Tea Parties

Voter Identification

Legal Battles Loom In Fight Over Voter ID Laws

Ryan J. Reilly | September 5, 2011, 7:00AM

Image From Laura Gangi Pond / Shutterstock

Conservative "investigative reporter" Matthew Vadum caused a real stir last week. As one of the many individuals who proselytizes about the threat of voter fraud and the need for restrictive measures to protect the ballot box, he's generally expected to stick to a predictable script.

The argument usually goes like this: everyone should be able to vote and that voter ID isn't supposed to make it harder for anyone to vote. Also, voter ID efforts aren't partisan, but rather about good government, and that if you have to show your ID to buy liquor or rent a movie from Blockbuster you should have to show it to vote.

Charles Dyer

Manhunt On For Ex-Marine Oathkeeper Accused Of Rape

Jillian Rayfield | August 17, 2011, 8:45AM

Authorities in Oklahoma are on the hunt for a man who didn't show up for a court appearance Monday for his rape trial, and who has ties to the Oathkeeper movement and believes his arrest was part of a government conspiracy.

To Infini-Tea And Beyond: 'Tea Party In Space' Aims To Stop NASA's 'Socialism'

Jillian Rayfield | August 9, 2011, 4:50PM

An offshoot of the South Florida Tea Party called "Tea Party In Space" is looking to break apart the government's socialist takeover of the final frontier.

Tea Party Patriots

Tea Party Pressuring Schools To Teach Constitution Using Controversial Right-Wing Group's Materials

Jon Terbush | May 25, 2011, 1:42PM

America's kids don't know jack about the Constitution, and according to a national Tea Party group, the only way to save them is to have school's teach the nation's founding document with materials provided by a controversial conservative group whose founder is one of Glenn Beck's favorite historians.

Tea Party Patriots, the Georgia-based organization that counts around 1,000 chapters nationwide, is asking its members to pressure schools to teach the Constitution during Constitution Week in September, as they are required to do by a 2004 law. And when schools do teach the founding document, the group is suggesting that they use materials provided by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, a group that claims the country and Constitution were, "established by the hand of God."

NCCS's founder, W. Cleon Skousen, became a tea party favorite in recent years when Glenn Beck touted him on his program as an exemplary constitutional scholar. But Skousen's past is marred by accusations that his work is far from accurate, and at times rife with racism.

Wall Street

Tea Partiers Swept In On Anti-Wall Street Wave Now Pushing Deregulation

Ryan J. Reilly | May 24, 2011, 3:40PM

Wall Street

Tea Party-backed candidates swept into office on the wave of anger over the government's bailout of Wall Street are now bringing in the big bucks from the financial sector at the same time they're lining up to rewrite financial regulations.

Donald Trump

Tea Partiers Rallying In DC Praise Donald Trump's Birther Stance (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly and Jillian Rayfield | March 31, 2011, 5:26PM

Donald Trump

In the span of just a few weeks, real estate mogul turned reality television star turned Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump went from dipping his toe in the birther pool to diving right into the deep end and claiming that he's "starting to wonder" whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States.

So we figured it'd be good to ask the Tea Partiers in attendance for the "Continuing Revolution" rally on Capitol Hill on Thursday if speaking out on the issue boosted Trump's presidential campaign.

Michigan Tea Party

Two Michigan Dems Charged For Alleged Fake Tea Party Scheme

Jillian Rayfield | March 17, 2011, 1:31PM

A Tea Party rally in Michigan.

Two ex-leaders of the Oakland County Democratic Party are facing nine felony charges for allegedly committing voter fraud when attempting to get fake tea party candidates on Michigan ballots last November, as a way to pry support away from Republican candidates.

James O'Keefe

Tea Party Patriots Rally Against NPR After O'Keefe Video

Benjy Sarlin | March 8, 2011, 1:33PM

James O'Keefe

The Tea Party Patriots, an umbrella group for state and local Tea Party groups around the country, is rallying its supporters against NPR in response to hidden camera footage of an NPR executive, Ron Schiller, describing the movement's members as "seriously, seriously racist people."

