Tea Party Patriots Investigated: 'They Use You and Abuse You'

[defendandprotect]

Tea Party Patriots Investigated: 'They Use You and Abuse You'

Pricey political consultants and fame-seeking leaders: A grassroots group cozies up to the DC establishment and alienates the activists who put it on the map.

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Two years ago, Tea Party Patriots got its start as a scrappy, ground-up conservative organization. Its rowdy activists demanded more transparency and less business-as-usual in the nation's capital, and they worked hard to elect candidates who they believed wouldn't succumb to the ways of Washington. But it didn't take long for the grassroots tea party organization to embrace the DC establishment—and some of its more questionable practices.

Lately, Tea Party Patriots (TPP) has started to resemble the Beltway lobbying operations its members have denounced. The group's leaders have cozied up to political insiders implicated in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and have paid themselves significant salaries. TPP accepted the use of a private jet and a large donation of anonymous cash right before a key election, and its top officials have refused to discuss how the money was spent. And recently, the group has hired several big-time fundraising and public relations firms that work for the who's who of the Republican political class, including some of the GOP's most secretive campaign operations.

As TPP's leaders entrench themselves in Washington, local activists the group represents have accused them of exploiting the grassroots for their own fame and fortune while failing to deliver any meaningful political results. "Tea Party Patriots? I can't attribute one victory to them at all," says Laura Boatright, a former TPP regional coordinator in Southern California who has become an outspoken critic. "Where's the success with what they've done with all this money? My view is that it's just a career plan" for its national leaders—namely Jenny Beth Martin, who in 2010 was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and Mark Meckler, now a regular commentator on Fox News. (Meckler and Martin did not respond to a request to comment for this story.)

http://www.alternet.org/story/149937/tea_party_patriots_investigated%3A_%27they_use_you_and_abuse_you%27

[Drale]

1. When you are that arrogant and self centered

you can only become what you claim to hate.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

2. So these idiots are finally starting to figure out that Republicans

are users. Well who would have thought of that.

[defendandprotect]

4. k/r --

[defendandprotect]

3. T-BAGGERS were always astroturf, weren't they? Always Koch Bros' creation?

Tea Party Patriots got its start as a scrappy, ground-up conservative organization.

Run out of Dick Armey's "Freedom Works" with plenty of PR -- ??

Granted, they probably later attracted some grass roots nuts -- especially thos with guns

who like going to political movements with a rifle slung over their shoulder!!