NewsTrust - Tea Party - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Independent)

The "Smoking Gun" Memo That Triggered the FreedomWorks Feud

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By David Corn - Jan. 07 (Opinion) - It was a simple two-page memo—a proposed contract—that ignited the ongoing civil war that threatens FreedomWorks, the prominent conservative outfit that has bolstered and helped shape the tea party movement.

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The Tea Party Is Dead. Long Live the Tea Party.

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Kevin Drum - Nov. 09 (Opinion) - Its birth certificate says that the tea party was born one month after Barack Obama's inauguration, on the day that CNBC's Rick Santelli delivered a blistering on-air tirade against Obama's mortgage bailout plan. But that's only the official story. In reality, we've seen the tea party before . When FDR was president, it was called the American Liberty League. When JFK was president, it was the John Birch Society. When Bill Clinton was president, it was the Vince Foster conspiracy theorists. America's far right fluoresces like this whenever a Democrat is in the White House, and Obama's first term was no exception. But the tea party burned bright and fell fast. Sure, it galvanized opposition to Obama in a media-friendly kind of way, and helped power the Republican Party to a big majority in the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterms.

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Bill Maher's Mitt Romney Warning: 'When You Elect Mitt You're Electing Every Right-Wing Nut He's Pandered To In The Last 10 Years' (VIDEO)

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Bill Maher - Oct. 27 (Comedy News) - If you're a moderate considering voting for Mitt Romney, there are certain facts you should know... according to Bill Maher. While you may not think the two candidates are terribly different, in Maher's opinion, only one of them is poised to release the

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WATCH: 'Daily Show' Tears Apart Florida Voter Purge

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Jon Stewart - Jun. 13 (Comedy News) - Why do politicians think they can get away with these kinds of rules? I guess because they do and get reelected which is why you they need to be watched. mbi11: Why do politicians think they can get away with these You have not right to carry out this op

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Daily Kos: Say, Who Else Doesn't Think We "Lost" And They "Won"?

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Daily Kos - By Lotusmaglite - Jun. 06 (Opinion) - Over and over, we've risen up against injustice in one form or another, only to get beaten down. Like the recall. Over and over and over - until we don't. Until we get so big, so loud, so bold and brave and unbowed that we end up with the 40 hour work week, or universal suffrage, or something like equal protection under the law, or a recall that was our right to demand, and so on. Segregation didn't end (well, de facto segregation still hasn't) because the courts suddenly decided out of the kindness of their hearts that enough was enough. They were forced to. We were forced to confront our ugly, dark, vile practices, and we didn't like what we saw in the mirror, a mirror that had been held up over and over, smashed over and over, it's shards driven into the hearts of the brave women and men who defied injustice over and over and over until those brave people won.

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The Tea Party Paradox

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Columbia Journalism Review - By Elbert Ventura - Jan. 20 (Review) - It remains one of the mysteries of our political age: How did a Wall Street-spawned meltdown and the worst recession in decades spark a populist reaction against government? In the 1930s, the failure of a Republican administration and laissez-faire economics led to a leftward swing and the New Deal. In our time, the financial crisis seemed poised to catalyze a revived reformism. But mere months—weeks even—after President Obama’s swearing-in, angry Americans began gathering in living rooms and town halls and public parks to demand an end to government tyranny. Who are they, and what do they want? In the nearly three years since the Tea Party’s efflorescence, political observers and the media have sought answers to those questions. A third question—what are they capable of?—has already been answered. Many liberals and political elites scoffed when the army of tricorn-wearing, teabag-toting protesters first appeared. A midterm election and a hijacked government later, the smirks are gone. The Tea Party, it turned out, is a real force, and its impact has been nothing less than seismic. The last couple of years have seen a rush of volumes hoping to explain and exploit the phenomenon, their titles matching the movement’s heat: Boiling Mad, The Whites of Their Eyes, The Backlash, Give Us Liberty, Mad as Hell. Theda Skocpol and Vanessa Williamson’s The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism might seem a latecomer, but it is in its own way well timed, arriving in the midst of a presidential campaign. What does the Tea Party do now that it has had a taste of governing? And where does American democracy go from here?

