John Boehner

Tea Party Questions Constitutionality Of GOP Bill Repealing Medicare Reform Provision

Sahil Kapur | March 20, 2012, 5:25AM

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)

The right is giving House GOP leaders a collective headache.

They were already under fire from conservative members for taking a piecemeal approach to repealing the health care law. Now conservative activists are after them for abandoning Tea Party principles at the same time.

Caught in the middle of these related attacks is President Obama's Medicare cost-cutting panel -- the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), which was created by the health care law.

The House is poised to vote this week to repeal IPAB. A small but vocal contingent of dissatisfied, all-or-nothing Republicans worries that this strategy is too timid, and will lead the public to conclude that some parts of the law are acceptable.

But Tea Party activists are upset about something else entirely. GOP leadership has opted to fund the $3.1 billion cost of repealing IPAB with legislation written by Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) that would reform medical malpractice laws. That's a problem not just for the handfuls of House Democrats who want to scrap IPAB, but also for conservatives who believe federal malpractice award caps are unconstitutional.

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Tea Party Nation

Tea Party Nation: Hold Your Horses -- We've Got Some Other Questions About Obama's 'Eligibility'

Jillian Rayfield | April 27, 2011, 12:54PM

Judson Phillips, leader of Tea Party Nation.

Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation, says that it's all well and good that President Obama has released his long-form birth certificate, but there are still several other questions about his "eligibility" and background that need answering. Among them: Why won't the President release his school records, and is he hiding the fact that he was on a foreign student scholarship?

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Chris Matthews

Chris Matthews Grills Tea Party Leader: Why Would Someone Bring A Gun To A Political Rally?

Jillian Rayfield | January 10, 2011, 6:43PM

Chris Matthews & Judson Phillips

Chris Matthews talked to Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips today, and grilled him on second amendment issues and the "history of violence" in America. Referencing the fondness of tea partiers for bringing guns to political rallies, Matthews asked: "Why are guns talked about so much, especially on the right?"

Phillips replied that "guns are talked about on both sides of the political spectrum," and "liberals talk about it all the time. Usually in terms of taking the right to bear arms away from us."

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Tea Party Patriots

Tea Partiers Descending On D.C. To Pressure GOPers They 'Absolutely' Don't Trust

Jillian Rayfield | January 4, 2011, 8:41AM

Tea Party activists in Washington, D.C.

Various tea party groups are already amping up their efforts to keep Republicans in line as the new session of Congress kicks off, sending activists to D.C. to put pressure on newly sworn in Congressman as they take office on Wednesday.

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RNC

After Palin Rebuffs Them, Tea Party Nation Backs Saul Anuzis For RNC Chair

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 7, 2010, 10:06AM

Fmr. Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis

Tea Party Nation chief Judson Phillips isn't going to get his first choice for Republican National Commitee chair, so he says he'll settle for Saul Anuzis instead. Yesterday, Phillips implored Sarah Palin to make a run for the top job, claiming that Palin was the best chance the tea party has to keep the "establishment" from taking over. Palin said thanks but no thanks, stating that "there are others who would probably be much more comfortable asking people for money than I would be."

In a new statement on the Tea Party Nation website, Phillips said he expected Palin to say no to his idea, but "I was surprised at how quickly that 'no' came." Still, he writes, Palin's rejection doesn't mean the tea party can't have a candidate in the race for RNC chair.

"Fortunately for us, there is a conservative alternative," Phillips writes. "Saul Anuzis."

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Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin: I'm Not Running For RNC Chair

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 6, 2010, 3:18PM

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

Sorry, Tea Party Nation: Sarah Palin will not be replacing Michael Steele at the helm of the Republican National Committee. This morning, Tea Party Nation leader Judson Phillips called on Palin to take the reins at the RNC, for fear that it may fall into "establishment" hands after the 168 voting members of the committee convene to choose a chair in January.

This afternoon, Palin gave ABC News her answer to Phillips' request: not interested.

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RNC

Tea Party Nation Calls On Sarah Palin To Run For RNC Chair

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 6, 2010, 9:30AM

Former GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin

The national Tea Party Nation group is planning to send a letter to Sarah Palin asking the former governor of Alaska and John McCain sidekick to run for chair of the Republican National Committee.

Tea Party Nation leader Judson Phillips says in his letter to Palin that without her at the helm of the RNC, the party will fall back into "establishment" hands.

"We need you as Chairman of the RNC. You have shown in the past no hesitation to take on the establishment. You did it in Alaska," Phillips writes in the letter. "If we end up with establishment control of the GOP and their support for an establishment candidate in 2012, Obama and the socialists will have won...We need someone who will put conservatives in control of the party apparatus, not RINOs."

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Judson Phillips

Tea Party Nation Doubles Down On Rhetoric Against Muslim Rep.

Eric Lach | October 27, 2010, 5:53PM

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)

Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips is defending an email he wrote calling on supporters to help "retire" Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) because, among other reasons, "He is the only Muslim member of congress." In an email to supporters sent last night and in an interview with The Daily Caller, Phillips said he wouldn't apologize for having a "problem" with Islam.

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National Tea Party Convention

Vegas Hotel: The Tea Party Convention Is Canceled

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 20, 2010, 1:44PM

The Mirage Hotel

According to the Las Vegas hotel that was supposed to play host to the second national tea party convention, the much-hyped event has been canceled. Organizers of the convention haven't returned my calls, but grassroots tea party leaders I talked to today said that they haven't heard a word about the convention in awhile -- and Nevada leaders told me that if the event is canceled, good riddance.

If the convention really is off, the loss of the event will stand as the third high-profile tea party organizing fail in a month. With the election rapidly approaching, the failure of the LibertyXPO in DC this month, the second DC 9/12 rally and now the second convention suggest those that hope to leverage the movement for big, nationally-covered productions may have tapped out the tea party grassroots.

The evidence is certainly mounting that the convention -- which was moved from its original July date to October 14 earlier this year -- is officially not happening. First, Tea Party Nation, the controversial group that many tea partiers reject as a fake, has removed all reference to the event from its website (see a cached version of the page here to get a look at the convention's former prominence on the site.) When I called the Mirage, the hotel where the convention was supposed to take place, the sales office told me the event was canceled last week.

Judson Phillips, Tea Party Nation spokesperson and the organizer of the event, didn't answer his cell phone when I called. Mark Scuda, the Memphis, Tennessee tea party leader who helped organize the first convention in Nashville, told me he's not involved in organizing the Vegas convention and didn't know if it was happening or not.

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