TEA Party Gaining Real Poliltical Steam......in England

Is there a TEA Party movement gaining steam across the pond in Jolly ‘Ole England?

The Tea Party movement's recent electoral gains have gotten international attention, including in the mother country whose taxes inspired the first Tea Party -- the United Kingdom.
A new rebellion against big government and high taxes is resonating in Ye Olde England.

"Ideas around limited government, absolutely, there's lots of people in Britain who share those as well." says Matthew Sinclair of the Taxpayers' Alliance. The group -- formed in 2004, naturally calling for lower taxes -- is one of the largest in Britain with a Tea Party slant. It boasts some 60,000 supporters.

The group organized workshops this past fall with FreedomWorks and other American Tea Party support groups. "We're always trying to learn how to campaign better. We're always trying to learn if there are policy initiatives in the states which have succeeded," Sinclair explains.

Like the Tea Party in the U.S., there are many groups here vying for the label. From one strictly aimed at domestic politics, to another upset about tax money going to the European Union, and yet another nationalistic group upset about immigration.

Europe has been starting to move to the right, for a while now. Their liberal deficit spending policies have brought them to near-economic collapse, and they’ve been forced to come to terms with it and start cutting back. Many Europeans have come to realize the error of their ways, and if a TEA partyesque movement takes real roots in England, it could spread throughout the rest of Europe, given enough time.

Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann Files Papers Seeking to Start a TEA Party Caucus in the House

Hmmmm:

WASHINGTON — Rep. Michele Bachmann today filed paperwork to form the House Tea Party Caucus.

The organization, she said, will be devoted to the Tea Party's principles of "fiscal responsibility, adherence to the Constitution, and limited government."

"This caucus will espouse the timeless principles of our founding, principles that all Members of Congress have sworn to uphold," Bachmann said in a statement. "The American people are doing their part and making their voices heard and this caucus will prove that there are some here in Washington willing to listen."

Dozens of caucuses exist currently, covering everything from mental health to microbrews.

The Tea Party caucus would be formed as a House member organization, open to members from either party.

H/T to Cubachi

Chicago Political Machine Kicks TEA Party Candidate, Black Mother of Three, Off the Ballot Over Minor Clerical Error

It appears that the Chicago political machine is hard at work keeping a TEA Party candidate off the ballot. This time they kept off black mother of three. Why did they kick her off? Did she not get enough signatures? No, it was because there was a sentence just with “slightly different wording” than it should have been:

Illinois, the vote is being denied to the voters of the 43rd State Senate District by a frivolous challengeChicago - On Wednesday, one of Governor Quinn's routine bill signing ceremonies turned into a debate over ballot access and the Tea Party in Illinois.

A supporter of Republican and Tea Party activist Cedra Crenshaw jumped up and demanded to know why Democrats supporting incumbent State Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi, who was at the bill signing, had worked to get Crenshaw kicked off the ballot.

Crenshaw, a 37-year old mother of three who studied accounting at North Carolina A&T, submitted hundreds more signatures on her nominating petitions than required. But Will County officials knocked her off the November ballot, saying one of the sentences in her filing should have used slightly different wording.

"I am angry," said Crenshaw, an African-American who rejects complaints that the Tea Party movement is racist. "And a lot of the voters are very angry, as well. Right here in the State of Illinois, the vote is being denied to the voters of the 43rd State Senate District by a frivolous challenge."

Now, both sides do kick people off the ballot for cheap technicalities all the time, and I think that it is ridiculous. We should let all the people run on the ballot that wants to run. Let the people decide who they want.

Why Can't They Stop? Bill Clinton Calls Opponents of Democratic Healthcare Reform: "Teabaggers"

Why can’t liberals and Democrats stop talking like teenage boys? It is beyond juvenile. It's definitely unpresidential. First, Obama referred to conservatives using juvenile terminology. Apparently, Bill Clinton couldn’t resist, either:

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said Clinton described the ongoing tea party protests against the Democratic agenda as a sign their party was making progress.

Whitehouse quoted Clinton arguing: "The reason the tea-baggers are so inflamed is because we are winning."

Bill, given your history, don’t you think you’re the last person that should be using sexual metaphors?

Let’s get to his overall point:

"The point I want to make is: Just pass the bill, even if it's not exactly what you want," Clinton told Democrats. "When you try and fail, the other guys write history."

He expounds on this point later in the interview:

Clinton’s overall message was one the Obama administration has tried to make: not passing a bill is worse than passing one that’s not perfect. "So it’s not important to be perfect here, it’s important to act, to move, to start the ball rolling, to claim the evident advantages that all these plans agree with, and whatever they can get the votes for, I’m gonna support,” Clinton said he told the senators. “I think it is good politics to pass this and to pass this as soon as they can. But I think the most important thing is it is the right thing for America. The worst thing to do is nothing.”

Everyone can agree that something has to be done, but I disagree that "nothing" is the worst that can be done. They can pass this bill and make things worse. It'll raise the national debt even higher, lowering the quality of health care by running driving out the competition, not adequately addressing tort reform, etc.

I agree that we must act, move, and start the ball rolling, and do what is the right thing for America, but we can't do something just for sake of doing something. Does the plan have to be perfect? No, but it can't be rushed into without giving all sides adequate consideration. The Democratic leadership hasn't done that, not even from within their own party.

Obama's Keeping the Presidency Classy: Pelosicare Opponents Are "Teabag, Anti-Government People" & Extemists

This is according to one of the Democratic representatives from Oregon:

Mr. Obama, during his private pep talk to Democrats, recognized Mr. Owens election and then posed a question to the other lawmakers. According to Representative Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, who supports the health care bill, the president asked, “Does anybody think that the teabag, anti-government people are going to support them if they bring down health care? All it will do is confuse and dispirit” Democratic voters “and it will encourage the extremists.”

The New York Times just glossed over it in an obscure blog entry. I haven't found it in another major news outlet, yet. This will probably get swept under the rug by the mainstream media, but it shows the real contempt that Obama has for half of his constituents.

Exit Thought: I wonder how much grief from the liberal Democratic establishment Blumenauer will get for letting the cat out of the teabag.