The video was filmed by James O'Keefe's group, Project Veritas, and featured the group's members having lunch with Schiller while posing as a phony Muslim advocacy group interested in donating $5 million to NPR. In addition to his comments on the Tea Party, Schiller is shown in the video saying that NPR does not need federal funding, which the Patriots argue demonstrates that House Republican efforts to cut the news organization's funds are on the mark.

"Mr. Schiller himself candidly admits in the video that NPR doesn't need federal funding, and welcomes the opportunity to slant their reporting without the oversight of the taxpayer," Mark Meckler, national coordinator for Tea Party Patriots wrote in an e-mail to supporters today. "At a time when the country is upside down by more than a trillion dollars, can we really afford to provide huge subsidies to entities that openly state that they don't need the money? Let's take his advice and pass legislation that would defund the clearly biased news organization that is out of touch with Americans across the country."

Arizona

Arizona Considering Tea Party License Plate That Would Fund Tea Party Causes

Jon Terbush | March 4, 2011, 4:12PM

The Arizona State Senate is considering a bill to introduce specialty license plates with the Gadsden Flag phrase turned Tea Party slogan, "Don't Tread On Me," with funds generated by those plates going to promote the Tea Party in ways well beyond car bumpers.

As the Arizona Daily Star noted Thursday, the state Senate is considering a bill that would create a license plate depicting the Gadsden Flag's iconic image, a coiled snake on a yellow background, complete with the "Don't Tread On Me" tag line. Similar specialty plates have been proposed in Virginia, Nevada, and South Carolina, while Texas has already approved creating such a license plate.

Yet what's interesting about this particular plate is that the money generated from its sale would be used specifically to fund tea party causes.

Patriot Act

Tea Partiers Help ACLU, House Dems Stop Patriot Act Renewal

Susan Crabtree and Ryan J. Reilly | February 9, 2011, 9:27AM

Reps. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

The American Civil Liberties Union's Michelle Richardson didn't know where things stood ahead of the House's vote expended certain provisions of the PATRIOT Act last night.

"I have no special inside knowledge on how this is going to shake down, but we're certainly going to be watching it closely," she told TPM ahead of the Tuesday night vote.

The big mystery was how the Tea Party-backed members would break on the first national security vote in the new Congress -- and whether the libertarian leanings of members from the right could align with concerns about government overreach on the left. Richardson said they'd be "seeing if the small government beliefs that have been espoused also apply in the national security context."

In the end, 26 Republicans broke with their leadership to oppose the bill, which still gained a majority of votes (227 to 148) but didn't pass.

King Street Patriots

Tea Party Group Trots Out Anti-Voter Fraud All-Stars For National Effort

Ryan J. Reilly | January 24, 2011, 9:10AM

Anita Moncrief and Christian Adams

A Texas Tea Party group that critics said trained poll watchers who intimidated voters in neighborhoods with large minority populations last year is launching a nationwide effort to put an end to what they say is the massive problem of voter fraud.

True the Vote, an outgrowth of the King Street Patriots group, held a "Texas Summit" at the beginning of the month featuring prominent anti-voter fraud speakers J. Christian Adams (a former DOJ lawyer who resigned over its handling of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case) and Anita Moncrief, who was fired from the community organized group ACORN for allegedly misusing a credit card and then became a critic of the group.

Barack Obama

Tea Party Nation Founder: Obama Wants China To Fund His Campaign Like Hamas Did In '08

Jillian Rayfield | January 19, 2011, 10:39AM

Judson Phillips, leader of Tea Party Nation.

Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips thinks this week's state dinner with China has a much more sinister purpose than the White House would have us believe: "In 2008, Obama even received campaign contributions from Gaza (I.e. Hamas). So where does a corrupt, unpopular President from the party of treason go for reelection cash? China, of course."

Tea Party Express

Tea Party Express Refunds Dead Woman's Money

Rachel Slajda | January 19, 2011, 10:02AM

A Tea Party Express rally

The Tea Party Express says it has refunded several thousand dollars in contributions made in the name of a woman who's been dead for almost four years.

Last week, the Center for Responsive Politics found that the tea party group had taken in $7,500 over the past two years from Joan Snyder Holmes, even though Holmes died in February 2007.

North Carolina

Republican School Board In NC Throws Out Integration Policy

Jillian Rayfield | January 14, 2011, 11:43AM

The Republican-dominated school board in Wake County, North Carolina has thrown out a policy meant to promote racial and socioeconomic diversity in Raleigh, prompting a complaint by the NAACP and an op-ed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan calling the decision "troubling."

