http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090415005738&newsLang=en
  9. ^ http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/12/16/ron_paul_raises_millions_in_todays_boston_tea_party_event/
  10. ^ http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view.bg?articleid=1051232
  11. ^ http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2007/12/ron_pauls_tea_p.html
  12. ^ [1]
  13. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/21856284/homebuyer-helper.htm
  14. ^ "FreedomWorks' Long History Of Teabagging". 4/19/09. Retrieved 3/4/10. but they didn't have an explicitly tea-based theme. If they had a theme of any kind it was "pork" and government waste. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  15. ^ Tom Kuntz (2009-02-08). "Idea of the Day: 'Porkulus'". Retrieved 2009-02-08.
  16. ^ Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D. (2004-11-10). "Is Pork Barrel Spending Ready to Explode? The Anatomy of an Earmark". The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2004-11-10.
  17. ^ a b c d e f Ben McGrath (February 1, 2010). "The Movement - The Rise of Tea Party Activism". www.newyorker.com. The New Yorker. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  18. ^ "Members Protest President Obama in Fort Myers". FreedomWorks. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  19. ^ Steinhauser, Brendan (2009-03-29). "Cape Coral Tea Party is ON!". FreedomWorks. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  20. ^ Steinhauser, Brendan (2009-02-09). "plans to protest Obama in Fort Myers, Florida Tuesday!". FreedomWorks. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  21. ^ George Bennett (February 10, 2010). "Woman's year-ago protest launched tea party movement in Florida". Palm Beach Post.
  22. ^ a b c d e f Kate Zernike (February 27, 2010). "Unlikely Activist Who Got to the Tea Party Early". New York Times. Retrieved March 28, 2010. But leaders of the Tea Party movement credit her with being the first. Cite error: The named reference "Zernike" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  23. ^ Chris Good (February 4, 2010). "Is Palin's Tea Party Speech A Mistake? Tea Partiers Have Mixed Opinions". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 28, 2010. Keli Carender, 30, of Seattle, who is credited with hosting one of the first ever Tea Party protests in February of 2009
  24. ^ a b Martin Kaste (February 2, 2010). "Tea Party Star Leads Movement On Her Own Terms". National Public Radio. Retrieved March 28, 2010. Keli Carender...organized some of the earliest Tea Party-style protests — before they were even called Tea Party protests.
  25. ^ a b KIRO Tv (2009-02-16). "VIDEO: Dozens Gather At "Porkulus" Protest". Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  26. ^ http://taxdayteaparty.com/2009/03/meet-keli-carender-tea-party-organizer-in-seattle-washington/
  27. ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/15/politics/main4946264.shtml
  28. ^ a b Rick Santelli: I Want to Set the Record Straight CNBC, March 2, 2009
  29. ^ a b "CNBC: Rick Santelli goes off". Chicago Tribune. February 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02.[dead link]
  30. ^ a b c d e A Growing "Tea Party" Movement?, Jonathan V. Last, Weekly Standard, March 4, 2009
  31. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29306760
  32. ^ http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2009/02/19/20090219_164153.htm
  33. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/21911279/worst-case-scenario-no-3.htm
  34. ^ a b http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-hamsher/a-teabagger-timeline-koch_b_187312.html
  35. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/09/modern-day-tea-parties-taxpayers-chance-scream-better-representation/
  36. ^ Roesgen, Andy (2009-02-27). "Protestors Gather for Self-Styled Tea Party". myfoxchicago.com. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  37. ^ Libertarians to plan tea party to protest tax
  38. ^ State Republicans call for anti-tax 'tea party'
  39. ^ Tea bag protesters would toss away state's future
  40. ^ Smith refuses to defend tax proposition
  41. ^ Demonstrators hurl tea bags in bid against raising taxes
  42. ^ 'TEA PARTY' PROTESTS TAXATION, BUT DON'T EXPECT A REVOLUTION
