Tea Party

Mark Your Calendars: Thursday Is Tea Party Recruitment Day

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 30, 2009, 2:55PM

Don't be surprised if someone asks you if you love freedom this Thursday. The national organizers of Tea Party Patriots have singled out Dec. 3 for a national recruitment drive, calling on all good tea partiers "to reach out to 1 new person who is not a member of Tea Party Patriots" and ask them to join up.

From the TPP email sent to tea partiers today and obtained by TPM:

Tell them why you are a member of the tea party movement and ask them if they agree with our core principles of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets ... If you send emails, follow up with phone calls to the people to add a personal touch.

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Capitol Hill Tea Party

Busting Rhymes In The Name Of Tea Parties

Christina Bellantoni | November 20, 2009, 5:07PM

Rapper Hi Caliber talks about freedom and low taxes in a rap video praising the tea party movement.

Don't call Hi Caliber a Republican rapper.

He prefers conservative hip hop artist, and has lent his rhyme to the tea party movement.

Cal, who wouldn't give his full name because he says he's been threatened by "liberals," starred in a FreedomWorks-produced video called "Patriotic People."

He rhymes: "Politicians need the truth, it will set you free, and I hope you paid attention to the march on D.C. ...Liberalism is like a cancerous tumor, just look at Harry Reid, Pelosi and Chuck Schumer."

TPMDC caught up with Cal, 34, a resident of the Jersey Shore.

"I am not a fan of Bush, and I'm not a rank and file Republican. I'm a conservative," he said.

Cal said he meets Democrats and Libertarians at the tea parties, and said it's unfair for liberals to call the group racist or redneck.

"I support the tea party movement because I feel they are the only people in the America who are not following lock-step, rank-and-file one of the political parties," he said.

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Michele Bachmann

Bachmann: 'I Agree' That Use Of Holocaust Images At Capitol Tea Party 'Wholly Inappropriate'

Eric Kleefeld | November 12, 2009, 11:03AM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-MN) is now distancing herself from the use of Holocaust imagery at last week's Capitol Tea Party, which she had organized and promoted, after a Jewish Democratic Congressman called on her to apologize for leading the event and not denouncing the offending posters.

"Sadly, some individuals chose to marginalize tragic events in human history, such as the Holocaust, by invoking imagery and labels which have no purpose in a policy debate about health care," Bachmann said in a statement. "These regrettable actions negatively shift the focus of the current discussion on this issue. The American people deserve an open and honest debate to ensure the best possible solution to our health care problems, and I agree that these unfortunate instances are wholly inappropriate."

Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) had said in a YouTube last week: ""I can't believe that Congresswoman Bachmann would stand where she stood, and see those images, and not have the common decency to say, 'I disagree with the use of those images.' I think that she owes the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust an apology. She owes us all an apology. And I'm waiting. We're all waiting."

(Via Dump Bachmann)

Late Update: Rep. Israel has released this statement, responding to Bachmann: "It shouldn't have taken peer pressure, media inquiries or national outrage to get Rep. Bachmann to take a stand in defense of Holocaust victims."

Pres '12

Sarah Palin Rips Health Care Bill And Reprises Death Panels Claim

Christina Bellantoni | November 9, 2009, 10:19AM

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin accused Democratic leaders of trying to "ram" the health care bill through Congress over the weekend and said voters should "look closely" because death panels remain in the legislation.

Palin took to Facebook a few hours after the late-night vote to tell her nearly 1 million supporters the bill was "disastrous" for the economy but they should "hold on to hope."

"We've got to hold on to hope, and we've got to fight hard because Congressional action tonight just put America on a path toward an unrecognizable country," Palin wrote. "The same government leaders that got us into the mortgage business and the car business are now getting us into the health care business."

Palin, who used her Facebook feed to further the phony death panel meme earlier this year, brought it up again:

We had been told there were no "death panels" in the bill either. But look closely at the provision mandating bureaucratic panels that will be calling the shots regarding who will receive government health care.

