Tea Party Movement Morphs Into Tea Party "Mafia"! Political Terrorists

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Tea Party message becomes toxic


Fragging: To intentionally kill or wound (one's superior officer, etc.), esp. with a hand grenade.

Take names. Remember them. The behavior of certain Republicans who call themselves Tea Party conservatives makes them the most destructive posse of misguided "patriots" we've seen in recent memory.

If the nation defaults on its financial obligations, the blame belongs to the Tea Party Republicans who fragged their own leader, John Boehner. They had victory in their hands and couldn't seem to bring themselves to support his debt-ceiling plan, which, if not perfect, was more than anyone could have imagined just a few months ago. No new taxes, significant spending cuts, a temporary debt-ceiling solution with the possibility of more spending cuts down the line as well as their beloved constitutional balanced-budget amendment.

These people wouldn't recognize a hot-fudge sundae if the cherry started talking to them.

The tick-tock of the debt ceiling debate is too long for this space, but the bottom line is that the Tea Party got too full of itself with help from certain characters whose names you'll want to remember when things go south. They include, among others, media personalities who need no further recognition; a handful of media-created "leaders," including Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips and Tea Party Patriots co-founders Jenny Beth Martin and Mark Meckler; a handful of outside groups who love to hurl ad hominems such as "elite" and "inside the Beltway" when talking about people like Boehner when they are, in fact, the elite (FreedomWorks, Heritage Action, Club for Growth, National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Prosperity); and elected leaders such as Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, head of the Republican Study Committee, and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, who grandstand and make political assertions and promises that are sheer fantasy.



Meanwhile, freshman congressmen were targeted and pressured by some of the aforementioned groups to vote against Boehner's plan. South Carolina's contingent was so troubled, they repaired to the chapel Thursday to pray and emerged promising to vote no. Why? Not because Jesus told them to, but because they're scared to death that DeMint will "primary" them — find someone in their own party to challenge them.



Where did they get an idea like that? Look no further than Sarah Palin's Facebook page, where she warned freshman about contested primaries and urged them to "remember us 'little people' who believed in them, donated to their campaigns, spent hours tirelessly volunteering for them, and trusted them with our votes." Her close: "P.S. Everyone I talk to still believes in contested primaries." While they're at it, they also should remember that Palin came to the Tea Party long after the invitations went out. The woman knows where to hitch a wagon.



Unfortunately for the country, which is poised to lose its place as the world's most-trusted treasury and suffer economic repercussions we can ill afford, the stakes in this political game are too high to be in the hands of Tea Partyers who mistakenly think they have a mandate. Their sweep in the 2010 election was the exclusive result of anti-Obama sentiment and the sense that the president, in creating a health care plan instead of focusing on jobs, had overplayed his hand. Invariably, as political pendulums swing, the victors become the very thing they sought to defeat.

Who's overplaying their hand now?



It must be said that the Tea Party has not been monolithic — and the true grass-roots shouldn't be conflated with leaders who disastrously signed on to the so-called "Cut, Cap and Balance" pledge. What is it with Republicans and their silly pledges? Didn't get enough Scouting? This pledge now has them hog-tied to a promise they can't keep — the constitutional balanced-budget amendment. As many as a third desperately want a pardon from that commitment, according to sources close to the action.

Hubris is no one's friend, and irony is a nag. The Tea Partyers who wanted to oust Barack Obama have greatly enhanced his chances for re-election by undermining their own leader and damaging the country in the process. The debt ceiling may be raised and the crisis averted, but that event should not erase the memory of what transpired. The Tea Party was a movement that changed the conversation in Washington, but it has steeped too long and has become toxic.

It's time to toss it out.

Kathleen Parker


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Sources: CNN, Fox News, McClatchy Newspapers, MSNBC, Washington Post, Youtube, Google Maps

Tea Party Congress Creates More Poverty By Cutting Food Stamps & Medicaid (Decision 2012)

Boehner Debt Ceiling Plan Drops A 26-Year-Old Exemption That Protects The Poor From Budget Cuts

As the Republicans haggle over whether to support their own plan for raising the nation’s debt ceiling, an “unprecedented” coalition of religious leaders are urging President Obama and Congress not to sacrifice the needs of the poor in the name of debt reduction. Even the conservative U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops joined the effort, singling out House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) plan for its “disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons.”

In scrutinizing the debt deals, some religious leaders praised the plans for at least exempting low-income “means-tested” programs from across-the-board cuts. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities notes today, however, that Boehner’s plan does not actually exempt programs like Medicaid and food stamps from such cuts. Instead, it does the opposite.

Breaking a 26-year policy of exempting basic low-income entitlement programs from across-the-board cuts, both of the House Republican plans — “Cut, Cap, and Balance” Act and Boehner’s debt-ceiling proposal — “drop all of the low-income exemptions that have been part of every previous across-the-board cut mechanism since 1985″:

For 26 years, all budget legislation that would trigger across-the-board cuts if Congress fails to meet a fiscal target has exempted the basic low-income (or “means-tested”) entitlement programs from those cuts. The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings laws of 1985 and 1990, the deficit reduction agreement of 1990, and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 — all bipartisan pieces of legislation — included that exemption.