  43. ^ 'The Rachel Maddow Show'for Tuesday, April 14
  44. ^ http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090415005738&newsLang=en
  45. ^ http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/12/16/ron_paul_raises_millions_in_todays_boston_tea_party_event/
  46. ^ http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view.bg?articleid=1051232
  47. ^ http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2007/12/ron_pauls_tea_p.html
  48. ^ http://www.middletoninv.com/fedup/Fed%20Up%20USA%20press%20release%20July%2031.pdf
  49. ^ http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=102758
  50. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/21856284/homebuyer-helper.htm
  51. ^ "FreedomWorks' Long History Of Teabagging". 4/19/09. Retrieved 3/4/10. but they didn't have an explicitly tea-based theme. If they had a theme of any kind it was "pork" and government waste. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  52. ^ Tom Kuntz (2009-02-08). "Idea of the Day: 'Porkulus'". Retrieved 2009-02-08.
  53. ^ Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D. (2004-11-10). "Is Pork Barrel Spending Ready to Explode? The Anatomy of an Earmark". The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2004-11-10.
  54. ^ [2]
  55. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/21856284/homebuyer-helper.htm
  56. ^ "Market Pans Bank Rescue Plan". Wall Street Journal. February 11, 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  57. ^ http://www.politico.com/blogs/anneschroeder/0409/TEA__Taxed_Enough_Already.html
  58. ^ a b "Those outside Harborside in Fort Myers had plenty to see, say". The News-Press. 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
  59. ^ "You can't keep a good Tea Party down!". Wnd.com. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  60. ^ http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/freedomworks-long-history-of-teabagging.php
  61. ^ http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/womans-year-ago-protest-launched-tea-party-movement-224494.html
  62. ^ http://michellemalkin.com/2009/02/17/yes-we-care-porkulus-protesters-holler-back/
  63. ^ http://michellemalkin.com/2009/02/16/from-the-boston-tea-party-to-your-neighborhood-pork-protest/
  64. ^ "President Signs Massive Stimulus In Denver". 2009-03-17. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  65. ^ Gary Grado, Sonu Munshi, Hayley Ringle (2009-02-18). "More than 500 protest Obama's arrival". Retrieved 2009-04-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  66. ^ http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/2009/02/15/20090215stim-obamavisit0216.html
  67. ^ http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/02/rebel_yell_taxpayers_revolt_ag.html
  68. ^ "Members Protest President Obama in Fort Myers". FreedomWorks. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  69. ^ Steinhauser, Brendan (2009-03-29). "Cape Coral Tea Party is ON!". FreedomWorks. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  70. ^ Steinhauser, Brendan (2009-02-09). "plans to protest Obama in Fort Myers, Florida Tuesday!". FreedomWorks. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  71. ^ George Bennett (February 10, 2010). "Woman's year-ago protest launched tea party movement in Florida". Palm Beach Post.
  72. ^ Chris Good (February 4, 2010). "Is Palin's Tea Party Speech A Mistake? Tea Partiers Have Mixed Opinions". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 28, 2010. Keli Carender, 30, of Seattle, who is credited with hosting one of the first ever Tea Party protests in February of 2009
  73. ^ http://taxdayteaparty.com/2009/03/meet-keli-carender-tea-party-organizer-in-seattle-washington/
  74. ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/15/politics/main4946264.shtml
  75. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29306760
  76. ^ http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2009/02/19/20090219_164153.htm
  77. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/21911279/worst-case-scenario-no-3.htm
  78. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/09/modern-day-tea-parties-taxpayers-chance-scream-better-representation/
  79. ^ Roesgen, Andy (2009-02-27). "Protestors Gather for Self-Styled Tea Party". myfoxchicago.com. Retrieved 2009-02-27.

