Republicans, RINOs And The Tea Party

(Sara Michele Crusade/Examiner.com) – Last week, on my Internet broadcast, The Freedom Hour, I ranted about Republicans and RINOs and the Tea Party; let me just vent a moment about what the Tea Party stands for, and why it is not a branch of the Republican Party.

The Tea Party is a coalition of Americans fed up with big government tactics, specifically related to finances. In 2009, tea partiers could be seen carrying signs that read, Taxed Enough Already. According to TheTeaParty.net;  the Tea Party movement is a grassroots movement that joins Americans together to stand up against out-of-control government that has created unsustainable trillion-dollar deficits and a national debt which rivals the gross Domestic product.

The Tea Party is made up of Republicans, Libertarians, Independents and Conservative Democrats. Anyone can be a member of the Tea Party. TheTeaParty.net states the movement is for folks who share similar core principles supporting the United States Constitution as the Founders intended, such as; limited federal government, individual freedoms, personal responsibility, free markets, and a return of political power to the states and the citizens. Sounds a lot like what the Republican Party is supposed to be about.

Tea Party Patriots state their mission is to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize fellow citizens to secure public policy consistent with three core values; fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets. They were born out of excessive government spending and taxation.

Although the majority of candidates Tea Party folks seems to support are Republican, it is not the status-quo career politician that gets Tea Party support. Locally, it is citizens like Senator Elizabeth Halseth who get Tea Party support, and nationally; folks like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann.  The problem with establishment Republicans is that they seem entrenched in the system and unwilling to make real change; afraid to stand up and say what really needs to be said, and afraid to do what really needs to be done.

Sadly, the Republican Party appears not to be listening. I urge the Nevada Republican Party, as well as Republicans nationally, to heed the advice the Tea Party is offering, by sticking with issues which unite us, not divide us. When the Republican Party remembers its roots, so similar to the Tea Party foundation; limited federal government (no Federal Marriage Amendment, no more Department of Education, an end to czars), fiscal responsibility (major overhaul of the Social Security and Medicare – popular or not), and free markets (the private sector needs to create jobs, not the public sector, and with only enough oversight to keep us safe) then the Republican Party will win back the hearts and minds of Americans.

Republicans – relinquish control and let the Tea Party lead this dance.

(Sara Michele Crusade is a freelance writer and photographer whose work has been published in the U.S. and Germany. She is a veteran of the U.S. Army, and holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology. Email Sara at conservativecrusade@yahoo.com.)