So did last year’s “pay-as-you-go” law, which requires Congress to offset the cost of new tax cuts or increases in entitlement programs so they don’t increase the deficit. Congress has never enacted a law with an across-the-board cut mechanism that subjects core assistance for the poor to these cuts.

But in the last few weeks, House Republicans have advanced two major pieces of legislation that would do just that. Both the “Cut, Cap, and Balance Act,” which the House passed last week, and the new Boehner debt-ceiling proposal drop all of the low-income exemptions that have been part of every previous across-the-board cut mechanism since 1985.

“In an exercise in political cynicism,” CBPP notes that both bills include an exemption for payments to Medicare providers that was not part of previous laws. This allows Republicans to avoid another hit from the senior community “even as they subject those living below the poverty line to the risk of automatic cuts that would push them even deeper into poverty.” Earlier this week, CBPP put out an analysis showing that Boehner’s debt ceiling plan “could well produce the greatest increase in poverty and hardship produced by any law in modern U.S. history.”

The Republican move to cut a long-standing bipartisan protection for the poor really brings into question exactly which Americans Republicans say they’re fighting for. Religious leaders should take note. If asked “What Would Jesus Cut,” it seems Republicans are determined to provide the wrong answer.

Sources: Blogger Interrupted, Off The Charts Blog, Think Progress, Washington Post, Youtube

Palin Headlines Boston Tea Party Minus Scott Brown (Videos)

Palin Urges Less Gov't, Lower Taxes @ Boston Common Tea Party Rally


Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin criticized the Obama administration and the Democratic-led Congress today at a Tea Party rally on Boston Common, saying the government had been on a "spending spree" and warning of future tax increases.

"Americans now spend 100 days out of the year working for government before we even start working for ourselves," she said. "It is time to remind [elected officials] that government should be working for us, we should not have to work for the government. That's why there are more and more patriots every day standing up and speaking out."

"We believe in expanding freedom and opportunity for all, not the intrusive reach of government into our lives and businesses," she said.

Palin's 22-minute speech was the highlight of the rally at the public park in the center of the city. The event also included stirring patriotic music, tributes to the military, and digs by other speakers at prominent Democrats, including President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and US Representative Barney Frank.

Several thousand people appeared to be in attendance. The Boston police do not make crowd estimates. Organizers said earlier this week they expected at least 3,000 people from across New England.

"Massachusetts is a blue-collar, working-stiff state, and we're reclaiming it for America," Mark Williams, chairman of the Tea Party Express, which organized the rally, told the crowd earlier in the rally.

"We the people are making it happen, and in November, we are going to vote the bums out," said Amy Kremer, another Tea Party Express official, who urged the crowd to get involved by electing conservatives to public office.

The rally in the city where the original Tea Party was held began shortly after 10 a.m.

Among those watching and listening to Palin was Carla Morey, 54, of Milton, who wore a sticker on her jacket advertising her support for Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles D. Baker, who did not attend the rally.

"She is a true American,'' Morey said. "She has the ability to instill pride, passion and conservative principles.''

An unenrolled voter, Morey said she had donated to the Tea Party organization. "I felt that finally there was somewhere that I could have a voice,'' she said.

She added that as she listened to Palin's talk, she felt one emotion. "I felt happy,'' the retiree said. "I live in a very blue state. I want to turn it red, or at least, purple.''

Before the event, which was held on a crisp, sunny spring morning, a brass band played "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," and plenty of American flags flew, as well as the early American flag that depicts a rattlesnake on a yellow background with the words, "Don't Tread on Me." The latter were on sale in varying sizes, for $2 to $20.

One woman held a sign, reading, "I am not 'the angry mob.' I am an angry, tax-bled, 'hockey mom.' No matter what I write … I will still be called a 'racist, Nazi, teabagger.'"

A counterdemonstrator carrying a sign that read, "Dump Palin in the harbor," was surrounded by a group of Tea Party supporters and asked to leave. He complied.

One of the Tea Partiers walked away, saying, "See that? How's that for coercion?"

John Killion, a US Postal Service worker from South Boston, one of the other Tea Partiers in the group, said he thought the counterdemonstrator "was in pretty poor taste. Their space is never invaded."

"The best policy is just to surround him, smoke him out, and don't say anything," said Killion, referring to a fellow Tea Partier who had been blowing smoke in the counterdemonstrator's face.

Killion said it was his first Tea Party event ever and he was looking forward to hearing Palin speak.

"She tells it like it is," he said.

Not all the discourse was so tense, however. Steve Hurley, a fund-raiser for a nonprofit, walked up to Tea Partier Harry Mentas after seeing the sign, "Vote to Impeach," held by Mentas.

Hurley, of Woburn, and Mentas, a computer programmer from Plymouth, talked about health care reform for several minutes, and the chat ended with a handshake.

"I disagree with you. I don't think you are a Nazi,'' Hurley told Mentas, who was accompanied by his two school-age children. "I think you are a decent, respectful human being.''

Mentas said critics "think we hate liberals and that it's visceral. But I just disagree with him on health reform.''