History edit

Background edit

 
A Tea Party protester holds a sign saying "Remember: Dissent is Patriotic" at a Nashville Tea Party on February 27, 2009.
See also: Tax revolt
See also: Tea Party protests; List of Tea Party protests, 2009; and List of Tea Party protests, 2010

The theme of the Boston Tea Party, an iconic event of American history, has long been used by anti-tax protesters with libertarian and conservative viewpoints.[1][2][3] It was part of Tax Day protests held throughout the 1990s and earlier.[4][5][6][7] The libertarian theme of the "tea party" protest was previously used by Republican Congressman Ron Paul and his supporters as a fundraising event during the primaries of the 2008 presidential campaign to emphasize Paul's fiscal conservatism, which they later claimed laid the groundwork for the modern-day Tea Party movement.[8][9][10][11] As home mortgage foreclosures increased, and details of the 2009 stimulus bill became known, including the provision for the AIG executive bonuses, organized protests began to emerge.[12][13][14]

Use of tea bags and backronym edit

On February 11, talk radio host and Fox Business Network personality Dave Ramsey appeared on Fox and Friends, waving tea bags and saying "It's time for a Tea Party."[14] He was on the show criticizing newly confirmed Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, who that morning had outlined his plan to use the $300 billion or so dollars remaining in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds. He intended to use $50 billion for foreclosure mitigation and use the rest to help fund private investors to buy toxic assets from banks.[15]

The letters T-E-A have also been used by some protesters to form the backronym "Taxed Enough Already".[16]

First Rallies edit

The dominant theme seen at some of the earliest anti-stimulus protests was "pork" rather than tea.[17] The term "porkulus" was coined by radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh on his January 27, 2009, broadcast[18] in reference to both the 2009 "stimulus" bill, which was just introduced to the House of Representatives the day before, as well as to pork barrel spending and earmarks[19]. This proved very popular with conservative politicians and commentators[20], who began to unify in opposition against stimulus spending after the 2008 General Election.

Competing claims have emerged over which protest was actually the first to organize. According to FreedomWorks state and federal campaigns director Brendan Steinhauser[21][22], activist Mary Rakovich[23] was the organizer of a February 10, 2009 protest in Fort Myers, Florida, calling it the "first protest of President Obama's administration that we know of. It was the first protest of what became the tea party movement."[24] Rakovich, along with six to 10 others, protested outside a town hall meeting featuring President Barack Obama and Florida governor Charlie Crist [25]. Interviewed by a local reporter, Rakovich explained that she "thinks the government is wasting way too much money helping people receive high definition TV signals" and that "Obama promotes socialism, although 'he doesn't call it that'"[25]. She was invited to appear in front of a national audience on Neil Cavuto's Fox News Channel program Your World[26]. Regarding the role FreedomWorks played in the demonstration, Rakovich acknowledged they were involved "Right from the start,"[27] and said that in her 2 1/2 hour training session, she was taught how to attract more supporters and was specifically advised not to focus on President Obama.[28]

However, although it was not the first protest of the Obama administration or of the stimulus, New York Times journalist Kate Zernike reported that some within the Tea Party credit Seattle blogger and conservative activist Keli Carender with organizing the first Tea Party in February 2009.[29] Other articles, written by Chris Good of The Atlantic[30] and NPR’s Martin Kaste[31], credit Carender as "one of the first" Tea Party organizers and that she “organized some of the earliest Tea Party-style protests”.

Carendar organized what she called A "Porkulus Protest" on President’s Day, before, as she says, "Rick Santelli’s rant!" referring to the CNBC reporter who called for protests after the announcement of the AIG executive bonuses in the face of increasing home mortgage foreclosures. Carender said, "Without any support from a national movement, without any support from any official in my city, I just got fed up and planned it." Carender said 120 people participated. "Which is amazing for the bluest of blue cities I live in, and on only four days notice!! This was due to me spending the entire four days calling and emailing every person, think tank, policy center, university professors (that were sympathetic), etc. in town, and not stopping until the day came." Carender held a second protest on February 27, 2009, that she and other leaders[29] claim was the first Tea Party. "We more than doubled our attendance at this one, and that is very much due to the fact that I had collected email addresses at the first one and was able to tell a couple hundred people at once about the second rally."[29][32]

Carender contacted conservative author and Fox News contributor, Michelle Malkin in order to gain her support and publicize her event. Malkin promoted the protest in several posts on her blog, saying that "There should be one of these in every town in America," and that she would be supplying the crowd with a meal of pulled pork. The protest was held in Seattle on Presidents Day, February 16, the day before President Obama signed the stimulus bill into law[33]. Malkin encouraged her readers to stage similar events in Denver on February 17 where President Obama planned to sign the stimulus bill into law.