Tea Parties

TN Tea Partiers Demand Schools Not Teach Too Much About 'Minority Experience'

David Taintor | January 14, 2011, 8:36AM

Tea Party activists in Washington, D.C.

Tennessee's tea partiers are sick and tired of all the made-up criticism of our founding fathers -- and about schools spending too much time teaching about the "minority experience."

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Topics: Constitution, Tea Parties, Tennessee

Anthony Miller

Local Arizona GOPer Resigns: 'I Don't Want To Take A Bullet'

Eric Lach | January 12, 2011, 12:40PM

Anthony Miller

An Arizona Republican Party District Chairman resigned shortly after the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and 18 others on Saturday. According to The Arizona Republic, Anthony Miller had been subject to verbal attacks and internet postings by apparent Tea Party members, and said he feared for his safety.

2010 Elections

Before Shooting, A Campaign Season Rife With Gun Rhetoric

Rachel Slajda | January 11, 2011, 8:30AM

Sarah Palin's controversial map.

The person who shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), a federal judge and 18 other people Saturday may or may not have had a coherent political philosophy or a rational motive. But his actions still come after a campaign season rife with gun imagery and borderline violent rhetoric.

There is, of course, Sarah Palin's map in which targeted districts were marked by crosshairs (spun as "surveyor's symbols" by Palin aides), but there was much, much more over the 2010 campaign:

Target Practice
Robert Lowry, a Republican challenger to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schulz (D-FL), stopped by a local Republican event in October. The event was at a gun range, and Lowry shot at a human-shaped target that had Wasserman Schulz's initials written next to it. He later said it was a "mistake."

Wasserman Schulz, who defeated Lowry, remembered that incident on Hardball Monday evening.

"Those kinds of actions, words and statements can lead people who are unbalanced to potentially engage and carry out that violence," she said. "It's out of line and we've got to dial it back."

Sal Russo

Tea Party Express PAC Keeps Funneling Money To GOP Consulting Firm

Ryan J. Reilly and Melissa Jeltsen | December 21, 2010, 8:15AM

Tea Party Express strategist Sal Russo

For the Tea Party Express, old habits die hard. TPE's PAC, Our Country Deserves Better, continued through the election cycle with its track record of raising money in support of grass-roots tea party candidates and then funneling those donations to the Republican consulting firm that founded it, recent filings show.

In a month-long period surrounding the midterm elections, a whopping 73 percent of funds raised -- totaling $599,377 -- was paid out to Russo Marsh and Associates, the Sacramento-based GOP political consulting firm that essentially founded the PAC in 2008, for miscellaneous costs including travel, consulting fees and media buys.

2010 Elections

Judge Approves Tea Party Items At Polls In Sheriff Joe's Territory

Ryan J. Reilly | November 2, 2010, 10:32AM

Tea Partiers -- or supporters of any political cause or candidate -- will be allowed to wear their gear to the polls in Maricopa County, the Arizona Republic reports.

After a federal judge decided on Monday that "'tea party' T-shirt or any apparel that does not express support for or opposition to" a candidate, proposition or political party on the ballot should be allowed, a Maricopa County election official said she would not be able to retrain poll workers less than a day before the election. So Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell told the Arizona Republic she'll let any apparel in.

voter fraud

Tea Partier: Beware The Zombie Voters! (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | October 29, 2010, 8:42AM

We've heard it again and again this election cycle: Democrats are going to steal the election, in part by voting under the names of the dead.

And tea partiers, as we've reported, are fighting back against the perceived threat with various tactics. Some, but not all, of those tactics have verged on what many call voter intimidation.

Enter Mark Lloyd, a tea partier from Virginia. Lloyd, concerned about voter fraud, started a web site called Tea Party Paranormal Society.

Thomas Perez

DOJ: We'll Fight Both Voter Fraud And Intimidation

Ryan J. Reilly | October 27, 2010, 12:37PM

Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division

The Justice Department will have "adequate and aggressive enforcement" of both voter fraud laws and of voter intimidation laws this year, said Thomas Perez, the head of the Civil Rights Division, today.