He added that the more dramatic confrontations likely do not involve actual Tea Party members. Mentas said those involved were "crashers. Those are people who want to make us look bad."

A number of others interviewed, apparently sensitive to criticisms of previous incidents attributed to Tea Party members, emphasized that the crowd was civil, respectful, and simply enthusiastic about the cause they were rallying behind.

Palin, the former governor of Alaska, was Senator John McCain's running mate in 2008. Despite her election loss and the questions raised about her qualifications to be president, she still has a devoted following among some conservatives.

The fervently antiestablishment Tea Party movement is a new force in American politics, whose future impact is still being debated. Members of the loosely organized group generally support fiscal conservatism and believe that the federal government has overstepped its bounds. The rallies organized by the Tea Party Express group are expected to conclude Thursday with a rally in Washington, D.C.

Boston is a Democratic stronghold, and Massachusetts is considered a liberal-leaning state, but the political establishment was shocked in January by the Senate special election victory of Republican Scott Brown, who benefited from the support of Tea Party followers.

Leading figures in the state Republican party have split on whether to join the rally with the group. Like Baker, Brown did not attend. But Christy Mihos, another GOP gubernatorial hopeful, will attend.

Independent Tim Cahill, another candidate for governor, circulated through the crowd, arriving about an hour after Palin's speech. "One reason I'm here is to find out more, to see who represents the Tea Party," he said.

He said some of those in the crowd might become his supporters if they responded to his message of support for the middle class.


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Sources: Boston Globe, Boston.com, Google Maps

Eric Cantor Says Dems Are Exploiting Death Threats For Political Gain

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Cantor: Dems Capitalizing On Extremist Threats


A top House Republican accused Democrats Thursday of “dangerously fanning the flames” of extremism and using reports of vandalism and death threats against pro-health reform bill lawmakers for political gain.

"To use such threats as political weapons is reprehensible," said Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., who added that security concerns have been overhyped in media coverage of the debate.

Cantor prefaced his comments at a brief press conference by saying that Republican lawmakers do not condone violence in any form. The sentiment was echoed by Minority Leader John Boehner in his weekly press briefing, held earlier on Thursday. He called the threats against some members of congress "unacceptable" and asked people to find other ways to make their voices heard.

Cantor singled out Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen. "... Letters, statements and press releases can very easily fan the flames by racketing up the rhetoric, some will only inflame these situations to dangerous levels."

The Virginia Republican, who is the only Jewish Republican in Congress, said that he has also been a target of attacks but that he has not made the incidents public.

He said that a bullet was fired through the window of his office in Richmond, Va., but declined to provide additional details. "I will not release them because I believe such actions will only encourage more to be sent," Cantor added.

Doug Thornell, a spokesman for Van Hollen, criticized Cantor for making "false accusations."

"This is straight out of the Republicans' political playbook of deflecting responsibility and distracting attention away from a serious issue," Thornell said.

The Democratic National Committee responded to Cantor by saying, "Let's be clear: calling on Republican leaders who have contributed in part to this anger by wildly mischaracterizing the substance and motives of health reform to condemn these acts is entirely appropriate."

Also on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned vandalism and threats against pro-overhaul legislators.

"I don't want this to be a distraction" to the work of Congress, Pelosi said. But she also asserted that such violence and threats of reprisal have "no place in a civil debate in our country" and must be rejected.

At least four Democratic offices in New York, Arizona and Kansas were struck and at least 10 members of Congress have reported some sort of threats, including obscenity-laced phone messages, congressional leaders have said. No arrests have been reported.

Ohio Rep. John Boccieri, one of eight Democrats who switched to "yes" on the most recent House vote, said he had received threats. "Having flown missions in and out of Afghanistan, I know what it's like to be in harm's way. But I never imagined serving in Congress could feel the same," said Boccieri, a major in the Air Force reserve. He did not elaborate on the threats.

A package containing white powder and a letter referencing the health care bill was sent to the Queens office of Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y. on Thursday, according to NBC.

Pelosi spoke to reporters at the Capitol shortly after GOP lawmakers took the House floor, pleading with those who vehemently oppose the Democratic health care move to refrain from acts of violence and threats.

Opposition to the health care bill President Barack Obama signed into law Tuesday is "no excuse for bigotry, threats or acts of vandalism," said Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, the House's third-ranked Republican.

Said Republican Rep. Joseph Pitts of Pennsylvania: "Some of our colleagues have received threatening phone calls. A brick has been thrown, a window has been smashed. This is not the right way to respond."

Rep. Louise Slaughter, a New York Democrat and chairwoman of an influential House committee, said someone had left her a voice mail that used the word "snipers."

Some of the anger spilled over in a flood of threat-filled phone and fax messages to the office of Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich. Stupak vowed to oppose the health care package unless given greater assurance that it would not allow federal funding of elective abortions. He voted in favor after the administration agreed.

Stupak's office released some of the messages, declining further comment.

"I hope you bleed ... (get) cancer and die," one male caller told the congressman between curses.

A fax with the title "Defecating on Stupak" carried a picture of a gallows with "Bart (SS) Stupak" on it and a noose attached. It was captioned, "All Baby Killers come to unseemly ends Either by the hand of man or by the hand of God."

