Tea Party Nation
Encyclopedia
Tea Party Nation Corporation is a Conservative American political organization considered part of the tea party movement
. Their official website describes them as "group of like-minded people who desire our God given Individual Freedoms which were written out by the Founding Fathers. We believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country!"
The group was created by former Shelby County, Tennessee
assistant district attorney Judson Phillips in 2009. It runs a social networking site for conservative activists and is best known for organizing the 2010 National Tea Party Convention.
Phillips has said the founders’ principle of restricting voting rights to property owners “makes a lot of sense.”
was featured as the keynote speaker. The event was criticized for its $549 ticket price,
Tea Party Nation Corporation is a Conservative American political organization considered part of the tea party movement
.Entity Detail Their official website describes them as "group of like-minded people who desire our God given Individual Freedoms which were written out by the Founding Fathers. We believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country!"Tea Party Nation
The group was created by former Shelby County, Tennessee
assistant district attorney Judson Phillips in 2009.Judson Phillips Threw a Tea Party, and Trouble Showed Up - AOL News It runs a social networking site for conservative activistsTea parties emerge as revenue stream - Yahoo! News and is best known for organizing the 2010 National Tea Party Convention.
Phillips has said the founders’ principle of restricting voting rights to property owners “makes a lot of sense.”Jilani, Zaid. "Tea Party Nation President Says It ‘Makes A Lot Of Sense’ To Restrict Voting Only To Property Owners ." Think progress, 30 Nov 2010
was featured as the keynote speaker. The event was criticized for its $549 ticket price,
Tea Party Nation Corporation is a Conservative American political organization considered part of the tea party movement
.Entity Detail Their official website describes them as "group of like-minded people who desire our God given Individual Freedoms which were written out by the Founding Fathers. We believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country!"Tea Party Nation
The group was created by former Shelby County, Tennessee
assistant district attorney Judson Phillips in 2009.Judson Phillips Threw a Tea Party, and Trouble Showed Up - AOL News It runs a social networking site for conservative activistsTea parties emerge as revenue stream - Yahoo! News and is best known for organizing the 2010 National Tea Party Convention.
Phillips has said the founders’ principle of restricting voting rights to property owners “makes a lot of sense.”Jilani, Zaid. "Tea Party Nation President Says It ‘Makes A Lot Of Sense’ To Restrict Voting Only To Property Owners ." Think progress, 30 Nov 2010
was featured as the keynote speaker. The event was criticized for its $549 ticket price,http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0130/Why-the-Tea-Party-Convention-is-tea-tering-on-the-edgeWhy the Tea Party Convention is tea-tering on the edge / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com
Tea Party Nation Corporation is a Conservative American political organization considered part of the tea party movement
.Entity Detail Their official website describes them as "group of like-minded people who desire our God given Individual Freedoms which were written out by the Founding Fathers. We believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country!"Tea Party Nation
The group was created by former Shelby County, Tennessee
assistant district attorney Judson Phillips in 2009.Judson Phillips Threw a Tea Party, and Trouble Showed Up - AOL News It runs a social networking site for conservative activistsTea parties emerge as revenue stream - Yahoo! News and is best known for organizing the 2010 National Tea Party Convention.
Phillips has said the founders’ principle of restricting voting rights to property owners “makes a lot of sense.”Jilani, Zaid. "Tea Party Nation President Says It ‘Makes A Lot Of Sense’ To Restrict Voting Only To Property Owners ." Think progress, 30 Nov 2010
was featured as the keynote speaker. The event was criticized for its $549 ticket price,http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0130/Why-the-Tea-Party-Convention-is-tea-tering-on-the-edgeWhy the Tea Party Convention is tea-tering on the edge / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com
Tea Party Nation Corporation is a Conservative American political organization considered part of the tea party movement
.Entity Detail Their official website describes them as "group of like-minded people who desire our God given Individual Freedoms which were written out by the Founding Fathers. We believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country!"Tea Party Nation
The group was created by former Shelby County, Tennessee
assistant district attorney Judson Phillips in 2009.Judson Phillips Threw a Tea Party, and Trouble Showed Up - AOL News It runs a social networking site for conservative activistsTea parties emerge as revenue stream - Yahoo! News and is best known for organizing the 2010 National Tea Party Convention.