"We enforce both voter intimidation laws and voter fraud laws and we will continue to do so as we have done: carefully, aggressively, and evenhandedly," Perez said in response to a question from TPMMuckraker. "It is impossible to provide a road map for what constitutes such a case because they're very much fact-driven. We have criminal statutes related to intimidation, we have civil statutes pertaining to voter intimidation, we have criminal statutes related to fraud."

Michelle Malkin

Michelle Malkin: 'We Are All Voter Fraud Police Now' (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | October 25, 2010, 2:30PM

Conservative pundit Michelle Malkin appeared on Fox News on Monday alongside anchor Megyn Kelly to discuss what Kelly called reports of "voter fraud on a massive scale with the intention of keeping Democrats in office."

Malkin seemed to be throwing her support behind anti-voter fraud efforts like the one started by the conservative website Pajamas Media and the effort by the website Election Journal, which includes an iPhone app.

"We are all voter fraud police now, and I think that the confluence between social media, citizen media and outlets like Fox News of course are making it more difficult for them to operate, but they are doing it any way because after all the modus operandi of these groups is by any means necessary," Malkin said.

voter fraud

DOJ Probes TX Voter Intimidation Complaints During Tea Party Anti-Voter Fraud Drive

Ryan J. Reilly | October 19, 2010, 10:34PM

Catherine Engelbrecht of True The Vote

Poll watchers in Harris County, Texas -- where a Tea Party group launched an aggressive anti-voter fraud effort -- were accused of "hovering over" voters, "getting into election workers' faces" and blocking or disrupting lines of voters who were waiting to cast their ballots as early voting got underway yesterday.

Now, TPMMuckraker has learned, the Justice Department has interviewed witnesses about the alleged intimidation and is gathering information about the so-called anti-voter fraud effort.

"We are currently gathering information regarding this matter," Justice Department spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement confirming the Civil Rights Division's involvement.

Minnesota Majority

Tea Party, Conservative Groups In Minn. Put $500 Bounty On Voter Fraud Convictions (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | October 15, 2010, 1:27PM

A button from ElectionIntegrityWatch.com

Conservative groups in Minnesota are offering a $500 reward for tips leading to voter fraud convictions.

Minnesota Majority, Minnesota Voters Alliance and the Northstar Tea Party Patriots have teamed up on a project they call Election Integrity Watch and are running radio ads promoting what they say is a program to train "thousands of citizens of what to look for at the polls."

Guns

'Gun Ban Obama?' Not So Much, Say Gun Control Advocates

Ryan J. Reilly | October 12, 2010, 9:18AM

President Barack Obama and ATF agents

To hear some gun rights activists tell it, President Barack Obama wants to take away your guns and, any minute now, jack-booted federal agents could knock on your front door to collect them.

Such predictions started during the 2008 campaign. "Obama would be the most anti-gun President in American history," screamed a banner at the National Rifle Association's GunBanObama.com. It got so bad that Obama even had to reassure voters he wouldn't take away their guns. Even after the election, gun sales boomed.

You'd expect a President so opposed by many gun rights groups to get high praise from gun control advocates since he took office. But advocates like those from the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence are far from satisfied with the progress on gun control being made in this administration.

Alliance For Truth

Missouri Tea Partiers, Joe The Plumber Join Movement Against 'Radical' Anti-Puppy Mill Legislation

Jillian Rayfield | October 5, 2010, 8:51AM

Tea Partiers and a puppy

Dog bites man or man bites dog?

A conservative group in Missouri is picking up the backing of the Tea Party and Joe The Plumber in its quest to stop the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and other animal rights groups from passing "radical" anti-puppy mill legislation.

Dick Armey

History Lessons With Dick Armey: Tea Parties Predate Obama, Clarence Thomas Was 'Lynched'

Megan Carpentier | October 2, 2010, 3:00PM

Dick Armey, FreedomWorks chairman

Speaking to a largely unfriendly -- and often openly hostile -- audience at The New Yorker Festival's Tea Party panel on Saturday morning, former House Majority Leader and current FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey attempted to explain to those in attendance the true origins of the tea party and why so many people seem to be so angry right now. And, despite sharing the stage with Harvard history professor and author Jill Lepore, CNBC's Rick Santelli and Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), he openly attempted to rewrite more than a little history to fit his preferred narrative.