And in Virginia, someone cut a propane line leading to a grill at the Charlottesville home of Rep. Tom Perriello's brother after the address was posted online by activists angry about the health care overhaul. Perriello also said a threatening letter was sent to his brother's house.

Sergeant at Arms Terry Gainer told The Associated Press Thursday that there was "no evidence that annoying, harassing or threatening telephone calls or emails are coordinated. Regrettably though, bloggers and twitters seem to feed off each other, leaving little room for creativity."

At the news conference, Pelosi noted that "our country has had a lively debate." But she also said that it is "important for us to be able to express ourselves freely, not to diminish that in any way, but also to hit a standard that says some of the actions ... must be rejected."

The California Democrat said she didn't mean her criticism to "paint everyone with what has happened here with the same brush." And she said she did not "subscribe to the theory that these acts sprang from the comments of my colleagues."

"I think we have to manage this issue very carefully, recognizing we are a democracy," Pelosi said. "We do not want to stifle debate, or free expression of it."

The FBI is working with lawmakers subjected to menacing obscenity-laced phone messages. In some instances, bricks were hurled through congressional offices, including Rep. Louise Slaughter's district headquarters in Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., called it "an effort to kind of hijack the debate by coercive elements. I'm glad the Republican leadership colleagues denounce it. But they were very late to do that."

"It is unacceptable in America," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who exhorted angry citizens to channel their rage into voter registration.

The vandalism and threats surprised a researcher at a think tank that monitors extremist groups.

"I think it is astounding that we are seeing this wave of vigilantism," said Mark Potok of the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center.

Gun imagery was used in a posting on the Facebook page of Sarah Palin urging people to organize against 20 House Democrats who voted for the health care bill and whose districts went for the John McCain-Palin ticket two years ago. Palin's post featured a U.S. map with circles and cross hairs over the 20 districts.

McCain defended Palin, saying it was commonplace practice and "part of the lexicon" to refer to "targeted" congressional districts.


Sources: MSNBC

GOP & Tea Party Leaders Denounce Violence, Defends Anger

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Tea Partiers Condemn Harassment & Violence


Tea party organizers across the country are condemning the harassment and threats of violence against House Democrats who voted in favor of the health care overhaul that passed the House Sunday.

Though individual tea partiers – and many Republicans — have distanced themselves from the threats and deemed them unaffiliated with the movement, the condemnations mark a more forceful response and indicate a keen awareness of the damage that being linked to them could do to the tea party brand. There hasn't been any hard evidence that the reported harassment is linked to the tea party movement, but Democrats have tried to draw the link between the harassment and the sometimes-inflammatory rhetoric that tea partiers and Republicans deployed in opposing the health care overhaul.

The organizers of some major Florida tea party groups, for instance, on Thursday morning released an open letter to Congress and President Barack Obama declaring they “stand in stark opposition to any person using derogatory characterizations, threats of violence, or disparaging terms toward members of Congress or the President.”

The letter calls the tea parties “a peaceful movement” and says its leaders denounce “all forms of violence” and “support all efforts to bring [any perpetrators] to justice and have encouraged full cooperation within our movement and have asked for the same from the members of Congress who have laid such claims.”

The letter is signed by leaders of two statewide tea party coalitions, the state chapter of the Washington-based FreedomWorks and local and regional tea party groups in Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Deerfield Beach and Viera, among others.

Brendan Steinhauser, who helps organize local tea parties around the country for FreedomWorks, issued a statement Thursday declaring “Political violence is both immoral and ineffective, and will only set the movement back.” He said he is "reminding all grassroots leaders that it's important to focus our efforts on peaceful, political efforts like protests, office visits, letters, petitions and of course, voting.”

However, he also urged caution in attributing violence or threats of violence to tea party activists.

“We must remember that the folks committing these acts are small in number, extreme in their methods and not yet proven to be members of our movement,” he said. “But we must be diligent in denouncing all acts of political violence and racism, when they occur.”

A coalition of Colorado tea party groups expressed similar sentiments in a Thursday morning press release.

The release said “Tea party and similar groups across Colorado are saddened tonight to hear of threats made upon Democratic lawmakers in response to the passing their recent health insurance reform legislation, specifically … Rep. Betsy Markey,” a Colorado Democrat.

Markey’s office notified police it received a phone call Saturday in which the caller told a staffer "You better hope I don't run into you in a dark alley with a club, a knife or a gun."

The Colorado tea party release emphasizes “it does not appear that these threats stemmed from those within Colorado's tea party movement.” But it adds “organizers and members alike are firmly denouncing any acts of intimidation or threat. Statewide, Tea Party leadership has encouraged disappointed members to get involved in the political process rather than dwell on the passage of the health care bill.”

The release quotes Northern Colorado Tea Party director Lesley Hollywood saying "although many are frustrated by the passage of such controversial legislation, threats are absolutely not acceptable in any form, to any lawmaker, of any party."

Hollywood, a member of a statewide tea party leadership team, added: “I can assure you that myself and my colleagues will take immediate action if any of these allegations are discovered to be connected to our organizations. At this time, our internal investigations have not revealed any correlation between the threats and the Tea Party.”

