CNN

Protesters march through Washington at a Tea Party Express rally on September 12.

Washington (CNN) – It emerged in anger and it threatens to split in anger.

One major group in the Tea Party movement - named after the famous Boston Tea Party - is set to host its first convention in February, with former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin as its keynote speaker.

But there are fractures in the movement that threaten its future. And if history's any guide, such movements tend to flame out.

The Tea Party movement erupted on April 15 - tax day - over criticism of President Obama's economic policies and what organizers called big government out of control. The movement, made up of local, state and national groups, continues to protest what it considers fiscally unsound policies.

And the movement is well funded. Action groups like FreedomWorks - chaired by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey - helped organize and fund its April 15 rally in Washington.

Other groups, including Americans for Prosperity, Tea Party Nation and Tea Party Patriots, are also vying for the helm of the movement, and it's creating what some are calling "competitive chaos."

Full Story:

Washington (CNN) - Just about every blockbuster movie is followed by a sequel, or two. The tea party cross country caravan, it appears, is no different.

A Tea Party Express official tells CNN that they're planning a third national tour in late March and early April that will culminate in the nation's capitol on April 15, tax deadline day.

Levi Russell, a spokesman for the group, which is organized by the conservative political action committee Our Country Deserves Better, says the slogan for the tour is "just vote them out."

Russell says that with the crucial 2010 midterm elections just months away, the tour will spotlight members of Congress who they consider the worst offenders when it comes to fiscal policy. While both Republicans and Democratic lawmakers will be targeted, Russell acknowledges that more Democrats than Republicans will be on their scopes.

Russell tells CNN that tour is expected to kick off on March 27 in Searchlight, Nevada, which is the hometown of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He adds that the three Republican candidates running to challenge Reid in next year's election are planning to attend the rally.
Read the rest of this entry »

Palin, Bachmann to headline Tea Party convention.

(CNN) – Sarah Palin will be the main attraction at what's being billed as the "First National Tea Party Convention."

Tea Party Nation announced Wednesday that last year's Republican vice presidential candidate will serve as keynote speaker for the conference, scheduled to take place in Nashville, Tennessee February 4-6. A representative for Palin has confirmed the former Alaska governor's speaking role at the gathering.

The group also announced that Rep. Michele Bachmann will be speaking at the gathering as well. The Minnesota Republican has become a hero among many in the conservative movement. A representative for Bachmann confirms her speaking role.

The event could focus the political spotlight on both women. Bachmann has become a rising star, her ascent fueled in part by major support from Tea Party activists. For Palin - currently taking a brief Thanksgiving break from a national tour for her new book, "Going Rogue: An American Life" - serving as headliner at a tea party convention could increase speculation that she is weighing a run for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.

Read the rest of this entry »

Palin, Bachmann to headline Tea Party convention.

(CNN) – Sarah Palin will be the main attraction at what's being billed as the "First National Tea Party Convention."

Tea Party Nation announced Wednesday that last year's Republican vice presidential candidate will serve as keynote speaker for the conference, scheduled to take place in Nashville, Tennessee February 4-6. A representative for Palin has confirmed the former Alaska governor's speaking role at the gathering.

The group also announced that Rep. Michele Bachmann will be speaking at the gathering as well. The Minnesota Republican has become a hero among many in the conservative movement. A representative for Bachmann confirms her speaking role.

The event could focus the political spotlight on both women. Bachmann has become a rising star, her ascent fueled in part by major support from Tea Party activists. For Palin - currently taking a brief Thanksgiving break from a national tour for her new book, "Going Rogue: An American Life" - serving as headliner at a tea party convention could increase speculation that she is weighing a run for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rep. Bachmann was a main attraction at last week's event on Capitol Hill.

Washington (CNN) - The thousands of restive conservative protesters milling outside the west front of the Capitol last week definitely didn't seem in the mood to listen - but there was at least one voice they wanted to hear.

The chant started from the back of the crowd, and rolled forward like a wave: "We want Michele! We want Michele!"

Michele Bachmann doesn't say she finds GOP leadership irrelevant. But with health care reform gathering momentum as the Democratic bill entered final debate in the House, she took her typical route around, not through them.

The swarms of Tea Partiers who descended on Washington on her week-old call didn't come to see John Boehner and Eric Cantor. The top Republican leaders in Congress were guests at Michele Bachmann's party.

Full story

Before Saturday's event ended, Republican lawmakers tried to dramatize the size of the Democrats’ bill by unfurling all 1,900 pages–taped together–from the Capitol’s east front to the top of the House steps.