Randall Terry

Randall Terry Planning Koran Tearing For Tea Partiers (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | September 27, 2010, 1:04PM

Randall Terry

Anti-abortion activist Randall Terry is upping the ante on his as-yet widely unknown campaign against Islam by creating a video instructing Tea Party leaders how to pull their own Koran-tearing stunts and garner media attention.

"To my fellow Tea Party activists, listen to me: you're about to see instructions on how to get into real battles, not just in front of our computers, not just blogging, but to go to the public square like Samuel Adams and like other great patriots did," Terry says in the video.

The video is part of Terry's campaign for anti-Islam activists to rip passages of the Koran printed on posters at the potential location of the Cordoba House Islamic Center in New York, in Washington D.C. and in other cities on Oct. 6 and 7.

voter fraud

As Billboards Pop Up In Wisconsin, Tea Party And GOP Accused Of Voter Suppression

Ryan J. Reilly | September 23, 2010, 1:10PM

The Wisconsin Republican Party claims to have shelved an elaborate plan to coordinate with other conservative groups to root out purported voter fraud in the state's upcoming election.

The original plan, which was revealed in a document obtained and made public by a progressive group in the state, would have designated Tea Party groups as investigators in the field looking for fraudulent registrations -- looking through the white pages to authenticate voter addresses, pulling up homes on Google Maps and even driving by houses and apartments to conduct visual checks.

Under an earlier draft of the plan, Tea Party volunteers would then send complete reports to a Wisconsin GOP official, and were instructed to delete all copies of the data and required to sign a confidentiality notice.

Tea Parties

In Hot Political Climate, Election Experts Want 'Voter Fraud' Watchdogs To Be Clear On Rules

Ryan J. Reilly | September 20, 2010, 9:56AM

As Tea Party groups take up the torch of voter fraud ahead of the midterm elections, a new poll shows that campaigns in prior elections to exaggerate the voter fraud issue have had an effect on public opinion. Meanwhile, advocates for low-income and minority voters are voicing concerns that the individuals planning to show up at polling stations to keep an eye out for those they think are illegitimate voters might be unclear on election law.

While the much-maligned ACORN no longer exists, a recent Public Policy Poll finds that one in five Americans thinks that it "will steal the election to keep Democrats in control of Congress this fall," concerns which Steve Benen dubbed "zombie fears."

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Topics: ACORN, Demos, Tea Parties, voter fraud

Citizens United

Citizens United: The Mama Grizzlies Are Coming For You! (VIDEO)

Megan Carpentier | September 17, 2010, 12:13PM

Sarah Palin at a rally in 2008, from Citizens United new movie "Fire From The Heartland."

Not content to help Newt and Callista Gingrich warn the entire country about the dangers from radical Islam in a movie screened at the Newseum in D.C. last week, Citizens United is preparing to warn liberals of the danger they face from the conservative movement's Mama Grizzlies in a new movie titled "Fire From The Heartland."

Featuring a variety of conservative pundits (many of whom are based outside of America's heartland) and elected officials like Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Jean Schmidt (R-OH) and, of course, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, the movie attempts to frame the conservative -- and particularly the tea party -- movement as one fueled by the fire of the women involved.

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Topics: Citizens United, Tea Parties

Anita MonCrief

ACORN Employee Turned Conservative Activist Tells Tea Partiers To Crack Down On Voter Fraud (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | September 13, 2010, 8:34AM

Anita MonCrief

Anita MonCrief, a self-described whistleblower who previously worked for the community organizing group ACORN, told tea party activists in D.C. on Friday to get involved in their local elections to prevent progressive organizations from stealing the races through voter fraud.

Tea Party groups, as TPM has reported, have raised the issue of voter fraud ahead of the midterm elections, but most voting experts say such claims of voter fraud are inflated and can lead to policies which suppress the turnout of legitimate voters.

Tea Parties

Speaking Of Burning Things...Liberal Says Confederate Flag-Torching Scheme DOA

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 10, 2010, 1:25PM

Burning symbols in public has developed something of a bad reputation this week, so perhaps this is no surprise: the Oregon progressive blogger's plan to organize Confederate flag burnings at 9/12 tea party rallies this weekend appears to have gone basically nowhere.