A protest at the Denver Capitol Building was already in the works, which Michelle Malkin reports was organized by the conservative advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity, and spearheaded by conservative activist group, Independence Institute as well as former Republican Representative and presidential candidate, Tom Tancredo.[34][35][36] Another protest, organized by a local conservative talk radio station KFYI was held in suburban Phoenix, Arizona, on February 18, and brought 500 protesters[37]. KFYI organized the protest in reaction to Obama's visit to the local high school to hold his first public talk on elements of the stimulus bill.[38] By February 20, Michelle Malkin was using her nationally syndicated column to attempt to present these three protests as a movement to her fellow conservatives, and continued to call for more.[39] "There's something in the air," she wrote, "It's the smell of roasted pork."

First national Tea Party protests edit

On February 19, 2009,[20] in a broadcast from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CNBC Business News Network editor Rick Santelli loudly criticized the government plan to refinance mortgages, which had just been announced the day before, as "promoting bad behavior"[40] by "subsidizing losers' mortgages" and raised the possibility of putting together a "Chicago Tea Party in July"[41][42]. A number of the derivative traders around him cheered on his proposal, to the apparent amusement of the hosts in the studio. It was called "the rant heard round the world"[43] and quickly went viral after it received a big "red siren headline" on the popular conservative blog, drudgereport.com.[44] According to The New Yorker writer Ben McGrath[20] and New York Times reporter Kate Zernike[29], this is where the movement was first inspired to coalesce under the collective banner of "Tea Party." By the next day, guests on Fox News had already begun to mention this new "Tea Party." [45]

In response to Santelli, websites such as ChicagoTeaParty.com, registered in August 2008 by Chicago radio producer Zack Christenson, were live within twelve hours.[46] About 10 hours after Santelli's remarks, reTeaParty.com was bought to coordinate Tea Parties scheduled for July 4, and as of March 4, was reported to be receiving 11,000 visitors a day.[46]

According to The Huffington Post, a Facebook page was developed on February 20 calling for Tea Party protests across the country.[47] Group administrators included Eric Odom of the conservative activist group FreedomWorks, and the group was created by Phil Kerpen from the conservative advocacy organization Americans for Prosperity -- the same group credited for the Denver "porkulus" protest as well as Mary Rakovich's early February 10 protest. Soon, the "Nationwide Chicago Tea Party" protest was coordinated across over 40 different cities for February 27, 2009, thus establishing the first national modern Tea Party protest.[48][49]

