Tea Party protests

Tea Party protesters in Hartford, Connecticut on 15 April 2009

Remember: Dissent is Patriotic. A protester holding her sign at the Nashville Tea Party on February 27, 2009.

The Tea Party protests are a series of nationally coordinated, locally organized protests across the United States in 2009. The protesters are in opposition to various aspects of government spending, including the Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan, the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009. The name "Tea Party" is an homage to the Boston Tea Party, and the protests have sought to evoke images, slogans, and themes from the American Revolution.

The protests have attracted support from commentators such as Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck, and Glenn Reynolds, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, rock guitarist and political activist Ted Nugent, country musician John Rich, former Governor Mike Huckabee and syndicated radio host Neal Boortz, The protests have been derided by commentators such as Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, talk show host Leslie Marshall, screenwriter and producer Bob Cesca, economist Paul Krugman, Andrew Sullivan, MoveOn.org, and Thomas Frank.

Many of the protests were held on April 15, 2009 to coincide with the annual U.S. deadline for submitting tax returns. A smaller number of counter-protests was held on the same day to show support for the economic plans and actions of President Barack Obama.

History

A blogger known as "Liberty Belle" called for and organized the first tea party protest of 2009 which took place on February 16 in Seattle, Washington. A protest was held in Denver on February 17 and a protest in Mesa, Arizona on February 18 brought 500 protesters.

By February 19, 2009, in a broadcast from the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, CNBC market commentator Rick Santelli, criticized the government plan to refinance mortgages as "promoting bad behavior", and raised the possibility of a "Chicago Tea Party". In response to Santelli's comments, websites sprung up to organize "Tea Party" protests. ChicagoTeaParty.com, registered in August 2008 by Chicago radio producer Zack Christenson, was live within twelve hours. 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. Bob Basso's portrayal of Thomas Paine on Youtube calling for a Second American Revolution also played a role in spreading the protests.

Several sources note that the 2009 Tea Party protest phenomenon shares several characteristics of flash mobs -- namely technology-enabled coordination of a group of otherwise unaffiliated people to converge on a single place for a unified purpose. Participants also typically use social-networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Glenn Reynolds has referred to the protests as a viral phenomenon. The protests have been covered by Fox News Channel, which, during an episode of Beck's show, displayed an on-air graphic with the legend "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties" over a map identifying four them that would be attended by Fox News Channel personalities. The tax day tea party protests also sparked wide interest and support from other Web sites, too. Both pictures and videos were uploaded online by every day taxpayers and Americans nationwide.

Allegations of "Astroturfing"

A crowd of protestors mingle at the Louisville TEA Party on April 15.

In early April 2009, the liberal blog Think Progress stated that most of the protests are conservative lobbyist created "astroturf" projects and not spontaneous grassroots protests as their participants say. Instead, an article stated that the protests are nationally coordinated and organized by the conservative lobbying groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks. Economist Paul Krugman picked up the story in his April 12 New York Times column, and The Indypendent did as well the following day. On April 14, Steven Leser reported on the liberal website OpEdNews that the domain name "chicagoteaparty.com" was registered during the 2008 presidential campaign by "a right wing radio talk show host ... with ties to several major Republican think tanks". On April 15, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi leveled accusations of astroturfing as well, stating:

This initiative is funded by the high end... it's not really a grassroots movement. It's astroturf by some of the wealthiest people in America to keep the focus on tax cuts for the rich instead of for the great middle class.

Participants vehemently deny the astroturfing charge. According to Atlantic Monthly, the three main groups that provide guidance and organization for the protests—FreedomWorks, dontGO, and Americans for Prosperity—state that the demonstrations are an organic movement. Americans For Prosperity displays a set of "talking points" for participants. Organizer Glenn Reynolds has argued in The New York Post that:

These aren't the usual semiprofessional protesters who attend antiwar and pro-union marches. These are people with real jobs; most have never attended a protest march before. They represent a kind of energy that our politics hasn't seen lately, and an influx of new activists.

Bridgett Wagner of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, has compared the protests to the tax revolts of the 1970s and 1980s, which included the successful Proposition 13 in California that capped property taxes.

Positions and goals

A Louisville protester accuses President Obama policies of being socialist.

