Tea Party Movement Essay -- What is the Tea Party Movement

Due to the weak state our of economy over the past several years, many organizations and movements have surfaced in order to attempt to make a change to better our country. One of those organizations is the Tea Party and their movement. The Tea Party movement is an effective political force in our society because it is respectable, organized, and focused on common issues. According to the official website for the Tea Party movement, it was formed randomly in 2009 from â€Å"the reaction of the American people fiscally irresponsible actions of the federal government, misguided ‘stimulus’ spending, bailouts, and takeovers of private industry.† In an article for PBS from 2010, Dante Chinni writes that there were about 67,000 members of the movement at that time. Since the article is roughly two years old, it can be estimated that the total number of members has grown significantly, especially with the recent downfall of the economy and other political forces. Chinni goes on to state that much of the movement’s population is concentrated either in boom towns, which are towns that went through rapid population growth during the housing crash of the early 2000’s, rural and agricultural counties, or counties located near armed forces bases. As far as member backgrounds, most Tea Party movement members tend to fall into the same category. In a New York Times article by Kate Zernike and Megan Thee-Brenan, they write that those who identify themselves as apart of the Tea Party are â€Å"wealthier and more well-educated than the general public.† Zernike and Thee-Brenan also state that according to a poll conducted by the Times and CBS News, most supporters of the movement are white males who are married and over the age of forty-fi... ...bers of Congress a Well-heeled Lot." Los Angeles Times, 05 Jan 2012. Web. 20 Mar 2015. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/05/news/la-pn-tea-party-members-of-congress-a-wellheeled-lot-20120105. Walsh, Kenneth. "Tea Party Presidential Candidates Flash and Fade." U.S. News and World Report, 28 Sep 2011. Web. 20 Mar 2015. http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/Ken-Walshs-Washington/2011/09/28/tea-party-presidential-candidates-flash-and-fade. Wing, Nick. "Rudy Giuliani: Tea Party 'Respectable', But Some Members, 'A Little Crazy’." Huffington Post, 25 Jan 2011. Web. 20 Mar 2015. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/25/rudy-giuliani-tea-party-crazy_n_813571.html. Zernike, Kate, and Megan Thee-Brenan. "Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated." The New York Times, 14 Apr 2010. Web. 20 Mar 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/politics/15poll.html.