  1. ^ Libertarians to plan tea party to protest tax
  2. ^ State Republicans call for anti-tax 'tea party'
  3. ^ Tea bag protesters would toss away state's future
  4. ^ Smith refuses to defend tax proposition
  5. ^ Demonstrators hurl tea bags in bid against raising taxes
  6. ^ 'TEA PARTY' PROTESTS TAXATION, BUT DON'T EXPECT A REVOLUTION
  7. ^ 'The Rachel Maddow Show'for Tuesday, April 14
  8. ^ http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090415005738&newsLang=en
  9. ^ http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/12/16/ron_paul_raises_millions_in_todays_boston_tea_party_event/
  10. ^ http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view.bg?articleid=1051232
  11. ^ http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2007/12/ron_pauls_tea_p.html
  12. ^ http://www.middletoninv.com/fedup/Fed%20Up%20USA%20press%20release%20July%2031.pdf
  13. ^ http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=102758
  14. ^ a b http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/21856284/homebuyer-helper.htm
  15. ^ "Market Pans Bank Rescue Plan". Wall Street Journal. February 11, 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  16. ^ http://www.politico.com/blogs/anneschroeder/0409/TEA__Taxed_Enough_Already.html
  17. ^ "FreedomWorks' Long History Of Teabagging". 4/19/09. Retrieved 3/4/10. but they didn't have an explicitly tea-based theme. If they had a theme of any kind it was "pork" and government waste. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  18. ^ Tom Kuntz (2009-02-08). "Idea of the Day: 'Porkulus'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
  19. ^ Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D. (2004-11-10). "Is Pork Barrel Spending Ready to Explode? The Anatomy of an Earmark". The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2004-11-10.
  20. ^ a b c Ben McGrath (February 1, 2010). "The Movement - The Rise of Tea Party Activism". www.newyorker.com. The New Yorker. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  21. ^ "Members Protest President Obama in Fort Myers". FreedomWorks. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  22. ^ Steinhauser, Brendan (2009-03-29). "Cape Coral Tea Party is ON!". FreedomWorks. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  23. ^ Steinhauser, Brendan (2009-02-09). "plans to protest Obama in Fort Myers, Florida Tuesday!". FreedomWorks. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  24. ^ George Bennett (February 10, 2010). "Woman's year-ago protest launched tea party movement in Florida". Palm Beach Post.
  25. ^ a b "Those outside Harborside in Fort Myers had plenty to see, say". The News-Press. 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
  26. ^ "You can't keep a good Tea Party down!". Wnd.com. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  27. ^ http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/freedomworks-long-history-of-teabagging.php
  28. ^ http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/womans-year-ago-protest-launched-tea-party-movement-224494.html
  29. ^ a b c d Kate Zernike (February 27, 2010). "Unlikely Activist Who Got to the Tea Party Early". New York Times. Retrieved March 28, 2010. But leaders of the Tea Party movement credit her with being the first.
  30. ^ Chris Good (February 4, 2010). "Is Palin's Tea Party Speech A Mistake? Tea Partiers Have Mixed Opinions". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 28, 2010. Keli Carender, 30, of Seattle, who is credited with hosting one of the first ever Tea Party protests in February of 2009
  31. ^ Martin Kaste (February 2, 2010). "Tea Party Star Leads Movement On Her Own Terms". National Public Radio. Retrieved March 28, 2010. Keli Carender...organized some of the earliest Tea Party-style protests...
  32. ^ http://taxdayteaparty.com/2009/03/meet-keli-carender-tea-party-organizer-in-seattle-washington/
  33. ^ KIRO Tv (2009-02-16). "VIDEO: Dozens Gather At "Porkulus" Protest". Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  34. ^ http://michellemalkin.com/2009/02/17/yes-we-care-porkulus-protesters-holler-back/
  35. ^ http://michellemalkin.com/2009/02/16/from-the-boston-tea-party-to-your-neighborhood-pork-protest/
  36. ^ "President Signs Massive Stimulus In Denver". 2009-03-17. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  37. ^ Gary Grado, Sonu Munshi, Hayley Ringle (2009-02-18). "More than 500 protest Obama's arrival". Retrieved 2009-04-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  38. ^ http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/2009/02/15/20090215stim-obamavisit0216.html
  39. ^ http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/02/rebel_yell_taxpayers_revolt_ag.html
  40. ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/15/politics/main4946264.shtml
  41. ^ Rick Santelli: I Want to Set the Record Straight CNBC, March 2, 2009
  42. ^ February 23, 2009 (2009-02-23). "CNBC: Rick Santelli goes off". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2009-03-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)[dead link]
  43. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29306760
  44. ^ http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2009/02/19/20090219_164153.htm
  45. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/21911279/worst-case-scenario-no-3.htm
  46. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference cbs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  47. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-hamsher/a-teabagger-timeline-koch_b_187312.html
  48. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/09/modern-day-tea-parties-taxpayers-chance-scream-better-representation/
  49. ^ Roesgen, Andy (2009-02-27). "Protestors Gather for Self-Styled Tea Party". myfoxchicago.com. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
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