The Tea Party: Who Are They and What Are They Protesting Against?

Tomorrow, the 15^th of April, the Tea Party will hold a rally in Washington D.C., but why are they holding that rally? Against who or what are they protesting? Taxes? And, who are these people that have joined the Tea Party movement?

The Tea Party has been making headlines throughout the country for about a year now. They claim that they want to reduce the size of government and return to fiscal responsibility. They are constantly active, protesting and rallying against health care reform and taxes. Some of the people that have joined the Tea Party movement may really believe that, but lets look at the facts; they did not begin protesting against taxes, they did not demand returning to fiscal responsibility, and they did not demand a reduction of government until after Obama was elected president. The people that form the Tea Party today stood still when they saw George W. Bush rampage the country and send it into a massive deficit; they did nothing when the Patriot act passed; in fact, they probably proudly approved of it. These same people that form the Tea Party today did nothing when George W. Bush began massively spending to send us into two wars we could not afford. The people that form the Tea Party themselves are also partly to blame for our deficit as well; most of them approved of what the George W. Bush administration did.

The Tea Party movement is an unofficial branch of the Republican party. On March 24^th Quinnipiac University published a pole about the Tea Party. Quinnipiac University stated, “Only 13 percent of American voters say they are part of the Tea Party movement, a group that has more women than men, is mainly white and Republican and voted for John McCain, and strongly supports Sarah Palin.”¹ The poll reveals the following about the Tea Party followers;

• 74 percent are Republicans or independent voters leaning Republican;

• 16 percent are Democrats or independent voters leaning Democratic;

• 5 percent are solidly independent;

• 45 percent are men;

• 55 percent are women;

• 88 percent are white;

• 77 percent voted for Sen. John McCain in 2008;

• 15 percent voted for President Barack Obama.

People that form the Tea Party movement are very different from what the rest of the United States is. According to the CIA World Factbook, over 15 percent of the populations is of Latino origin; over 12 percent is of black origin; over 4 percent is of Asian origin; and just under 1 percent is of Amerindian or Alaskan origin.² In other words, the Tea Party movement is not reflective of what the American population is, they are very different.

Many believe that the Tea Party movement is rallying against taxes, but this is false. They are protesting something else, but what exactly? In a poll that was conducted among Tea Party members, 52 percent of them believed that the taxes they will pay this year are fair.³ If Tea Party members are not rallying against taxes tomorrow, then what are they rallying against? As mentioned before, they did not rally against the Bush administration during his reckless era of spending, which leads one to conclude that what they are really protesting against is President Obama.

Why is the Tea Party movement against Barrack Obama? Why do they support Sarah Palin, a woman who clearly is of a lower intellect? Are these people exclusively getting their news from Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh? One thing is for sure, they have become a branch of the Republican party; the Republicans vote “no” on anything Obama approves of; if something Obama approves of gets voted into law, the Tea Party will surely protest against it.

1http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml?ReleaseID=1436

2CIA World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html

3Stephanie Condon, “Poll: Most Tea Party Supporters Say Their Taxes Are Fair,” CBS News, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20002487-503544.html