And Toby Marie Walker, co-founder of the 5,000-member Waco, Texas Tea Party, as well as Mark Skoda, organizer of the Memphis, Tenn., Tea Party and a leader in an umbrella group called the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition, said Thursday morning that their respective groups were drafting statement that will condemn the violence.

Walker emphasized “we do not condone” offensive “language, racial slurs or other poor behavior,” adding “we discourage it and will have (perpetrators) removed from our events.”

The tea party movement is a sprawling and decentralized loosely aligned network of local, regional and state groups that is deeply suspicious of authority – including efforts to develop a more cohesive structure for their own movement. That both makes self-policing efforts difficult, and also makes it tricky to determine which threats came from folks associated with the movement. But it’s undeniable that threats of violence and allegations of harassment have hit a fever pitch since the health care overhaul passed the House Sunday.

Rep. Tom Perriello’s (D-Va.) brother’s address was posted online and he later had his gas lines cut, prompting an FBI investigation. Local police are keeping an eye on Perriello's brother's home.

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) has gotten threatening faxes, phone calls and death threats. House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) received a messaged saying that snipers were being deployed to kill those members who voted yes for health care.

Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) said he has gotten threats, as has Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.).

Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio), whose family was put in a newspaper advertisement last week, had his address posted on the Internet, urging a protest. He has received threats.

Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) Sunday night had a coffin placed on his lawn during a prayer vigil.

Some members are moving their spouses out of their district while they are legislating in Washington, Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.) told POLITICO Wednesday. And the FBI and Capitol Police met with Democrats Wednesday afternoon, urging them to report all incidents of harassment. The Capitol Police said they would do security assessments of members' homes and district offices.

Tea party organizers have struggled in recent months to clamp down on fringe elements that have sprung up around – and sometimes within – the movement, including white supremacists and conspiracy theorists who believe that the government played a role in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (“truthers”) or that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States and is therefore ineligible to be president (“birthers”).

And tea party leaders quickly denounced slurs reportedly directed at House Democrats during Washington rallies before Sunday’s vote, pointing out they were not representative of most tea partiers and urging protesters to stay focused on the movement’s core issues of limited government and taxation. Others pushed back against the reports and suggested either that reporters and lawmakers had fabricated them from whole cloth, or that the epithets were yelled by tea party opponents who had infiltrated the crowds in an effort to taint them. Some even asked for apologies from Democrats who seized on the reports to criticize all the tea party protesters.

But tea party leaders are concerned that the reported slurs and threats – covered aggressively by media they see as biased against them – could dampen efforts to broaden the movement’s appeal among independent and swing voters in the 2010 midterm congressional elections.

And some grumble that the mainstream media seems all too eager to gloss over sometimes violent extremism on the left.

“Our entire movement has been smeared by the Democrats and the leftist media that averted their eyes from leftist violence at anti-globalization rallies, anti-war demonstrations, outside the RNC and at other events,” said FreedomWorks’ Steinhauser. “There is a double standard when it comes to covering how extremist elements on the left and the right behave.”


Sources: MSNBC, Politico

Pelosi Condemns Death Threats Against Fellow Democrats

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Pelosi Condemns Threats Against Congress Members


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday condemned vandalism and threats against members of Congress who voted for sweeping health care changes, and House Republicans who fought the legislation joined in urging people to calm down.

"I don't want this to be a distraction" to the work of Congress, Pelosi said. But she also asserted that such violence and threats of reprisal have "no place in a civil debate in our country" and must be rejected.

At least four Democratic offices in New York, Arizona and Kansas were struck and at least 10 members of Congress have reported some sort of threats, including obscenity-laced phone messages, congressional leaders have said. No arrests have been reported.

Ohio Rep. John Boccieri, one of eight Democrats who switched to "yes" on the most recent House vote, said he had received threats. "Having flown missions in and out of Afghanistan, I know what it's like to be in harm's way. But I never imagined serving in Congress could feel the same," said Boccieri, a major in the Air Force reserve. He did not elaborate on the threats.

Pelosi spoke to reporters at the Capitol shortly after GOP lawmakers took the House floor, pleading with those who vehemently oppose the Democratic health care move to refraim from acts of violence and threats.

Opposition to the health care bill President Barack Obama signed into law Tuesday is "no excuse for bigotry, threats or acts of vandalism," said Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, the House's third-ranked Republican.

Said Republican Rep. Joseph Pitts of Pennsylvania: "Some of our colleagues have received threatening phone calls. A brick has been thrown, a window has been smashed. This is not the right way to respond."

Rep. Louise Slaughter, a New York Democrat and chairwoman of an influential House committee, said someone had left her a voice mail that used the word "snipers."

Some of the anger spilled over in a flood of threat-filled phone and fax messages to the office of Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich. Stupak vowed to oppose the health care package unless given greater assurance that it would not allow federal funding of elective abortions. He voted in favor after the administration agreed.

Stupak's office released some of the messages, declining further comment.

"I hope you bleed ... (get) cancer and die," one male caller told the congressman between curses.