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Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann's Stock On The Rise After Her 'Super Bowl Of Freedom'

Christina Bellantoni | November 6, 2009, 6:05PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Whether you call it a rally, press conference or "House Call," Republicans think Thursday's Capitol Hill Tea Party was a success -- and they are crediting Rep. Michele Bachmann for having the pizazz to increase turnout and press coverage.

"We didn't know what to expect, we didn't know what kind of energy would be there, but this thing took a life of its own," Brendan Buck, spokesman for the Republican Study Committee, told TPMDC.

"It came together better than we ever imagined it would in terms of size and energy," he said.

After chatting with press aides from various Republican offices, here's what we know.

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Eric Cantor

Cantor Says Tea Party's Dachau Photos 'Inappropriate,' Takes Issue With Limbaugh

Rachel Slajda | November 6, 2009, 4:58PM

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)

At yesterday's tea party rally on Capitol Hill, at least one protester brandished a large graphic photograph of the victims of the Dachau Nazi concentration camp, comparing health care reform to Nazi policies. Today, Rep. Eric Cantor's (R-VA) spokesman called the photograph "inappropriate."

Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) has also condemned the poster.

Cantor, in an interview today with Bloomberg, also offered some criticism of radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh's comparison of President Obama to Adolf Hitler.

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Capitol Hill Tea Party

King Calls For Tea Party II Tomorrow At The Capitol

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 6, 2009, 3:24PM

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) at the Capitol Hill tea party.

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is calling the Tea Partiers back to D.C.

Much like Rep. Michele Bachmann did last week, King is calling on Tea Partiers to head to the Capitol and protest the Democratic health care reform bill. King is calling on the protesters to meet at 1 p.m. tomorrow, the day the House is expected to hold its floor vote on the bill.

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Capitol Hill Tea Party

Watch: TPMDC's Videos From Tea Party Scene

Christina Bellantoni | November 6, 2009, 3:19PM

Over the last 24 hours we've written a lot about the Capitol Hill Tea Party extravaganza.

Make sure to check out TPMDC's photo slideshow from yesterday's events here.

We also took lots of original video throughout the day - from musical protests against communism to tea partiers heckling police as some anti-abortion protesters were arrested and the crowd storming Capitol Hill office buildings.

Watch it all after the jump.

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Capitol Hill Tea Party

Gibbs Laments Images, Statements From Tea Party Crowd As 'Stunning'

Christina Bellantoni | November 6, 2009, 3:09PM

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

David Corn from Mother Jones read an incendiary quote from yesterday's Capitol Hill Tea Party to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs this afternoon during the press briefing.

Gibbs used the question as an opportunity to lament the state of discourse in the U.S.

Here's the Gibbs exchange:

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Capitol Hill Tea Party

No Tea Partiers Were Harmed In The Protesting Of This Health Care Bill

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 6, 2009, 12:01PM

U.S. Capitol, Tea-party rally

As Christina reported yesterday, there were multiple arrests made yesterday in and around Speaker Nancy Peolsi's office in the Cannon House Office Building. A dozen people were arrested in connection with their efforts to disrupt business at Pelosi's office. All were charged with misdemeanor offenses.

Police say none were tea partiers.

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Capitol Hill Tea Party

Tea Partiers Came With 2010 Warnings

Christina Bellantoni | November 5, 2009, 6:52PM

The scene today at the Capitol Hill Tea Party probably worried incumbents of both parties.

TPMDC was there, following every "Kill the bill" refrain and impromptu "USA! USA!" chant from the many thousands gathered on the West Front Lawn of the Capitol.

Evan captured the mood on the ground (with extra fun video of women singing their own anti-health care version of "Yankee Doodle") and as we reported earlier, I stumbled upon tea partiers heckling police who had arrested protesters.

My takeaway after several hours interviewing people who had taken time off work, sacrificed sleep and hopped on buses to make the trip from across the country is that there is a real spark to the movement.