JC Christian, the pseudonymous blogger who hatched the plan as a way to expose tea party racism, told me last night that after more than a month in the planning phases, not a single person is willing to publicly say they're going to burn Confederate flags.

"I don't think it will be big," the blogger told me. "Looks like people like the idea more than the action. We'll have to see what happens."

Christian's Facebook group for the flag-burning event grew to more than 1,400 members since he announced it in August. Christian said he's been in contact with a few people, but that in the end, no one wanted to come forward and say they were going to go through with the plan to burn Confederate flags at tea party rallies Sunday.

"[I] had a few people say they are doing neighborhood events, but don't want to publicize it," he told me.

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Topics: Tea Parties

Michigan Tea Party

Court Approves Grand Jury Probe Of Michigan Tea Party Campaign Filings

Jillian Rayfield | September 9, 2010, 1:41PM

A Tea Party rally in Michigan.

A panel of Michigan Circuit Court judges voted yesterday to authorize a one-man grand jury to investigate election fraud allegations relating to the attempt by the Michigan Tea Party to get on the November ballot.

Tea partiers and Republicans in Michigan believe the Michigan Tea Party is a part of an effort by the Democratic Party to split the conservative vote. Jason Bauer, former political director of the Oakland County Dems, stepped down from his position amid allegations that he may have committed a crime when he notarized and filed papers for 13 Michigan Tea Party candidates.

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Topics: Michigan Tea Party, Tea Parties

voter fraud

Tea Party Groups Pick Up The Mantle of GOP's Bogus Voter Fraud Claims

Ryan J. Reilly | September 9, 2010, 10:50AM

Across the country, Tea Party groups are raising concerns ahead of the midterm elections about potential voter fraud -- a problem that most voting experts say has been exaggerated by the GOP in order to push for policies that suppress Democratic turnout. But to combat what they say is a major threat to the integrity of elections, many local sections of conservative organizations are setting up educational events, creating videos and preparing their members to serve as poll watchers and workers on election day.

Their concerns about illegitimate voters stealing the election have been ginned up by movement leaders like Dick Armey, who recently stated at a GOP event in California that he believes about three percent of the Democratic vote was not legitimate.

Michigan Tea Party

Michigan Supreme Court Rules Michigan Tea Party Won't Be On November Ballot

Jillian Rayfield | September 7, 2010, 9:53AM

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled last week that the Michigan Tea Party will not be on the November ballot, echoing a decision by the state's appellate court, and putting an additional nail in the coffin for the enigmatic Tea Party group that is accused of committing fraud when filing its election ballots.

The Michigan Tea Party is believed by many tea partiers to be a Democratic operation, aimed at splitting the Republican vote in November by putting up phony candidates who aren't really tea partiers at all. State Dems have contended they have nothing to do with the Michigan Tea Party.

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Topics: Michigan Tea Party, Tea Parties

Pyramid Scheme

Georgia Man Wants Tea Partiers To Join His 'Patriotic' Pyramid Scheme

Jillian Rayfield | September 7, 2010, 8:30AM

Is there anything more patriotic than a get-rich-quick scheme? The folks over at TeaPartyBizOpp, a pyramid scheme targeted at the tea party set, don't seem to think so.

Billed as the "first ever patriotic home based business opportunity" and the place "where you get paid to help defend our freedom and stop Liberal Tyranny!!", TeaPartyBizOpp offers like minded liberty-lovers the chance to "make up to $50,000 or more a year helping raise funds to defend our freedom."

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Topics: Georgia, Pyramid Scheme, Tea Parties

Michigan Tea Party

Michigan Tea Party Still Fighting To Get On Ballot, Files Appeal With State Supreme Court

Jillian Rayfield | September 2, 2010, 11:46AM

A Tea Party rally in Michigan.

The Michigan Tea Party has filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court after an appeals court denied its bid to get on the November election ballot.

The Tea Party was denied a spot on the ballot after concerns that some of the campaign filings may have been fraudulent. Tea partiers and Republicans alike believe that the Michigan Tea Party is a Democratic front working to split the conservative vote by running dozens of candidates in competitive races. State Democrats have denied any involvement with the Tea Party.

