The Who, What and Why of the Tea Party Caucus

As usual, the liberal left along with their media counterparts have been busy explaining the who, what and why of the Tea Party caucus. Are they providing the real answers or are they giving the answers they would prefer people believe? From reading many of the blog comments throughout the media world today, it appears that many people do believe the answers they are being given by the liberal left.

One of the answers the liberal left provided is not surprising which has Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) setting things up in order to take the leadership of the Tea Party movement. To that charge, Bachmann responded,

“We are not the mouthpiece of the Tea Party. We are not taking the Tea Party and controlling it from Washington, D.C.”

Twenty four lawmakers attended the Wednesday morning kickoff of the Tea Party Caucus while a total of twenty nine actually signed up to officially connect themselves to the group. Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) said at the meeting,

“The Tea Party Movement is all across this country, there’s all races involved, all ethnic groups and they speak for America.”

Another liberal left report sweeping the blog world is that Bachmann invited House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to join the group in a compromising, hypocritical move by the Tea Party caucus. What has been confirmed is that Bachmann made a request to Pelosi seeking permission to form the Tea Party caucus. There is a major difference between asking someone to join a group and asking their permission to form a group.

Though John Boehner has not joined the group, he has been very vocal in his support of the Tea Party movement. Speaking at an event hosted by The Christian Science Monitor, he said, “

People can dismiss this, they can laugh at them, they can mock them like some of my colleagues across the aisle are doing. I’m going to tell you what: These folks are the tip of the iceberg, 90 percent of an iceberg you never see. They represent the same values, concerns, frustrations, anger and fear that you see from tens of millions of other Americans that aren’t in the streets yet. They should not be dismissed; they should not be mocked.”

Bachmann explained her intentions with the group at a Wednesday news conference, saying,

“We decided to form a Tea Party caucus for one very important purpose — to listen to the concerns of the Tea Party. Now, what we are not: we are not the mouthpiece of the Tea Party. We are not taking the Tea Party and controlling it from Washington, D.C. I am not the head of the Tea Party, nor are any of these members of Congress the head of the Tea Party movement. The people are the head of the Tea Party movement in all of their form.”

There are a number of informal caucus groups who have been sanctioned by the House. They center on geographical areas, industry, climate, and foreign trade, along with many other issues and interests. However, none have drawn the public attention that has been placed upon the Tea Party caucus. The liberal left is doing everything possible to turn the public tide against the Tea Party movement by painting it as being far outside of the mainstream. Informed conservative grassroots activists will recognize these tactics for what they are. Other people run the risk of being sucked in and they are the real targets of the liberal left whose campaign is to “smear the Tea Party movement”.

In her letter of request written to Representative Robert A. Brady (D-PA), and chairman of the Committee on House Administration, Bachmann said the Tea Party Caucus would be

“an informal group, dedicated to promote Americans’ call for fiscal responsibility, adherence to the Constitution and limited government.”

Is that not what the Tea Party movement has been about all along? Has it not been crying out for Washington, DC to hear its protests and concerns? Has it not been asking the House and the Senate to take action against the demise of personal freedoms and the free market system? Could it be the Tea Party caucus is some within the House and Senate finally saying, “we have heard you and we are joining with you in your efforts as a movement!”

Obviously, this is not the perspective the liberal left would like for people to recognize because it is a huge threat to their personal causes and agendas – not the least of which is the outcome of 2010 midterm election. Does the liberal left actually believe it would have been in the best interests of the Tea Party movement for Bachmann and her fellow representatives to have come out against the movement? Of course not, but they would be sufficiently pleased if the general public believed so.

For her part, Bachmann wrote in a follow up memo to Pelosi,

“This caucus would do nothing more than promote the timeless principles of our founding, principles that all members of Congress have sworn to uphold. The Tea Party Caucus is strictly issue-based in nature, promoting policies of fiscal responsibility and limited government with a strict adherence to our Constitution at the forefront. By rejecting such an organization, we would be silencing the voices, values and principles held dear by millions of Americans.”

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