A fax with the title "Defecating on Stupak" carried a picture of a gallows with "Bart (SS) Stupak" on it and a noose attached. It was captioned, "All Baby Killers come to unseemly ends Either by the hand of man or by the hand of God."

And in Virginia, someone cut a propane line leading to a grill at the Charlottesville home of Rep. Tom Perriello's brother after the address was posted online by activists angry about the health care overhaul. Perriello also said a threatening letter was sent to his brother's house.

Sergeant at Arms Terry Gainer told The Associated Press Thursday that there was "no evidence that annoying, harassing or threatening telephone calls or emails are coordinated. Regrettably though, bloggers and twitters seem to feed off each other, leaving little room for creativity."

At the news conference, Pelosi noted that "our country has had a lively debate." But she also said that it is "important for us to be able to express ourselves freely, not to diminish that in any way, but also to hit a standard that says some of the actions ... must be rejected."

The California Democrat said she didn't mean her criticism to "paint everyone with what has happened here with the same brush." And she said she did not "subscribe to the theory that these acts sprang from the comments of my colleagues."

"I think we have to manage this issue very carefully, recognizing we are a democracy," Pelosi said. "We do not want to stifle debate, or free expression of it."

The FBI is working with lawmakers subjected to menacing obscenity-laced phone messages. In some instances, bricks were hurled through congressional offices, including Rep. Louise Slaughter's district headquarters in Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., called it "an effort to kind of hijack the debate by coercive elements. I'm glad the Republican leadership colleagues denounce it. But they were very late to do that."

"It is unacceptable in America," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who exhorted angry citizens to channel their rage into voter registration.

The vandalism and threats surprised a researcher at a think tank that monitors extremist groups.

"I think it is astounding that we are seeing this wave of vigilantism," said Mark Potok of the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center.

Gun imagery was used in a posting on the Facebook page of Sarah Palin urging people to organize against 20 House Democrats who voted for the health care bill and whose districts went for the John McCain-Palin ticket two years ago. Palin's post featured a U.S. map with circles and cross hairs over the 20 districts.

McCain defended Palin, saying it was commonplace practice and "part of the lexicon" to refer to "targeted" congressional districts.


Sources: CBS News, Yahoo News, Politico, Youtube

Democrats Receive Death Threats Following House Health Care Vote

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Democrats Fear For Their Families



The threats against members of Congress who voted for health care reform have turned from a nuisance to a serious law enforcement issue, increasing security concerns as lawmakers prepare to head home for spring recess.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Capitol Police and the House sergeant at arms on Wednesday were brought into a closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting, during which lawmakers expressed fear for their safety and the safety of their families.

The Capitol Police, according to several in the caucus meeting, encouraged members to report any incidents to the department. They also offered security assessments of district offices and even members’ homes.

One Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Phil Hare of Illinois, said he knows several Democrats who have told their spouses to move out of the home districts while the lawmakers are in Washington.

“If this doesn’t get under control in short time, heaven forbid, someone will get hurt,” Hare said.

And House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland told reporters after a caucus meeting that members who feel in danger would “get attention from the proper authorities.”

Hare is holding eight town hall meetings in his district over the recess and requested that the Capitol Police coordinate with his local police department to provide security. His wife has pleaded with him to cancel the events.

“My wife is home alone, and I’m worried for her,” he said. “I am about to have my first grandchild. I don’t want to have to be worried.”

Incidents are sprouting up all over the country.

The gas lines were cut at the house of Virginia Democratic Rep. Thomas Perriello’s brother, near Charlottesville, Va., prompting an FBI investigation. Local police are making routine checks of the home. A tea party activist from southern Virginia posted online the address of Perriello’s brother, thinking it was the lawmaker’s.

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Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio) had his address posted on the Internet, with a message from a right-wing blogger asking people to show up at Driehaus’s Cincinnati “mansion” to protest his health care vote. A photo of Driehaus’s family appeared in a Cincinnati newspaper ad urging the lawmaker to vote against the health care bill last week.

A brick was thrown through the window of the Democratic Party’s Cincinnati office.

And Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who negotiated the breakthrough on abortion language in the health care bill, has received numerous death threats and faxes with violent images at his office.

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Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) suggested to Democrats in the closed-door meeting that they should coordinate an internal security plan — as he did in August.

Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) told the caucus, according to a member present, that he feared what was going on in the districts.

Democrats have been quick to blame Republicans for not tamping down the atmosphere. But on Tuesday at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner, House Minority Leader John Boehner decried the violence.

Boehner met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday but declined to discuss what they spoke about.

“I know many Americans are angry over this health care bill and that Washington Democrats just aren’t listening,” Boehner wrote in an e-mailed statement. “But, as I’ve said, violence and threats are unacceptable. That’s not the American way. We need to take that anger and channel it into positive change. Call your congressman, go out and register people to vote, go volunteer on a political campaign, make your voice heard — but let’s do it the right way.”

Hare said Boehner needs to come to the floor and decry the violence and apologize to Driehaus for calling the Democratic lawmaker a “dead man.” Hare said he thinks Republicans’ riling up of protesters from the Capitol balcony is not helpful.

