Tea Party Nation

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For more information, see: Tea Party Movement.

Tea Party Nation is a for-profit corporation registered[1] to Tennessee criminal defense lawyer Judson Phillips. Its website describes it as

Tea Party Nation (or TPN) is a user-driven 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![2]

Positions

Phillips attacked Rep. Keith Ellison (R-Minnesota) for being Muslim. According to the Washington Post, "Phillips came under fire Wednesday [29 October] after publishing a column through Tea Party Nation's Web site in which he urged voters in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District to support independent candidate Lynne Torgerson over Ellison. Phillips said in the column that Ellison's Muslim faith as well as his liberal voting record and his support for sending federal funds to "terrorists in Gaza" were reasons to vote him out of office." Ellision was quoted as writing (spelling corrected and emphasis added)

There are a lot of liberals who need to be retired this year, but there are few I can think of more deserving than Keith Ellison. Ellison is one of the most radical members of congress. He has a ZERO rating from the American Conservative Union. He is the only Muslim member of Congress. He supports the Council on American Islamic Relations, Hamasand has helped congress send millions of tax dollars to terrorists in Gaza." [3]

February 2010 convention

It organized the National Tea Party Convention in February 2010. Phillips told Politico “If this were a perfect world, we wouldn’t charge anybody, but to put on an event like this, there are expenses that have to be covered,” said Tea Party Nation President Judson Phillips. He explained that his group is hoping to turn a profit from the event so that it can “funnel money back into conservative causes” through a 527 group it plans to set up to get involved in campaigns.

“This is the source of a lot of disagreement within the tea party movement, where a lot of people say money is a bad thing. But the simple fact of the matter is that you are not going to get candidates elected without money,” he said. [4]

Phillips said he expects to make a profit on it, but many activists are complaining about the $550 ticket price and the $100,000 speaker fee to be paid to Sarah Palin. Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Michigan) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), previously listed as speakers, have withdrawn, saying they were concerned how the convention's revenues would be spent. [5]

References

  1. 000600840: Corporation For-Profit - Domestic Name: TEA PARTY NATION CORPORATION, Tennessee Department of State
  2. Homepage, Tea Party Nation
  3. Amy Gardner (28 October 2010), "Tea party's Judson Phillips defends essay attacking congressman for being Muslim", Washington Post
  4. Kenneth P. Vogel (27 November 2009), "Tea parties emerge as revenue stream", Politico
  5. Bachmann, Blackburn say they're out of Tea Party Convention, Associated Press, 28 January 2010