The Tea Party, which is a group that believes the government has too much control in our lives and too much power, began to really make headway in 2009 with protests of the economic stimulus package. The group is largely Republicans, but a much more conservative branch that wants to get rid of anyone in the party who isn’t conservative enough to be called Republican. As much as 18 percent of Americans consider themselves members of the Tea Party and most of these members are white, male, married, and older than 45.
On September 12, a rally in Washington, at the foot of Capitol Hill, gathered to talk about their fight against the Democrats come Election Day. They talked about the Tea Party candidates who won in the Primary Elections and how they would now win over the Democrats.
They also spoke on the Contract From America. This is a manifesto from the Tea Party that was created online with input from many Tea Party members. Ideas were proposed and then voted on. Some of these provisions include adding an amendment to the Constitution that would require a balanced budget as well as requiring that all provisions to bills and legislation have a reference to what in the Constitution gives Congress power to make that legislation into law. The belief by the Tea Party is that the government believes it has more power than it does. This includes, especially, the health care reform that was passed earlier in the year.
Another hot issue that many members of the Tea Party are fighting for is illegal immigration. Signs found at the rally include ones that said, “Uncle Sam wants you to speak English.” The goal with the upcoming election is to elect enough of these Tea Party candidates to make real changes in Washington including repealing the health care bill from March.
We’ll have to see what happens in November, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the extremist attitudes of the Tea Party members put some people off. Would you vote for a Tea Party candidate? Do you agree with the Tea Party?