“If he can’t control his members, they have to find someone who can,” Hare said.

Some members have directly confronted protesters.

Rep. Jim Moran, a fiery Virginia Democrat, got a visit from tea party activists at his office earlier this week. Aides got between the burly lawmaker and the activists. The activists, according to the congressman, asked whether he needed “bodyguards” to protect him.

“We’re not protecting him from you,” the aides said, according to Moran. “We’re protecting you from him.”

It was long known that the health care overhaul vote would be brutal for members of Congress. August brought raucous town halls, folks with guns and heated exchanges to towns across the nation.

Now that the legislation has passed with just Democratic votes, anger is bubbling nationwide.

Hoyer, in response to a question from a reporter, said he thinks members are in danger.

“Yes,” he said, standing next to House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina. “I think that we have very serious incidents that have occurred over the last 48, 72 hours.”


Sources: MSNBC, Politico

"Cuéntame" Demands GOP Ends Tea Party's Racist Behavior (Videos)

Latino Group Pushes Petition To End Tea Party Hate-Spewing


During the health care debate on Saturday, Tea Party protesters hurled racist and homophobic epithets at House Democrats. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) was spat on by a protester, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a civil rights icon, was called a 'ni--er,' and openly gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a "fa---t" and heckled with deliberately lisp-y screams.

On Wednesday, a Latino Facebook group called "Cuéntame" posted a video documenting the Tea Party hate-spewing, and asked viewers to sign an online petition to the leaders of the Republican party asking them to apologize for egging on abusive protesters.

The video, produced by Brave New Foundation, shows Republican lawmakers waving signs from a balcony and applauding the crowd of Tea Party protesters as they shout racial and homophobic slurs.

"The Republican Party needs to distance themselves from this kind of behavior," Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) says in the video. "I am calling upon Mr. Speaker that the Republicans who have supported this movement come out and condemn this Tea Party. It is unacceptable."


Sources: Brave New Foundation, Cuentame', Huffington Post, Youtube

Recent Tea Party Movement Statistics - Quinnipiac Poll

Tea Party Statistics - Quinnipiac Polls


Only 13 percent of American voters say they are part of the Tea Party movement, a group that has more women than men; is mainly white and Republican and voted for John McCain, and strongly supports Sarah Palin, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.

While voters say 44 - 39 percent that they will vote for a Republican over a Democratic candidate in this November's Congressional elections, if there is a Tea Party candidate on the ballot, the Democrat would get 36 percent to the Republican's 25 percent, with 15 percent for the Tea Party candidate, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

By a 28 - 23 percent margin, American voters have a favorable opinion of the Tea Party, with 49 percent who say they don't know enough about the group to form an opinion.

American voter opinion of the Democratic Party is 48 - 33 unfavorable, with opinion of the Republican Party 42 - 33 percent unfavorable.

While 70 percent of all voters are "somewhat dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied" with the way things are going in America today, 92 percent of Tea Party members are dissatisfied.

Government does too many things better left to businesses and individuals, 54 percent of all voters say, while 42 percent say government is not doing enough. Tea Party members say 83 - 15 percent that government is doing too much.

"The Tea Party movement is mostly made up of people who consider themselves Republicans," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "They are less educated but more interested in politics than the average Joe and Jane Six-Pack and are not in a traditional sense swing voters."

"The Tea Party could be a Republican dream - or a GOP nightmare. Members could be a boon to the GOP if they are energized to support Republican candidates. But if the Tea Party were to run its own candidates for office, any votes its candidate received would to a very great extent be coming from the GOP column," Brown added.

Looking at voters who consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement:

* 74 percent are Republicans or independent voters leaning Republican;
* 16 percent are Democrats or independent voters leaning Democratic;
* 5 percent are solidly independent;
* 45 percent are men;
* 55 percent are women;
* 88 percent are white;
* 77 percent voted for Sen. John McCain in 2008;
* 15 percent voted for President Barack Obama.

A total of 19 percent of American voters trust government to do the right thing "almost all of the time" or "most of the time," compared to only 4 percent of Tea Party members.

While only 33 percent of all voters have a favorable opinion of Sarah Palin, 72 percent of Tea Party members have a favorable opinion of her.

"Overall, this survey paints a picture of the Tea Party movement that encompasses a broad swath of the American middle class, but clearly at this stage one that is a minority group. In essence their numbers equate to about the size of the African-American electorate overall," said Brown.

Only 4 percent of voters making more than $250,000 per year consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement, while percentages among all other age and income groups are close to the 13 percent overall Tea Party affiliation.

From March 16 - 21, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,907 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percentage points. The survey includes 253 voters who say they are part of the Tea Party movement, with a margin of error of +/- 6.2 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the nation as a public service and for research.


Sources: Quinnipiac University, Huffington Post

Democrats Under Attack From Right Wing Extremists! Backlash & Death Threats!

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The Backlash Begins: Reform Turns Personal


Louise Slaughter and Bart Stupak have received death threats.

A tea party participant published what he thought was Thomas Perriello’s home address and urged disgruntled voters to “drop by” for a “good face-to-face chat.”