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Topics: Michigan Tea Party, Tea Parties

FreedomWorks

Why Is FreedomWorks Really Moving -- Nasty Threats, Or An Expiring Lease?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 2, 2010, 9:32AM

Dick Armey, FreedomWorks chairman

Last week, when tea partiers weren't chatting online about Glenn Beck's mega-rally at the Lincoln Memorial, they were cyberventilating about the threats tea party umbrella group FreedomWorks is supposedly facing from angry left-wingers. FreedomWorks told more than one reporter that a growing number of death threats received by the organization is forcing FreedomWorks to spend precious GOTV funds on an unexpected move to a "high-security" building across D.C. from their current headquarters near the FBI Building.

But the reporting on the move left out the fact that FreedomWorks' change in location also comes at the end of the group's existing lease, and -- according to one source familiar with FreedomWorks' real estate deals -- their new headquarters offers them cheaper rent than their current home. And despite reports of increased threats, the group won't be moving until months after the election is over.

Michigan Tea Party

Michigan Tea Party Loses Appeal -- Won't Be On Ballot In November

Jillian Rayfield | August 31, 2010, 10:18AM

The Michigan Court of Appeals denied a bid by the Michigan Tea Party to get on the November ballot yesterday, citing "the plaintiff's failure to strictly comply with the requirements" of state election law, according to The Detroit News.

Last week, a state elections panel split on whether the Tea Party should appear on the ballot, following concerns that the former political director of the Oakland County Democrats committed fraud when he filed papers for Tea Party candidates who weren't really tea partiers at all.

The Michigan Tea Party had sought to get dozens of names on the ballot, which many tea partiers and Republicans believed was actually an effort by Democrats to use the Tea Party to split the Republican vote in the state.

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Topics: Michigan Tea Party, Tea Parties

TPMMuckraker Tea Parties

Ryan J. Reilly | September 5, 2011, 7:00AM

Jillian Rayfield | August 17, 2011, 8:45AM

Jillian Rayfield | August 9, 2011, 4:50PM

Jon Terbush | May 25, 2011, 1:42PM

Ryan J. Reilly | May 24, 2011, 3:40PM

Ryan J. Reilly and Jillian Rayfield | March 31, 2011, 5:26PM

Jillian Rayfield | March 17, 2011, 1:31PM

Benjy Sarlin | March 8, 2011, 1:33PM

Jon Terbush | March 4, 2011, 4:12PM

Susan Crabtree and Ryan J. Reilly | February 9, 2011, 9:27AM

Ryan J. Reilly | January 24, 2011, 9:10AM

Jillian Rayfield | January 19, 2011, 10:39AM

Rachel Slajda | January 19, 2011, 10:02AM

Jillian Rayfield | January 14, 2011, 11:43AM

David Taintor | January 14, 2011, 8:36AM

Eric Lach | January 12, 2011, 12:40PM

Rachel Slajda | January 11, 2011, 8:30AM

Ryan J. Reilly and Melissa Jeltsen | December 21, 2010, 8:15AM

Ryan J. Reilly | November 2, 2010, 10:32AM

Rachel Slajda | October 29, 2010, 8:42AM

Ryan J. Reilly | October 27, 2010, 12:37PM

Ryan J. Reilly | October 25, 2010, 2:30PM

Ryan J. Reilly | October 19, 2010, 10:34PM

Ryan J. Reilly | October 15, 2010, 1:27PM

Ryan J. Reilly | October 12, 2010, 9:18AM

Jillian Rayfield | October 5, 2010, 8:51AM

Megan Carpentier | October 2, 2010, 3:00PM

Ryan J. Reilly | September 27, 2010, 1:04PM

Ryan J. Reilly | September 23, 2010, 1:10PM

Ryan J. Reilly | September 20, 2010, 9:56AM

Megan Carpentier | September 17, 2010, 12:13PM

Ryan J. Reilly | September 13, 2010, 8:34AM

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 10, 2010, 1:25PM

Jillian Rayfield | September 9, 2010, 1:41PM

Ryan J. Reilly | September 9, 2010, 10:50AM

Jillian Rayfield | September 7, 2010, 9:53AM

Jillian Rayfield | September 7, 2010, 8:30AM

Jillian Rayfield | September 2, 2010, 11:46AM

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 2, 2010, 9:32AM

Jillian Rayfield | August 31, 2010, 10:18AM

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