According to USA Today, most protesters have the overall goal of pressuring Congress and state governments to "reject government spending as a way out of the recession" and to "build an anti-spending coalition around regular taxpayers". Aside from spending by the Obama administration, the paper reports that the activists also oppose the spending the Bush administration set in place. Support for Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 is also an issue raised in the Tea Parties.

Protest organizer and co-creator of DontGo Eric Odom has argued that "This is a protest that has been in government the last few years... Bush himself was guilty of socialist policies." He also said of the Republican Party that "It’s obvious they’re trying to ride on the brand that we created... It’s somewhat insulting." His group has turned down a request from Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele to speak at its Chicago protest. After the snub, the Republican National Committee released a statement saying that "They're just having a little fun." As Neil Cavuto observed, participants in the rallies "hate everyone who wants to waste money," claiming that Democrats and Republicans were often targeted for derision.

Responses

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaking at the New York City Tea Party.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's political activist group American Solutions supports the protests, saying on its website that they are "our chance to communicate our anger and opposition to the irresponsible policies of politicians in Washington who have failed to solve problems." Gingrich plans to speak at the New York City protest on April 15. Governor of Texas Rick Perry plans on attending a Fort Worth rally at LaGrave Field. He has also discussed the protests on YouTube.

Talk show host Leslie Marshall has remarked, in reference to the original Boston Tea Party, that "You have to look at our history. The reason these people revolted is they didn't want to pay taxes that were not presented by elected officials... Last time I checked, Obama's not taxing you to death -- he is spending to stimulate the economy and he is an elected official." Bob Cesca has commented that "your neighbor's mortgage is your problem. Just watch your property values plummet as soon as there's just one foreclosure on your block." Bruce Bartlett, a former treasury official in the Bush administration, argued in Forbes that higher taxes may not be as bad as they seem, writing that "Higher taxes may pay for services that people value and thus are not as burdensome as they might appear at first glance."

Rick Santelli has said, "I think that this tea party phenomenon is steeped in American culture and steeped in American notion to get involved with what’s going on with our government. I haven’t organized. I’m going to have to work to pay my taxes, so I’m not going to be able to get away today. But, I have to tell you — I’m pretty proud of this." Former Governor Mike Huckabee said that the events were "mostly an honest spontaneous effort...to express their outrage at government hubris"