Vandals broke windows at Slaughter’s office in New York and Gabrielle Giffords’s office in Arizona.

And angry voters are planning to protest this weekend at the home of Steve Driehaus — who’s already seen a photograph of his children used in a newspaper ad published by reform opponents.

The vitriolic health care debate has become personal — too personal, say House Democrats who voted for the bill and now find not just themselves but their families in the cross hairs of opponents.

Slaughter, a Democrat who chairs the House Rules Committee, said a caller to her office last week vowed to send snipers to “kill the children of the members who voted yes.” Her office reported the call to police, who were dispatched to provide protection for Slaughter’s grandchildren. She has also been in touch with the FBI and U.S. Postal Service inspectors, who intercepted a letter en route to her home in upstate New York.

Stupak, the Michigan Democrat whose last-minute compromise on abortion guaranteed passage of the bill Sunday, said callers have left messages for him saying, “You’re dead; we know where you live; we’ll get you.”

“My wife still can’t answer the phone,” Stupak told POLITICO Tuesday. The messages are “full of obscenities if she leaves it plugged in. In my office, we can’t get a phone out. It’s just bombarded.”

Stupak, a former police officer, said he’s not fazed by the threats or by the prospect of protests at his district office this weekend. “I’ve looked down barrels of guns,” he said. “I’ve talked my way out of it.”



But Democrats said their political opponents go too far when they bring members’ families into the fray.

Driehaus, a Democrat from Ohio, was outraged last week when a group called the Committee to Rethink Reform used a photo of him and his two young daughters in a newspaper ad urging him to vote against any health care reform bill that included federal funding for abortion. Both the group and the newspaper — the Cincinnati Enquirer — apologized for including Driehaus’s daughters in the ad.

“I’m very protective of my family, like most of us,” Driehaus said Tuesday. “There is no reason for my wife and kids to be brought into any of this. If people want to talk to me, if people want to approach me about an issue, I’m more than happy to talk about the issue, regardless of what side they’re on. But I do believe when you bring in a member’s family, that you’ve gone way too far.”

Driehaus faults Republicans for providing encouragement to the most extreme opponents of reform. Last week, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) warned that anti-abortion Democrats would suffer politically if they voted for the health care bill; he singled out Driehaus, saying he “may be a dead man” and “can’t go home to the west side of Cincinnati” because “the Catholics will run him out of town.”

“Mr. Boehner made comments about me and my predicament when I go home which I felt were wildly out of bounds for his position and very irresponsible, quite frankly. He’s from next door. That’s not helpful. That’s irresponsible,” Driehaus said.

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said, “The leader does not condone violence, and his remark was obviously not meant to be taken literally. He is urging Americans to take the anger they’re feeling and focus it on building a new majority that will listen to the people.”

No one condones death threats against members or their families, but not everyone is apologetic about taking complaints about health care reform straight to the homes of members.

Mike Troxel, an organizer for the Lynchburg Tea Party, posted what he believed to be Perriello’s home address on his blog this week, sarcastically urging other tea partiers to stop by and “say hi and express their thanks regarding his vote for health care.”

The address turned out to be the home of Perriello’s brother — who has four children — but Troxel told POLITICO he didn’t intend to remove it from his blog. “If they would like to provide me with the address of Tom, then I’d be more than happy to take it down,” he said. “I have no reason to believe it’s not his house.”

A fellow tea party blogger said he thought it was fine for Troxel to post Perriello’s home address. “They have our home addresses,” said Kurt Feigel, who complained that protesters had little choice but to go to Perriello’s home because Perriello’s office doesn’t “respond to e-mail; they don’t respond to letters; they don’t respond to us showing up at his office. So what am I going to do?”

Perriello said his family doesn’t want him to be afraid. But when asked if he was scared anyway, the Virginia Democrat replied: “Whatever.”

“I’ve lived in Sierra Leone for two years, where the life expectancy is 34 years old. If the worst thing that happens is that special-interest groups spend millions of dollars against me and my most ardent opponents organize against me, it’s hardly a ‘cry me a river’ moment — as long as people act civil and within the law.”

Others are less sanguine.

C.J. Karamargin, a spokeswoman for Giffords, said staffers in the Democrat’s district office were “a little bit shaken” Monday when they arrived at work to find the glass front door shattered and covered in plywood.

Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) said he had to change his personal cell phone number after a Republican gave it out to health care opponents.

And Rep. Dennis Cardoza, a Blue Dog Democrat from California, said he’s gotten physical threats over health care reform.

“There are some folks that identified themselves as being members of the tea party [who] called, [and] my staff has gotten to know their names over time, and they have been very loud and very ugly,” Cardoza said.

With the House vote behind them, Democrats hope to show voters that health care reform won’t wreak the devastation opponents predict — and that tempers will cool as a result.

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) said he’s already getting 95 percent fewer calls since Sunday’s vote.

“The real problem is the people who are calling and talking about a revolution and overthrowing government,” he said. “They can be angry. We’re all for that. But when they talk about taking over the government, the leadership has to do its part to stop that.”


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Sources: MSNBC, Politico, Huffington Post, Facebook, Youtube, Google Maps