Washington (CNN) - Foes of the House Democrats' health care bill rallied outside the Capitol Saturday afternoon, hours before what many of them anticipate will be a setback for their position - approval of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's bill.

"It may pass out of the House tonight. We do realize that," Jenny Beth Martin, event organizer for the Tea Party Patriots, said. "But there is the Senate still. And we are going to leave no stone unturned and fight the government taking over our health care."

Chanting "Kill the bill" and "Hell, no" throughout the nearly 90-minute rally, the few hundred attendees kept up their opposition despite having a much lower turnout than a similar rally held on Thursday.

More than a dozen Republican lawmakers spoke to the protesters and encouraged them to keep up the fight by speaking to wavering Democrats and their families, friends and neighbors about the legislation.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tea Party activists hit the Hill, arrested outside Pelosi's office.

Washington (CNN) - GOP leaders and thousands of Tea Party movement protesters gathered on Capitol Hill Thursday to call House Democrats' health care reform bill a full-blown government takeover of the nation' health care system.

"My colleagues and I last week were wracking our brains trying to figure out what could we do, because quite simply Republicans don't have the votes to kill this bill," Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota told the crowd. "Every lever of power is controlled by one party now in DC. We tried to figure out what we could do. We knew that we were limited. But what we knew was unlimited was the voice of persuasion of the American people, and that's why you are here today with your voice of persuasion.

"....Let me assure you your efforts to stop this bill are being heard loud and clear. And I will guarantee you that we are committed to making sure that not one Republican will vote for this bill."

Actor John Ratzenberger, known partly for his role as Cliff Clavin in the 1980s sitcom "Cheers," slammed the Democratic bill as a form of socialism.

"These are Woodstock Democrats," he said at the rally. "We have to remember where their philosophy comes from. It doesn't come from America. It comes from overseas. It comes from socialism. And socialism is a philosophy of failure."

Police later arrested 12 protesters outside Pelosi's office for unlawful entry or disorderly conduct, according to Capitol Hill police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tea Party activists hit the Hill, arrested outside Pelosi's office.

Washington (CNN) - GOP leaders and thousands of Tea Party movement protesters gathered on Capitol Hill Thursday to call House Democrats' health care reform bill a full-blown government takeover of the nation' health care system.

"My colleagues and I last week were wracking our brains trying to figure out what could we do, because quite simply Republicans don't have the votes to kill this bill," Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota told the crowd. "Every lever of power is controlled by one party now in DC. We tried to figure out what we could do. We knew that we were limited. But what we knew was unlimited was the voice of persuasion of the American people, and that's why you are here today with your voice of persuasion.

"....Let me assure you your efforts to stop this bill are being heard loud and clear. And I will guarantee you that we are committed to making sure that not one Republican will vote for this bill."

Actor John Ratzenberger, known partly for his role as Cliff Clavin in the 1980s sitcom "Cheers," slammed the Democratic bill as a form of socialism.

"These are Woodstock Democrats," he said at the rally. "We have to remember where their philosophy comes from. It doesn't come from America. It comes from overseas. It comes from socialism. And socialism is a philosophy of failure."

Police later arrested 12 protesters outside Pelosi's office for unlawful entry or disorderly conduct, according to Capitol Hill police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tony Perkins said Tuesday that recent conservative outrage directed at the Obama administration isn't necessarily going to be a 'windfall' for the GOP.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Three days after conservatives converged on the nation's capital to express their concerns about a number of the Obama administration's policies, a leading social conservative has a warning for the Republican Party.

"The public is not saying they're for Republicans," Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said Tuesday at a gathering of conservative bloggers and online activists, "they're saying they're against big government and this is not necessarily going to be a windfall for Republicans."

As bipartisan negotiations over a health care bill in the Senate Finance Committee appear to be reaching a conclusion, Perkins said it would be a "disaster" for congressional Republicans to give their support to "anything that has any element of the public [health insurance] option."

And Perkins rejected the notion that the growing outpouring of concerns expressed by conservatives – during the recent August congressional recess and during last Saturday's event in Washington – had been contrived by groups like his.
"I don't think it's something that can be directed or controlled. This is not the work of organizations. I think organizations can fan it and channel it but they can't build it and direct it. I think this is coming genuinely - this is not astroturf. This is coming from the soil of America."
Read the rest of this entry »

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Sunday that the president doesn't think growing conservative anger directed at the administration is being motivated by the color of the president's skin.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A day after tens of thousands of conservatives gathered in Washington to protest the policies of the Obama administration, a top White House aide said that President Obama doesn’t think the protests and the growing conservative movement against Obama are motivated by racism.

