Who And What Is The Tea Party?

They've been called anarchists, arsonists, racists and terrorists by the Democrats. They've been maligned by establishment Republicans. The American media has portrayed them as dangerous.  Even Homeland Security put them on a terror watch list.

A Rasmussen poll of a couple of months ago, revealed that 26% of  those who approve of Obama's performance see the Tea Party as the biggest terror threat to the U.S. And, among those who approve, just 29% see radical Muslims as a bigger threat. For those who strongly approve of Obama's performance, the Tea Party is more feared than radical Muslims.  http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/june_2013/26_of_obama_supporters_view_tea_party_as_nation_s_top_terror_threat

The birth of the Tea Party movement occurred shortly after President Obama took office. It was early 2009, when it became apparent that the president had no intention of curbing his spending of our money. (At the rate he was spending, he increased the national debt as much as all of the presidents from Washington to Bush, combined, in his first term.) Americans then started rallying and protesting for the government to be fiscally responsible, to adhere to the principles of free markets, and to respect and follow our Constitution.

So, who is the Tea Party? These Americans are you and me; we are not extremists or radicals. We came together from all socioeconomic levels, all ages, all races, united in our desire to scale down a government that had simply become too big. The reach into our wallets became too deep, the intrusion into our lives too great. "Don't Tread on Me" became the motto.

This is what the Tea Party movement is all about. It is not a political party. There is no leader. But it has grown into a vast network of 'small government'-minded patriots who want to restore the best that is America. It is not a violent or a racist group, yet the marginalizing of the Tea Party continues to occur. And working to elect Tea Party candidates, means supporting those who truly believe in upholding the Constitution. For some reason, this is threatening to people. How sad. How ironic. And, how far we have come, when the people who believe in restoring America to the founding principles which made this country great, are viewed so contemptuously.