FLETCHER,
N.C. (AP) — Tea party activists, once unquestioned as a benefit to the Republican Party for supplying it with votes and energy, are
now criticizing GOP leaders at seemingly every turn.
They're
demanding that Congress use upcoming budget votes to deny money for putting in
place President Barack Obama's 2010 health care law, despite warnings the
strategy could lead to a government shutdown.
They're
upset that Republicans didn't block a Senate-passed immigration bill.
Many
are outspoken opponents of any U.S. involvement in Syria's civil war.
A
recent Pew Research Center survey found that more
than 7 in 10 self-identified "tea party Republicans" disapprove of
the job performance of GOP congressional leaders.
Many
of the major tea party groups are backing 2014 primary challengers against
Republicans the activists deem too moderate, including Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell. The Kentucky conservative once declared it his job to make
Obama a one-term president.
That
leaves some Republicans quietly worried that an intraparty tussle could yield a
repeat of 2012. That year, conservative candidates lost winnable Senate races,
and GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney struggled to win over conservatives while
still appealing to moderate swing voters.
The
health care debate puts the GOP in its tightest spot. Wary Republicans recall
the 1995-96 government shutdowns under President Bill Clinton, who persuaded many voters to blame the GOP
and House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Georgia Republican, for that
budget impasse.
McConnell,
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other GOP congressional leaders
endorse the idea to "defund Obamacare." But some also have tried to
persuade core supporters that it won't happen because Democrats run the Senate and Obama won't gut his
signature domestic achievement.
If
Congress doesn't agree on appropriations at all, then many core government
functions, including some military operations and the processing of Medicare claims and Social Security applications, would stop.
But
that doesn't satisfy the tea party faithful, who say too many Republicans have
welcomed their support in elections only to ignore their concerns
in office.
Amy Kremer, the leader of the California-based Tea
Party Express, spent much of the congressional summer break on a national tour
intended to pressure Republicans into backing the defunding movement.
"My
message to Speaker Boehner and (House Majority Leader) Eric Cantor and Senator McConnell is simple: If you're not
willing to fight for this, what are you willing to fight for?" she said at
a recent stop in western North Carolina.
Her
group has helped elected conservative favorites such as Sens. Rand Paul of
Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, who have
driven the campaign for cutting off money for Obama's law.
After
a similar event in Atlanta, Brent Bozell of the Virginia-based ForAmerica, said:
"I'd like them to stop thinking about their own re-elections for five
minutes. Someone should remind House Republicans that they have the
majority for a reason. They should use it."
Cantor
this past week floated the idea of passing a temporary spending bill tied to a
provision that would derail the health care law. But, in an unusual twist, the
plan would allow Senate Democrats to separate the "end Obamacare"
provision and forward the appropriations to the president. Conservatives
quickly dismissed that strategy.
Americans
for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens called it a "gimmick" and
"one of the most cynical political shell games seen ...
in years."
The political arm of the Heritage Foundation, now run by former
Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, has devoted more than
$500,000 to an ad campaign against several Republican members who've resisted
the push.
Renee Ellmers, one of the Republicans targeted by the
campaign, retorted on social media. "Why is @Heritage Action spending
$550K to attack conservatives but not @KayHagan who was a deciding vote on
#Obamacare?" she said via Twitter, referring to North Carolina's
Democratic senator, who is running for re-election next year.
At
one stop in the state, Kremer called out Ellmers. "I haven't given up on
the congresswoman," she said.
Another
conservative group, FreedomWorks, has sponsored dozens of town hall meetings
featuring cardboard cutouts of House members and senators who declined
invitations to attend the "Defund Obamacare" sessions.
Several
groups joined forces for a defunding rally at Boehner's Ohio district
headquarters. The conservative anti-tax group Club for Growth has already
endorsed a handful of primary challengers, including against
Boehner allies.
A
political action committee called the Senate Conservatives Fund spent $340,000 on an ad
criticizing McConnell. It's set to run on cable and networks in Kentucky
until Tuesday.
"Mitch
McConnell is the key to stopping Obamacare," an off-camera announcer
states. "Republicans in the Senate have the power to defeat funding for
Obamacare, but they won't use it if their leader tells them to surrender."
McConnell, the announcer continues, "wants Kentucky voters to re-elect him
because he's the Republican leader, but what good is that title if he won't use
it to help Kentucky families?"
McConnell
spokesman Don Stewart said the senator stands by his position.
"He's been very vocal back home over the need to repeal, dismantle, defund
the law — you name it, he's for it," Stewart said.
While
Stewart can tick off the number of speeches McConnell gave before the law's
passage and the number of Kentucky town halls he's held to hammer the law, it,
he also acknowledges political realities facing the movement to stop Obama's
health care overhaul. "The question," he said, "is how to
do it."In Atlanta, Bozell said that argument amounts to "trying to have it both ways."
"They'll vote to
repeal it," he said. "But they won't stand up and do everything they
can to stop it."
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, Fears about fallout from GOP divide with tea party by
BILL BARROW, Associated Press, Updated
12:38 am, Monday, September 16, 2013
Comments:
In addition to Tea Party groups, dissenting Republicans
include Campaign for Liberty Ron Paul Republicans and other Independents and
Conservative Republicans. The unifying
theme for this expanded group is to pressure all levels of government to return
to the Constitution (as written). Removing
unconstitutional activities from the federal government would reduce federal
spending drastically.
Local Tea Party groups have been working with some
success, at the local level since 2010, to reverse regionalism and Agenda 21
implementation, recruit local candidates, become candidates themselves and
demand reductions in unnecessary federal spending. We would move the EPA, DOT,
HUD and other functions to the States, to get them out of the Agenda 21
implementation business. Our goal is to keep government from destroying the
private economy.
Our opponents appear to be those who are pushing for
globalism and UN global governance. They
would remove our sovereignty and our right to private property and the means to
support ourselves
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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