Phillips has said the founders’ principle of restricting voting rights to property owners “makes a lot of sense.”Jilani, Zaid. "Tea Party Nation President Says It ‘Makes A Lot Of Sense’ To Restrict Voting Only To Property Owners ." Think progress, 30 Nov 2010
was featured as the keynote speaker. The event was criticized for its $549 ticket price,Why the Tea Party Convention is tea-tering on the edge / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.comTea Partying for profit? - First Read - msnbc.com as well as the fact that Palin was apparently paid $100,000 USD for her appearance.Palin prête pour une révolution Palin has said she will donate the fee to unspecified conservative causes.
Several prominent conservative organizations refused to participate in the event due to its for-profit nature. The Tea Party Patriots
advised members not to participate in December 2009. Erick Erickson of the conservative blog RedState.com described the convention as "scammy" on January 11. The American Liberty Alliance (ALA), initially a co-sponsor, withdrew its support on January 13.Our decision to sit out of the Tea Party Convention « American Liberty Alliance Later in January, Michele Bachmann
and Marsha Blackburn
cancelled their plans to speak.
At the convention, it was announced that a 501(c)(4) corporation and political action committee
(PAC) called "Ensuring Liberty" would be formed to support candidates for office in the 2010 elections.New Tea Party PAC: Can it raise $10 million for midterm revolt? / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com
A subsequent convention was booked for the following July, postponed until October, and ultimately cancelled. On July 18, 2011 the Venetian Casino Resort filed suit for unpaid bills allegedly totaling $642,144.
In an Oct. 2010 statement endorsing Lynne Torgerson (the Independence Party of Minnesota
candidate for Minnesota's 5th congressional district
), Phillips was accused of making an Islamophobic attack against Rep. Keith Ellison
. Phillips controversial attack asserted that Ellison is unfit for congress in part because Ellison is Muslim. The candidate Phillips endorsed was also controversial for her assertion that Islam "is not ‘religion’ recognizable under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution."
Phillips is also known for the controversial comments he made after the attempted assassination of Representative Gabrielle Giffords
(D-Ariz.), and the murders of a federal district judge and others, during a shooting spree on January 8, 2011. He described the shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, as "a leftist lunatic," apparently because one person who knew Loughner in high school said he was a liberal several years ago. Phillips instructed members of Tea Party Nation to blame liberals for the attempted assassination to defend the tea party movement's recent electoral gains: "The hard left is going to try and silence the Tea Party movement by blaming us for this," likening the expected blowback to the criticism heaped on "conservative talk radio, especially Rush Limbaugh" for the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
One commentator, Garance Franke-Ruta, wrote that Phillips in the e-mail, "[s]how[ed] no sign of tamping down on divisive political rhetoric in the wake of the shooting." Writing on Forbes.com, Rick Ungar called the e-mail a "deeply disturbing memo." "It was immediately clear," Ungar continued, "that Mr. Phillips is far more concerned about his own political interests and power than he is with the health of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords or in experiencing even the tiniest measure of compassion for the families who lost loved ones in this awful attack."
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
. Their official website describes them as "group of like-minded people who desire our God given Individual Freedoms which were written out by the Founding Fathers. We believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country!"
The group was created by former Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the state's largest both in terms of population and geographic area, with a population of 927,644 at the 2010 census...
assistant district attorney Judson Phillips in 2009. It runs a social networking site for conservative activists and is best known for organizing the 2010 National Tea Party Convention.
Phillips has said the founders’ principle of restricting voting rights to property owners “makes a lot of sense.”
National Tea Party Convention
Tea Party Nation organized the National Tea Party Convention held February 4–6, 2010. Around 600 activists attended the event, and Sarah PalinSarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
was featured as the keynote speaker. The event was criticized for its $549 ticket price,
Tea Party Nation Corporation is a Conservative American political organization considered part of the tea party movement
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
.Entity Detail Their official website describes them as "group of like-minded people who desire our God given Individual Freedoms which were written out by the Founding Fathers. We believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country!"Tea Party Nation
The group was created by former Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the state's largest both in terms of population and geographic area, with a population of 927,644 at the 2010 census...
assistant district attorney Judson Phillips in 2009.Judson Phillips Threw a Tea Party, and Trouble Showed Up - AOL News It runs a social networking site for conservative activistsTea parties emerge as revenue stream - Yahoo! News and is best known for organizing the 2010 National Tea Party Convention.