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Why the Republican Crackup Hurts America

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

readersupportednews.org - By Robert Reich - Dec. 22 (Opinion) - America has had a long history of white Southern radicals who will stop at nothing to get their way - seceding from the Union in 1861, refusing to obey Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s, shutting the government in 1995, and risking the full faith and credit of the United States in 2010. Newt Gingrich's recent assertion that public officials aren't bound to follow the decisions of federal courts derives from the same tradition. This stop-at-nothing radicalism is dangerous for the GOP because most Americans recoil from it. Gingrich himself became an object of ridicule in the late 1990s, and many Republicans today worry that if he heads the ticket the Party will suffer large losses. It's also dangerous for America. We need two political parties solidly grounded in the realities of governing. Our democracy can't work any other way.

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Jon Stewart Recaps GOP Debate In Las Vegas, Goes After Mitt Romney (VIDEO)

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Jon Stewart - Oct. 20 (Comedy News) - Jon Stewart has already gotten a lot of material out of the past showdowns, and this week's debate, set in Las Vegas, was no different. Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul provided their usual gaffe-worthy moments and Rick Perry had the audacity to refer to Herman Cain as "brother" on several instances. But it was Mitt Romney who bore the brunt of Stewart's jokes.

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How the Right's Lame Attack on Occupy Wall St. Shows the Poverty of Conservative Ideology

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Joshua Holland - Oct. 16 (Opinion) - Their answer – or one of them – is a Tumblr account called We Are the 53%, an unimaginitive take-off of Occupy Wall Street's We Are the 99%. And here's what makes it such a perfect representation of modern conservatism: it's based on an egregious lie spun by the movement's leaders, and it puts those who are sufficiently gullible – or ignorant – to believe that lie in a position of fighting hard against their own economic interests.

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Olbermann Loses It At GOP Rep.

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Keith Olbermann - Oct. 13 (Opinion) - Keith Olbermann was especially feisty during his "Worst Persons" segment on his Wednesday show, going hard after Bill O'Reilly and even swearing on air. Olbermann...

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The Social Contract

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Paul Krugman - Sep. 23 (Opinion) - This week President Obama said the obvious: that wealthy Americans, many of whom pay remarkably little in taxes, should bear part of the cost of reducing the long-run budget deficit. And Republicans like Representative Paul Ryan responded with shrieks of “class warfare.” It was, of course, nothing of the sort. On the contrary, it’s people like Mr. Ryan, who want to exempt the very rich from bearing any of the burden of making our finances sustainable, who are waging class war.

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Jon Stewart Rips Into Out-of-Touch Millionaires, Including Bill O'Reilly

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Sarah Seltzer, Jon Stewart - Sep. 22 (Comedy News) - Jon Stewart reserved his most potent strain of sarcasm last night for a group of millionaires including GOP politicians and Bill O'Reilly, who are making the media rounds warning of the dire effects that a minimal increase on their taxes might have.

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Where Are the Compassionate Conservatives?

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

nationofchange.org - By Eugene Robinson - Sep. 22 (Opinion) - “The lowest point of the evening — and perhaps of the political season — came when moderator Wolf Blitzer asked Ron Paul a hypothetical question about a young man who elects not to purchase health insurance. The man has a medical crisis, goes into a coma and needs expensive care. “Who pays?” Blitzer asked. “That’s what freedom is all about, taking your own risks,” Paul answered. “This whole idea that you have to prepare and take care of everybody. . . .” Blitzer interrupted: “But Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?” There were enthusiastic shouts of “Yeah!” from the crowd. You’d think one of the other candidates might jump in with a word about Christian kindness. Not a peep.”

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When Did CNN Become a Shill for GOP Extremism and the Tea Party?

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Adele M. Stan - Sep. 12 (Opinion) - CNN, once known for its unflinching coverage of actual news events, last night decided to become a maker, not a chronicler, of news. When the cable news network decided to partner with the Tea Party Express for a debate among the Republican presidential candidates, it cast aside any ethical concerns a news organization might have about direct involvement in elections and active engagement in altering the dynamics of a political party.