The group is angry, and in many cases ill-informed about the 1,900-page health care bill that they delighted in shredding across the Capitol today. But they vote, and each person told me they are angry with incumbents and government spending.

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Michele Bachmann

Bachmann Celebrates Capitol Hill Tea Party In Fundraising E-Mail

Eric Kleefeld | November 5, 2009, 6:03PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) sent out this fundraising e-mail, celebrating the Capitol Hill Tea Party that she had taken a key role in organizing and promoting:

Dear Patriot,

As I write this note, thousands of everyday Americans have come to Washington to speak their mind about the misguided health care bill that Speaker Pelosi and President Obama are pushing through Congress.

What an awe-inspiring sight! These people came by plane, by train, by car and by bus. They drove overnight and they gave up their precious free time to share one message with this Congress: Keep your hands off my health care!

Less than one week from when I put out the call to the American people to come to Washington and pay this emergency house call on Congress, they're here and they're ready to stand up for their freedoms.

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Capitol Hill Tea Party

Remember, Remember The Fifth Of November -- A Day With The Tea Partiers

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 5, 2009, 4:37PM

Tea Party protesters at Capitol Hill on Nov. 5, 2009.

The first thing you need to know about the Tea Partiers: they take their traffic laws very seriously.

In a city known for its jaywalking, roll-through red lights and the white-knuckled anarchy of the traffic circle, the thousands of flag-carrying jeans-clad protesters who descended on Capitol Hill today stood out in the D.C. morning rush hour by literally standing -- they waited patiently curbside as "Don't Walk" signs counted all the way down to "Walk" outside D.C.'s Union Station transit hub while caffeine-fueled Hill staffers (and at least one reporter) rushed past them into a sea of beeping horns and one-finger arguments about who has the right of way.

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Capitol Hill Tea Party

Strange Scene: 10 Arrested As Tea Partiers Heckle Police

Christina Bellantoni | November 5, 2009, 4:04PM

U.S. Capitol, Tea-party rally

U.S. Capitol Police arrested 10 people this afternoon after the Capitol Hill Tea Party crowd stormed Congressional office buildings.

Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, public information office for the Capitol Police, told TPMDC the arrests happened in the Cannon House building as tea partiers attempted to protest Speaker Nancy Pelosi about health care.

They were charged with unlawful entry (entering a Congressional office and refusing to leave when told to do so) and/or disorderly conduct (yelling in the hallway outside an office) at Room 235 in the Cannon House Office Building.

Room 235 is Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office for district business, not where she conducts her duties as Speaker. That's handled at an office in the Capitol building.

TPMDC happened upon a crowd that formed around two police vans as the protesters were prepared for "transporting," according to one officer there.

Without those official details, protesters in the crowd watching the arrests were furious. They shouted "Let them go!" and one man yelled at the police that "Martin Luther King" was being dishonored and shouted "Letter from Birmingham Jail!"

One woman told officers they were "shameful." Others called the arrested protesters "political prisoners."

"This is America, this is not the Soviet Union," one woman said.

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Michele Bachmann

Dems: If GOP Wants Michele Bachmann To Be Its Voice, 'That's More Than Fine With Us'

Eric Kleefeld | November 5, 2009, 3:54PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

The Democratic National Committee released this statement today on the Capitol Hill Tea Party, which was organized and promoted by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN):

"If the Republican party wants to make Michele Bachmann the voice of the party, that's more than fine with us. We'll help circulate the petition. But it is surprising that after Congressman-elect Owens won a special election by supporting the President's agenda in a New York district that hasn't elected a Democrat since Benjamin Harrison was President, that the Republican party would continue to allow itself to be led around by nose by the likes of Bachmann, Beck , Limbaugh, Palin and the rest of the extreme tea party crowd. It's their extreme right-wing, rigid ideological agenda that has Americans leaving the Republican Party in droves - and so, if displays like today are what they think is a smart political strategy, all we can say is: go for it," said DNC National Press Secretary Hari Sevugan.