Events

Timeline

Date	Location	Event
2009
February 27	East steps of the capitol, Denver	Tea Party organized by Brian Thomas Campbell, Sr., addressed by Jenny Hatch, a libertarian from the Home Rule Municipality of Louisville, who read from Atlas Shrugged and made a speech promoting self-sufficiency.
February 27	Outside state capitol, Nashville	Nashville Tea Party to protest the stimulus spending.
February 27	Gateway Arch, St. Louis	Protesters threw tea bags into the Mississippi and heard speeches including one by local pro-Football Hall-of-Famer Jackie Smith.
February 27	Steps of the Federal courthouse, Tampa	Tampa Tea Party against stimulus spending organized by Tampa-based consultant, John Hendricks.
February 27	Hall of Justice, Omaha	Tea Party organized by David West, Northwest Regional organizer of the DontGo movement and addressed by Pete Ricketts, former Ameritrade executive and former Republican candidate for the Senate.
February 27	The White House	Tea Party addressed by Michelle Malkin outside the White House.
February 27	State Capitol, Lansing	Tea Party organized by Americans for Prosperity.
February 27	Camp Bowie West Boulevard, Fort Worth	Tea Party protesting the stimulus, organized by Mark Frimmel, a local resident inspired by Rick Santelli.
February 28	Harbor Drive, San Diego	San Diego Tea Party, "organized as part of the nationwide Chicago Tea Party" to protest stimulus spending plans.
March 5	Main Plaza, New Braunfels, Texas	Texas Tea Party. Protest against the Obama stimulus, organized by the Comal County Republican Party.
March 6	Capitol Hill, Salt Lake City	Salt Lake Tea Party, anti-stimulus protest organized by David Kirkham, a small business owner based in Provo.
March 6	Veterans Park, Tulsa; State Capitol, Oklahoma City	Taxpayer’s Tea Party Rally organized in Tulsa by Jay Blevins, addressed by State senator Randy Brogdon. A similar rally was reported in Oklahoma City.
March 7	Steps of the Capitol, Harrisburg	Harrisburg Tea Party organized by the Harrisburg-based Commonwealth Foundation and two local radio hosts. Speakers denounced politicians of both parties.
March 8	Kanaha Park, Kahului	Maui Tea Party and Obama Keep Your Change Rally. First Hawaii tea party. Organized by Marc Hodges to communicate the "No New Taxes" message to Hawaii gubernatorial candidate Neil Abercrombie who was at the location to announce his candidacy.
March 12	Flat Branch Park, Columbia, Missouri	Tea Party to protest the Stimulus Bill, addressed by former state Representative Ed Robb (R, 24th District) and, by phone, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder. A local talk radio host from KSSZ closed the ceremony by dropping tea bags into the creek.
March 13	Downtown Monroe, Monroe	Monroe Tea Party organized by a local business woman, Julie Martinoli.
March 15	Fountain Square, Cincinnati	Tea Party on the Square hosted by Cincinnati Tea Party, with a number of speakers, including 550 AM’s Brian Thomas and Cincinnati Council member Chris Monzel.
March 21	Outside State Capitol, Raleigh	New American Tea Party organized by Daniel Martinez to protest "taxes, corporate bailouts and all manner of federal and state spending".
March 22	Lake Eola Park, Orlando	Talk radio host Bud Hedinger presided over a Tea Party in Florida. In addition to the event's speakers, Lloyd Marcus, a Florida-based singer and Political activist premiered an "American Tea Party Anthem"; it was subsequently performed at other protests and played widely on the radio and online.
April 1	Jaycee Park, Cape Coral	Cape Coral tea party organized by FreedomWorks Foundation, protesting against the policies of President Obama, addressed by a handful of speakers including Lloyd Duhon, a local businessman.
April 2	W Hotel, Scottsdale, Arizona	Members of the Arizona-based networking group Republican Professionals gathered to protest public spending. They were addressed by a number of speakers including Barry Goldwater, Jr.
April 11	Roberto Clemente Bridge, Pittsburgh	Tea party addressed by Alan Keyes, threw tea bags into the Allegheny.
April 11	The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg	Colonial Area Tea Party to protest taxation and government spending, addressed by Rep. Rob Wittman.
April 11	Yakima, Washington	Tea party protesting bailouts. Loudspeakers blasted out "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it any more" and some wore teabags as earrings.
April 15	nationwide	A Tax Day Tea Party occurred in over 750 cities across the United States.

Tax Day Tea Party

April 15 was the largest of all the tea parties to date with demonstrations that occurred nationwide throughout approximately 750 cities. The main protest website, taxdayteaparty.com, has posted that polls taken from numerous locations by state patrols and other state agencies, ranged from a couple of hundred attendies to tens of thousands.

A protest by several hundred people outside the White House was moved after a box of tea bags was hurled over its fence. Police sealed off the area and evacuated some people.

Obama made a speech to the nation on April 15. He did not expressly mention the "tea party" critics of his program, but he pointed out that he had already achieved enactment of an economic-recovery package with tax cuts that included "the most American workers ever to get a tax cut".

Media coverage of events

Media Matters for America, a progressive media watchdog organization, accused the Fox News Network of encouraging viewers to get involved with tea party. The group pointed to an episode of Glenn Beck's show in which he referred to some of them as "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties". Media Matters president, Eric Burns, wrote an open letter to Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace asking him to "publicly address recent actions by Fox News personalities that unambiguously cross the line separating news and legitimate commentary from political activism and demagoguery."

Conservative media watchdog Media Research Center accused networks CNN and MSNBC of biased coverage. The MRC pointed to "juvenile jokes" about protesters done by Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. It also argued that the networks paid little attention to the protests overall, which the MRC's vice president called "journalism by censorship". In an April 15 protest, CNN correspondent Susan Roesgen got into an argument with a protester and then suggested that that event was "anti-government," "anti-CNN," "promoted by the right-wing conservative Fox News" and "not really family viewing." The incident was criticized by the MRC's news blog as well as by other conservative blogs. In response, a Fox News spokesperson remarked that "Judging by their lack of ratings, everyone seems to be anti-CNN." A CNN spokesperson later said, "She was doing her job, and called it like she saw it."

External links

• Map of proposed April 15th protests at Google Maps
• taxdayteaparty.com
• teapartyprotests.com
• April 15 - Tax Day Tea Party Coverage