Phillips has said the founders’ principle of restricting voting rights to property owners “makes a lot of sense.”Jilani, Zaid. "Tea Party Nation President Says It ‘Makes A Lot Of Sense’ To Restrict Voting Only To Property Owners ." Think progress, 30 Nov 2010
National Tea Party Convention
Tea Party Nation organized the National Tea Party Convention held February 4–6, 2010. Around 600 activists attended the event,http://washingtonindependent.com/75905/media-at-the-tea-party-convention and Sarah PalinSarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
was featured as the keynote speaker. The event was criticized for its $549 ticket price,
Tea Party Nation Corporation is a Conservative American political organization considered part of the tea party movement
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
.Entity Detail Their official website describes them as "group of like-minded people who desire our God given Individual Freedoms which were written out by the Founding Fathers. We believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country!"Tea Party Nation
The group was created by former Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the state's largest both in terms of population and geographic area, with a population of 927,644 at the 2010 census...
assistant district attorney Judson Phillips in 2009.Judson Phillips Threw a Tea Party, and Trouble Showed Up - AOL News It runs a social networking site for conservative activistsTea parties emerge as revenue stream - Yahoo! News and is best known for organizing the 2010 National Tea Party Convention.
Phillips has said the founders’ principle of restricting voting rights to property owners “makes a lot of sense.”Jilani, Zaid. "Tea Party Nation President Says It ‘Makes A Lot Of Sense’ To Restrict Voting Only To Property Owners ." Think progress, 30 Nov 2010
National Tea Party Convention
Tea Party Nation organized the National Tea Party Convention held February 4–6, 2010. Around 600 activists attended the event,http://washingtonindependent.com/75905/media-at-the-tea-party-convention and Sarah PalinSarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
was featured as the keynote speaker. The event was criticized for its $549 ticket price,http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0130/Why-the-Tea-Party-Convention-is-tea-tering-on-the-edgeWhy the Tea Party Convention is tea-tering on the edge / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com
Tea Party Nation Corporation is a Conservative American political organization considered part of the tea party movement
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
.Entity Detail Their official website describes them as "group of like-minded people who desire our God given Individual Freedoms which were written out by the Founding Fathers. We believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country!"Tea Party Nation
The group was created by former Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the state's largest both in terms of population and geographic area, with a population of 927,644 at the 2010 census...
assistant district attorney Judson Phillips in 2009.Judson Phillips Threw a Tea Party, and Trouble Showed Up - AOL News It runs a social networking site for conservative activistsTea parties emerge as revenue stream - Yahoo! News and is best known for organizing the 2010 National Tea Party Convention.
Phillips has said the founders’ principle of restricting voting rights to property owners “makes a lot of sense.”Jilani, Zaid. "Tea Party Nation President Says It ‘Makes A Lot Of Sense’ To Restrict Voting Only To Property Owners ." Think progress, 30 Nov 2010
National Tea Party Convention
Tea Party Nation organized the National Tea Party Convention held February 4–6, 2010. Around 600 activists attended the event,http://washingtonindependent.com/75905/media-at-the-tea-party-convention and Sarah PalinSarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
was featured as the keynote speaker. The event was criticized for its $549 ticket price,http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0130/Why-the-Tea-Party-Convention-is-tea-tering-on-the-edgeWhy the Tea Party Convention is tea-tering on the edge / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com
Tea Party Nation Corporation is a Conservative American political organization considered part of the tea party movement
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
.Entity Detail Their official website describes them as "group of like-minded people who desire our God given Individual Freedoms which were written out by the Founding Fathers. We believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country!"Tea Party Nation
The group was created by former Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the state's largest both in terms of population and geographic area, with a population of 927,644 at the 2010 census...
assistant district attorney Judson Phillips in 2009.Judson Phillips Threw a Tea Party, and Trouble Showed Up - AOL News It runs a social networking site for conservative activistsTea parties emerge as revenue stream - Yahoo! News and is best known for organizing the 2010 National Tea Party Convention.
Phillips has said the founders’ principle of restricting voting rights to property owners “makes a lot of sense.”Jilani, Zaid. "Tea Party Nation President Says It ‘Makes A Lot Of Sense’ To Restrict Voting Only To Property Owners ." Think progress, 30 Nov 2010
National Tea Party Convention
Tea Party Nation organized the National Tea Party Convention held February 4–6, 2010. Around 600 activists attended the event,http://washingtonindependent.com/75905/media-at-the-tea-party-convention and Sarah PalinSarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
was featured as the keynote speaker. The event was criticized for its $549 ticket price,Why the Tea Party Convention is tea-tering on the edge / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.comTea Partying for profit? - First Read - msnbc.com as well as the fact that Palin was apparently paid $100,000 USD for her appearance.Palin prête pour une révolution Palin has said she will donate the fee to unspecified conservative causes.