Capitol Hill Tea Party

The Storming Of The Hill Begins

Eric Kleefeld and Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 5, 2009, 2:03PM

Tea Party protesters at Capitol Hill on Nov. 5, 2009.

The next stage of the Capitol Hill Tea Party has begun -- the storming of the Hill!

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who heavily promoted this event, has frequently promised that this protest will involve bringing conservative citizens inside the Capitol and the House office buildings to personally confront members of Congress. As she said last week on Sean Hannity's TV show: "I'd love to have every one of your viewers to join me so we can go up and down through the halls, find members of Congress, look at the whites of their eyes and say, 'Don't take away my healthcare.'"

As of right now, there are lines coming out of the House office buildings, and people milling about the buildings and getting set to go in. Let's see what happens next, as the town halls and Tea Parties go inside Congressional buildings.

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Capitol Hill Tea Party

Broun: 'You're Not Going To Eat This Rotten Stinking Fish'

Eric Kleefeld | November 5, 2009, 1:55PM

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA)

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) spoke this afternoon at the Capitol Hill Tea Party, delivering a brief but very energetic speech:

Who will kill this bill? (Shouts of "We will.") You will! You will! And we must! The Constitution of the United States starts with three very powerful words: "We the people." And we the people are speaking! Nancy Pelosi, listen! Fellow patriots, go tell your Congressman, you're not going to eat this rotten stinking fish that is -- Pelosi health care! We are going to put a stop sign in front of her steamroller of socialism! Go to it, patriots!

Capitol Hill Tea Party

Gohmert: 'Truth Will March On'

Rachel Slajda | November 5, 2009, 1:37PM

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) at the Capitol Hill tea party

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) took the microphone to explain how Americans got their freedoms, the freedom that health care reform will take away.

"When I was born I didn't deserve to be born in this country," he said, and he didn't deserve the rights guaranteed in the Constitution.

"I got those unalienable rights because people went before me and went before you and fought for them," he said.

"Read the bill," he yelled to wild cheers. "And then truth will march on."

Joe Wilson

Joe Wilson A Hit At Capitol Hill Tea Party

Eric Kleefeld | November 5, 2009, 1:34PM

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), who famously yelled out "You lie!" during a speech to Congress by President Obama, just spoke to the Capitol Hill Tea Party, receiving massive applause immediately as he came to the podium.

"Speaker Pelosi didn't mean for you to be here," said Wilson. "In fact, back in July, Speaker Pelosi meant for the takeover bill to be passed, it was supposed to be over in July. But fortunately the American people found out, they found out that senior citizens were under attack, by squeezing senior citizens half a trillion dollars. Small businesses found out about the taxes that would virtually eliminate small businesses in the United States."

He also credited this past Tuesday's election in Virginia and New Jersey as a sign of the people making a difference already -- and talked about his own experience in New Jersey.

"And then, I know firsthand of the success of the people of New Jersey. On Sunday, I had the privilege to speak at the Morristown Tea Party," said Wilson. "Here I was, a friendly member of Congress from South Carolina, I was simply urging people to vote, to participate in the election to change the incumbent governor. It was sort of shocking, but later that day the incumbent governor asked me, and said I shouldn't have been in that state. But hey, I'm grateful, the voters of New Jersey acted, they produced change. Thank you for being here, we can make more change next year."

Capitol Hill Tea Party

Cantor Promises Tea Partiers: 'Not One' GOP Vote For Health Care

Christina Bellantoni | November 5, 2009, 1:13PM

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) made it clear at the tea party "House Call" this afternoon that President Obama won't be getting his party's health care vote.

"Your efforts to stop this bill are being heard loud and clear," Cantor told the thousands gathered at the base of the Capitol in what some billed as a smaller reunion of the 9/12 rallies.

"Be assured not one Republican will vote for this bill," Cantor said, to big cheers and shouts of "Kill the bill."

