I spent last evening at a local establishment attending a fund raising event for a local Tea Party Group. The fund raiser was a RANT and it allowed individuals to pay $5 to get up in front of everyone and speak for 2 minutes. The rules were; no profanity, no libel and use common sense when speaking. Other than that, everything else was fair game.
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Unlike many of the things you have heard from left leaning journalist, actresses, and other pundits, there were no racist, religion, or anarchist remarks. While many would have you believe that those who support the Tea Party movement are raving lunatics, mad about everything, I just didn’t see it. Additionally, I have heard it said again and again that it’s just an anti-Liberal/anti-Democrat movement sponsored by the Republicans. I can’t speak for every movement around the US but I can tell you that I would not have wanted to be a Republican politician any more than I would have wanted to be a Democrat or Libertarian. Everyone got their fair share of criticism last night. I want to make this clear, because this seems to be a constant source of confusion, there was much criticism of the current administration because , well, they are in office now. But there was also plenty of finger pointing at the Bush administration as well.
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Now to the good stuff. What’s on the Tea Party’s mind? Here is a list of some of topics that were covered last night.

* Stop supporting big business with my tax dollars
* We already have government healthcare: VA, Medicare, Medicaid (you want more of this?)
* Fix the border problem and that will fix much of the budget
* Elected officials: cut your own budget and reduce your own salaries
* Stay away from Healthcare you (government) have proven you can manage anything
* Don’t mortgage our kids future with more debt
* A fair-tax is needed that shifts the burden to everyone fairly
* Stop playing politics with our country’s future
* If a business cannot make it then let it fail
* Don’t force banks to make loans to people that can’t repay them
* The current elected officials have got to be voted out and start over with fresh people
* Government: stop playing favorites to those that give you money i.e. unions
* Term limits for all elected officials
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Do any of these ring true to you? Does this sound like a group of people you agree with? Sound like common sense and you want to join? I suggest you contact a party that is made of local people and not tied to any “National” parties. The movement is still in its infancy and there is not a national party organization yet. There seems to several groups on the national scene that have tried to label themselves as “The Tea Party Leaders”. One in particular is out of Houston makes some pretty ridiculous claims. My advice is beware.

Other than that, it’s a great movement, the people are normal and you’ll love the opportunity to feel like you finally have a voice.