“I don’t think the president believes that people are upset because of the color of his skin,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.

Pointing to the upcoming first anniversary of the collapse of investment banking giant Lehman Brothers, Gibbs said he thought the anger directed at the administration stems from the federal government’s unprecedented intervention in the private sector during the financial crisis that began last fall.

“We’ve had to do some extraordinary things, both this administration [and] the previous administration, to rescue the financial system, to ensure that our domestic auto industry didn’t go out of business, and to stimulate the economy,” Gibbs said.

“This rhetoric often gets way too hot,” Gibbs added, “I think what we have to all do is take a step back, take a deep breath and remember who we’re here to represent: millions of Americans that have health insurance but are watching their premiums double.”

(CNN) - President Barack Obama's top political adviser had a blunt message Sunday for protesters who took part in a Tea Party rally the day before in Washington: "They're wrong" on health care.

"The president made it very, very clear that he wants to build on the system that we have," rather than create a vast new system, David Axelrod told CBS' "Face the Nation."

Axelrod said the reform would bring changes that benefit those with health coverage and those who can't afford it or lose it.

"We ought to focus on what it's about and not on distortions of it," Axelrod said of the president's plan.
Read the rest of this entry »

'They want to make us a socialist state,' Johnny Burwell told CNN.

ELY, Nevada (CNN) - Hundreds of people turned out for a series of weekend events as the Tea Party Express cruised across northern Nevada.

The caravan of tour buses, RVs, cargo trucks and SUVs kicked off a cross-country tour Friday in Sacramento, California, and plans on holding events in 33 cities en route to Washington, D.C. for what organizers hope will be a big rally on September 12.

The tour is being funded by Our Country Deserves Better, a conservative political action committee.

The tea party movement gained momentum this year; several parties were held across the country this summer to protest President Barack Obama and the Democrats' economic stimulus plans, among other things.

On July 4, nearly 2,000 advocates, toting signs and chanting slogans, rallied outside Congress. Activists said the TEA Party Day - an acronym for "Taxed Enough Already" - was in response to runaway government spending. But now, the focus is on health care reform, an issue that has brought about demand for bigger, more encompassing debate throughout the country and in Congress.

At an event Saturday in Winnemucca, Nevada, Carolyn Rowe came to the tea party in a T-shirt depicting Obama as the joker from "Batman." In place of the familiar "Hope" logo of Obama's campaign was the word "Joke."

She says she is concerned about the number of so-called "czars" in the Obama administration and she fears losing her choice of doctor if health care reform passes.

"I believe he's trouncing the Constitution and taking control of our country in a direction we don't want," says Rowe, from beneath a wide brimmed straw hat. "I think he has a hidden agenda, and I think he doesn't tell the truth and that in itself bothers me."

Husband-and-wife team Barbara and Pete Jones drove up from Reno, Nevada. Barbara's red T-shirt said "Impeach Everyone," but she said Obama is first on her list.
Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (CNN) - They're angry and not going to take it anymore. And now they are doing something about it – again.

On Friday, the "Tea Party Express" group will travel cross-country on a bus tour starting in Sacramento, California and winding down in Washington, D.C. on September 12.

It's at that point, the group notes, that a three-day march on the nation's capitol will take place to protest the country's rising deficit and fear over taxes being raised.

The tea party movement gained momentum this year as several parties were held across the country this summer to protest President Obama and the Democrats' economic stimulus plans, among other things.

On July 4, nearly 2,000 advocates - toting signs and chanting slogans - rallied outside Congress. Activists said the TEA Party Day - an acronym for "Taxed Enough Already" - was in response to what they called runaway government spending.

But now, the focus is namely on health care reform – a key issue that has created the spark for a bigger, wide-encompassing debate throughout the country and in Congress.

"What brought everything together was the Obama-care idea, which contains every odiferous objection," Tea Party Express organizer Mark Williams said Friday. "Is it health care? [Ted] Kennedy care?"

Full Story

(CNN) – President Obama has finally responded personally to the so-called the "tea party" movement – a move amongst some conservatives that criticizes the new administration's policies on taxes, spending, and borrowing during a national economic crisis.

Those critics, he said, were "just waving tea bags around."

"I know you've been hearing all these arguments about, oh, 'Obama is just spending crazy,'" the president said at a town hall event in Arnold, Missouri Wednesday. "Well, let me make a point. Number one, we inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit - that wasn't from my - that wasn't me."