Several prominent conservative organizations refused to participate in the event due to its for-profit nature. The Tea Party Patriots
Tea Party Patriots
Tea Party Patriots is an American political organization that promotes "fiscally responsible" activism as part of the Tea Party movement. It claims to have over 1,000 local chapters...
advised members not to participate in December 2009. Erick Erickson of the conservative blog RedState.com described the convention as "scammy" on January 11. The American Liberty Alliance (ALA), initially a co-sponsor, withdrew its support on January 13.Our decision to sit out of the Tea Party Convention « American Liberty Alliance Later in January, Michele Bachmann
Michele Bachmann
Michele Marie Bachmann is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing , a post she has held since 2007. The district includes several of the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities, such as Woodbury, and Blaine as well as Stillwater and St. Cloud.She is currently a...
and Marsha Blackburn
Marsha Blackburn
Marsha Wedgeworth Blackburn is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. She is a member of the Republican Party. The district stretches from the suburbs of Nashville to the suburbs of Memphis.-Early life, education and career:...
cancelled their plans to speak.
At the convention, it was announced that a 501(c)(4) corporation and political action committee
Political action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
(PAC) called "Ensuring Liberty" would be formed to support candidates for office in the 2010 elections.New Tea Party PAC: Can it raise $10 million for midterm revolt? / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com
A subsequent convention was booked for the following July, postponed until October, and ultimately cancelled. On July 18, 2011 the Venetian Casino Resort filed suit for unpaid bills allegedly totaling $642,144.
Criticism
Tea Party Nation, and specifically its founder, have generated criticism and controversy. For example, founder Judson Phillips' stance that voting rights should be restricted to property owners has been criticized as discriminatory and outdated:
Phillips is advocating a policy of voter disenfranchisement that has its roots in the 18th century. When the United States was first founded, ownership of property was one of the requirements to vote in most elections. Many of these restrictions were phased out by the 1820s and replaced with requirements that the voter pays taxes. By 1850, these requirements, too, were phased out. Nashville Scene blogger Betsy Phillips calls the Tea Party Nation president’s idea a "frivolous proposal designed to stoke intergenerational antagonism — as if the people who are older and can afford a home are somehow better citizens than the 18-year-olds who are going off to war to die for our country."
In an Oct. 2010 statement endorsing Lynne Torgerson (the Independence Party of Minnesota
Independence Party of Minnesota
The Independence Party of Minnesota , formerly the Reform Party of Minnesota, is the third largest political party in Minnesota, behind the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Republican Party . It is the political party of former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura , and endorsed former U.S...
candidate for Minnesota's 5th congressional district
Minnesota's 5th congressional district
Minnesota's 5th congressional district is a geographically small urban and suburban congressional district in Minnesota. It covers eastern Hennepin County, including the entire city of Minneapolis, along with parts of Anoka and Ramsey counties. It was created in 1883 and was named the "Bloody...
), Phillips was accused of making an Islamophobic attack against Rep. Keith Ellison
Keith Ellison (politician)
Keith Maurice Ellison is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. The district centers on Minneapolis. He was re-elected in 2010. Ellison is a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.He is the first Muslim to be elected to the...
. Phillips controversial attack asserted that Ellison is unfit for congress in part because Ellison is Muslim. The candidate Phillips endorsed was also controversial for her assertion that Islam "is not ‘religion’ recognizable under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution."
Phillips is also known for the controversial comments he made after the attempted assassination of Representative Gabrielle Giffords
Gabrielle Giffords
Gabrielle Dee "Gabby" Giffords is an American politician. A Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, she has represented since 2007. She is the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to the U.S. Congress...
(D-Ariz.), and the murders of a federal district judge and others, during a shooting spree on January 8, 2011. He described the shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, as "a leftist lunatic," apparently because one person who knew Loughner in high school said he was a liberal several years ago. Phillips instructed members of Tea Party Nation to blame liberals for the attempted assassination to defend the tea party movement's recent electoral gains: "The hard left is going to try and silence the Tea Party movement by blaming us for this," likening the expected blowback to the criticism heaped on "conservative talk radio, especially Rush Limbaugh" for the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
One commentator, Garance Franke-Ruta, wrote that Phillips in the e-mail, "[s]how[ed] no sign of tamping down on divisive political rhetoric in the wake of the shooting." Writing on Forbes.com, Rick Ungar called the e-mail a "deeply disturbing memo." "It was immediately clear," Ungar continued, "that Mr. Phillips is far more concerned about his own political interests and power than he is with the health of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords or in experiencing even the tiniest measure of compassion for the families who lost loved ones in this awful attack."