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Michele Bachmann

Bachmann Quotes Jefferson: A Revolution Every Now And Then Is A Good Thing

Eric Kleefeld | November 5, 2009, 1:07PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Rep. Michele Bachmann has been one of the top speakers and a co-master of ceremonies at today's Capitol Hill Tea Party, an event that she herself heavily promoted.

"You came. And you came to your house. And you came for an emergency house call," said Bachmann. "And are they going to listen? Oh yeah, oh yeah, they're going to listen. It was Thomas Jefferson who said a revolution every now and then is a good thing. What do you think?"

This is hardly the first time Bachmann has spoken of revolution. Back in March, she famously told Sean Hannity: "At this point the American people - it's like Thomas Jefferson said, a revolution every now and then is a good thing. We are at the point, Sean, of revolution. And by that, what I mean, an orderly revolution -- where the people of this country wake up get up and make a decision that this is not going to happen on their watch...And we can't let the Democrats achieve their ends any longer."

Today, Bachmann said how she had been writing the journals of Abigail Adams, who wondered if future generations would understand the sacrifices that were made to create this country. "You literally stand with us on hallowed ground," said Bachmann. "This is hallowed ground of freedom, and that freedom was purchased at an incalculable price that none of us can ever truly comprehend. And for 233 years, every generation that has come before has faithfully handed the baton of freedom to the next generation. and so now we are that privileged generation, privileged to be here to be here today."

Late Update: The DNC has put out its response -- saying that it's fine by them if the GOP wants Bachmann to be its voice.

Capitol Hill Tea Party

Capitol Hill Tea Party Seeks To 'Drive The Liberals Crazy' With Pledge Of Allegiance

Eric Kleefeld | November 5, 2009, 12:30PM

At the Capitol Hill Tea Party just now, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) stepped up to lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance -- which he said drives the liberals crazy.

"And so as we now renew our commitment to the Red, White and Blue, let us with boldness proclaim the fact that we are one nation under God," said Akin. "It is altogether fitting that we should do this -- and it drives the liberals crazy."

The crowd laughed, and joined Akin in the Pledge, with a genuine shout given to the key words, "...one nation, UNDER GOD, with liberty..."

Other Republican members of Congress were on stage, too: Minority Leader John Boehner (OH), Minority Whip Eric Cantor (VA), Roy Blunt (MO), Jeb Hensarling (TX), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA), Michele Bachmann (MN) -- who was a key organizer of the event -- Virginia Foxx (NC), Ginny Brown-Waite (FL), Jean Schmidt (OH), Sue Myrick (NC), and many more.

Capitol Hill Tea Party

Capitol Hill Tea Party Getting Bigger

Eric Kleefeld and Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 5, 2009, 12:03PM

The Capitol Hill Tea Party crowd is now at roughly 8,000 people.

A TPM reader texts to us that the subway to the Capitol is clogged with protestors. Hundreds of people are still streaming in.

Late Update: NBC's Luke Russert says a Capitol policeman just gave a crowd estimate of 3,000-3,500.

Capitol Hill Tea Party

Capitol Hill Tea Party Crowd Growing

Eric Kleefeld and Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 5, 2009, 11:28AM

Today's big Capitol Hill Tea Party, promoted by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), is getting ready to begin this morning, and already about 1,000 people are there, many of them arriving on buses sent by the event's organizers. This is not like the failed flash-mob from last week -- it's a seriously organized protest.

Attendees are set to go inside the Capitol itself, and personally lobby members of Congress to oppose the Democrats' health care bill. Many of them are carrying the Gadsden Flag and other protest signs. There is no sign of any increased security on Capitol Hill, which some Tea Partiers and their supporters had warned about.

One attendee was a man named Keith, a disabled veteran from Goldsboro, North Carolina, bused in this morning with about 50 other people from his area, and who was carrying an empty suit on a pole. "Look, the lights are on but nobody's home in there," said Keith, pointing at the Capitol. asked if that was directed at any specific people in Congress, he replied: "Pick one."

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