"Number two, there is almost uniform consensus among economists that in the middle of the biggest crisis - financial crisis since the Great Depression, we had to take extraordinary steps. So you've got a lot of Republican economists who agree that we had to do a stimulus package and we had to do something about the banks."

The president told the audience that the federal government's biggest long term fiscal challenges are its commitments for Medicare and Medicaid.

"That's why I've said we've got to have health reform this year - to drive down costs and make health care affordable for American families, businesses and for our government," said Obama.

On his 100th day in office, Obama said he would like to have a "serious" discussion" about how the federal government can rein in spending and meet its long term obligations.

"So, you know, when you see - those of you who are watching certain news channels on which I'm not very popular and you see folks waving tea bags around, let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over the long term, how we're going to stabilize Social Security."
Read the rest of this entry »

Uniformed members of the Secret Service are seen outside the White House after a suspicious package was tossed over the fence onto the White House grounds.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Secret Service officers were scurrying to close the North Lawn of the White House Wednesday afternoon because of a suspicious package and it appeared that trouble was brewing.

But it turned out that nothing more was brewing than an innocent little box of, yes, tea bags.

The security alert started around 2 p.m. ET, when an unidentified person tossed the box over the gate of the White House and it landed on President Obama's lawn with a thud.

Journalists were quickly banned from moving outside of the press briefing room, and hundreds of protesters gathered for a "Tax Day Tea Party" were quickly shooed out of Lafayette Park as a security robot inspected the package closely.
After about a half hour of high alert, a Secret Service official told CNN the "suspicious package" was merely some tea bags. So the threat was over, and so was the anti-Obama protest.

Updated: 5:05 p.m.

The RNC has a Web page that allows supporters to mail virtual tea bags to four leading Democrats.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – If Republican National Chairman Michael Steele gets his wish, four top Democrats may be getting a lot of unsolicited e-mail messages on Tax Day.

In an e-mail message sent to supporters Tuesday evening, Steele encourages supporters of the Republican Party to send virtual tea bags to President Obama, Vice President Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California or Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

“I don't know about you,” Steele writes in the message, “but I don't believe there is anything patriotic about giving more of your hard-earned money to the government to bankroll the liberal Democrats' agenda.”

“Let them know enough is enough,” adds Steele.

The message contains a link to a Web page that allows users to pick Obama, Biden, Pelosi or Reid – or any combination of the four - as recipients of a message. Users also have their pick of four different virtual tea bags that will appear on virtual postcards generated by the site on their behalf. The postcard includes a written message that lets Democrats know the virtual tea bag is being sent “to protest your plans to raise taxes on every American this Tax Day.”

Steele’s message, which also seeks donations to the RNC, comes one day before the April 15 deadline for filing federal tax returns and also the date of several ‘tea party’ events planned across the country. The gatherings are an effort to protest the Obama administration’s policies on taxes, borrowing and spending by the federal government.

Related: Organizers gear up for national 'Tax Day Tea Party'

Organizers for the Chicago “tea party” recently turned down a request by Steele to speak at that event.

Responding to the Republicans, Democratic National Committee spokesman Hari Sevugan said, "Didn't Michael Steele get rejected from a 'tea party?' I hope he sent an invite to himself."

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Legions of small-government, anti-tax activists around the country are mobilizing for a second wave of nationwide "Tea Party" demonstrations on Wednesday to protest the fiscal policies of the Obama administration.

Frustrated conservatives are expected to gather in towns and cities from Pensacola to Portland on April 15 for a national "Tax Day Tea Party" that organizers hope will send a message to Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill that the president's spending plans are putting the country on a potentially ruinous economic path.

Several GOP congressmen and other prominent Republicans like South Carolina governor Mark Sanford and former House speaker Newt Gingrich are speaking at rallies around the country.

Georgia Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, the chairman of the conservative House Republican Study Committee, said he has plans to speak to at least two Tea Party rallies in his state on Wednesday. He called the gatherings "a visible display of concern and frustration and angst about the direction of the nation."

"I think these Tea Parties answer the question for many folks, 'What can we do?'," Price said.

Keith Appell, a Republican strategist who has been working with some of the Nationwide Tea Party organizers, said that the president's spending plans - a $787 stimulus package, a publicly-financed plan to help distressed mortgages, and a series of cash infusions for financial firms - have sparked "a backlash at the grassroots level."

Read the rest of this entry »