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GOP candidates sipping from the same tea pot

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

seattlepi.com - By David Horsey - Sep. 12 (Cartoon) - cartoon

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Tonight’s Republican Debate: The 19th Century or the Stone Age?

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Robert Reich's Blog - By Robert Reich - Sep. 07 (Opinion) - listen tonight (if you can bear it) for anything other than standard Republican boilerplate since the 1920s — a wistful desire to return to the era of President William McKinley, when the federal government was small, the Fed and the IRS had yet to be invented, state laws determined worker safety and hours, evolution was still considered contentious, immigrants were almost all European, big corporations and robber barons ran the government, the poor were desperate, and the rich were lived like old-world aristocrats.

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How I Escaped the "Biblical Family Values" Nightmare That Drives Perry, Bachmann, and Tea Party Politics

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Vyckie Garrison - Sep. 01 (Opinion) - Do you remember when it first dawned on you that your relatives are all a bunch of crackpots and weirdos? Seems like I was around 8 or 9 — my mother worked all night in the casinos and slept most of the day, leaving me alone to protect my naïve older sister from the depraved advances of Mom's alcoholic boyfriends and worry about my big brother's drug addiction.

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Robert Greenwald and Thom Hartmann Discuss “Koch Brothers Exposed”

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

kochbrothersexposed.com - By Thom Hartmann, Robert Greenwald - Aug. 31 (Interview) - Brave New Foundation’s latest “Koch Brothers Exposed” investigation unveils the Kochs’ attempt to re-segregate public schools in North Carolina. (Video)

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Tea Party Rep: Bank Should Have Known I Wouldn't Be Able To Repay $2.2 Million Loan

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Talking Points Memo - By Jillian Rayfield | - Aug. 11 (Opinion) - Tea Party aligned Georgia Rep. Tom Graves (R), who castigates Washington for fiscal irresponsibility, reached an out of court settlement Wednesday after he was sued for defaulting on a $2.2 million loan -- which his attorney argued is the bank's fault for lending him the money in the first place.

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Nullifying the Future -- Tyranny of the Minority

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Op Ed News - By Robert S. Becker - Aug. 09 (Opinion) - The Tea Party, like the Civil War, dramatize and test our core value -- does the majority rule when a strident obstructionist minority gets in its way? I say No when 20% trumps 80%.

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Stephen Colbert's Hilarious Takedown of Republican Paranoia on Birth Control

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Stephen Colbert, Sarah Selzer - Aug. 05 (Comedy News) - Republicans think birth control being covered by health insurance as "preventative care"--something that should have happened long ago--is going to bring about the end of civilization. Seriously. This insane kind of paranoia is the perfect target for Stephen Colbert, who launched into a killer satire of this reaction on his show last night.

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Keith Olbermann's Debt Ceiling Special Comment: 'Our Government Has Now Given Up The Concept Of Right And Wrong' (VIDEO)

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Kieth Olbermann - Aug. 02 (Opinion) - Keith Olbermann excoriated Washington for the debt ceiling deal it struck over the weekend--and called for a protest movement to rise up against it. In a Special Comment on his Monday show, Olbermann did not mince words about the deal, which passed the House on Monday and is headed for a vote in the Senate.

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Jon Stewart Rips President Obama For Debt Ceiling 'Dealageddon' (VIDEO)

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Jon Stewart - Aug. 02 (Comedy News) - video

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Bruce Bartlett desroys every Republican fiscal talking point in 5 minutes.

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Daily Kos - By SharksBreath, Bruce Bartlett - Jul. 29 (Opinion) - i think a good chunk of the Republican caucus is either stupid, crazy, ignorant or craven cowards, who are desperately afraid of the tea party people, and rightly so.

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Bill Maher Introduces Pledge All Candidates Must Sign

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Bill Maher - Jul. 27 (Comedy News) - Christian family organizations have been strong-arming pre-teens into signing pledges for years, but it must have been a banner day when they realized they could do the same with fully grown, seemingly powerful men and women running for president. That much-maligned "marriage pledge" that both Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum signed has a lot of people crying foul, and not just because of the now-excised slavery introduction.

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