Tea Party Influence Frustrating John Boehner in Congress

It's been a good week to be a Tea Partier! After all, the Tea Party influence helped defeat the extension of the Patriot Act, and there are other good things happening too. In fact, John Boehner is getting some bad press thanks to the Tea Party, which may be the ultimate victory to pull him closer to true Constitutional conservationism. I am hearing as I write this, these same Tea Partiers are forcing Boehner's hand to come up with more spending cuts than the $32 billion that Paul Ryan came up with.

Now before we get too far into this story, there are DeceptiCONs in Congress who turned their backs on the Tea Party and voted for more intrusive government and the Patriot Act. Let's point out some of these self-proclaimed Tea Party Congressman that betrayed the Tea Party.

Billy Long (MO), Blake Farenthold (TX), Michele Bachmann (MN), Kristi Noem (SD), Sandy Adams (FL), Dan Benishek (MI), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Steven Chabot (OH), Scott DesJarlais (TN), Bob Dold (IL), Sean Duffy (WI), Jeff Duncan (SC), Renee Ellmers (NC), Bill Flores (TX), Frank Guinta (NH), Tim Griffin (AR), Michael Grimm (NY), Paul Gosar (AZ), Trey Gowdy (SC), Joe Wilson (SC), Vicky Hartzler (MO), Nan Hayworth (NY), Joe Heck (NV), Bill Johnson (OH), Adam Kinzinger (IL), Jeff Landry (LA), David McKinley (WV), Mick Mulvaney (SC), Mike Pence (IN), Tom Price (GA), Jim Renacci (OH), Reid Ribble (WI), Tim Scott (SC), Steve Southerland (FL), Steve Stivers (OH), Marlin Stutzman (IN), Scott Tipton (CO), Todd Young (IN), Timothy Walberg (MI), Allen West (FL).

The AP Reports Boehner's feathers have been ruffled this week thanks to the real Tea Party members of Congress (exclude the names above).

WASHINGTON (AP) — The clout of tea party advocates and other hard-line conservatives in Congress has caught top Republicans by surprise, raising questions about whether GOP leaders can impose enough discipline in their House majority to pass tough measures, such as raising the debt ceiling.

Within 24 hours this week, House Speaker John Boehner's team had to pull a trade bill from the chamber floor, suffered an embarrassing setback on a USA Patriot Act vote, and failed to recoup money paid to the United Nations.

And in electoral politics, the tea party's threat to Republican incumbents came more into focus. Three GOP senators up for re-election in 2012 could be looking at challenges for their party nominations. One of them, five-term Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, crossed town Tuesday to tell the tea party's national town hall that he has supported its budget-balancing, smaller-government agenda for decades.

Democrats and Republicans said the events show that GOP leaders have yet to gauge the full extent of libertarianism and independence in their newly swollen ranks. Republicans gained control of the House thanks to sweeping victories last fall, many involving tea party loyalists.
"If they're divided on an issue like the Patriot Act, it's a bad omen for things to come regarding unity on their side," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. "It's only going to get tougher for them when it comes to budget issues."

Democrats obviously are celebrating the divide. I am not a Democrat and I celebrate it too. The Republican establishment pandered to the Tea Party leading into November last year, and then the establishment started to move away from their promises to the Tea Party. Thanks to true Tea Party candidates who didn't forget their roots (there is only a small group of true Tea Partiers), they are forcing Boehner to move from the center and closer to Constitutional conservatism. This is a good thing, especially when you consider Boehner made many promises to the Tea Party. The Republican party needs to know that if they don't want to comply to the Founder's vision, they will be challenged, which is why neocon Orrin Hatch is now pandering. Let's hope the Utah Tea Party doesn't fall for it.

The following is the list of the 26 members of Congress labeled as the Tea Party who is giving Boehner a fit. These members of Congress are Tea Party and they helped defeat the Patriot Act.

Justin Amash (Mich.), Roscoe G. Bartlett (Md.), Rob Bishop (Utah), Paul Broun (Ga.), John Campbell (Calif.), John J. Duncan Jr. (Tenn.), Michael G. Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Christopher P. Gibson (N.Y.), Tom Graves (Ga.) Dean Heller (Nev.), Randy Hultgren (Ill.), Timothy V. Johnson (Ill.), Walter B. Jones (N.C.), Jack Kingston (Ga.), Raul R. Labrador (Idaho), Connie Mack (Fla.), Kenny Marchant (Tex.), Tom McClintock (Calif.), Ron Paul (Tex.), Denny Rehberg (Mont.), Phil Roe (Tenn.), Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.), Robert Schilling (Ill.), David Schweikert (Ariz.), Rob Woodall (Ga.), Don Young (Alaska).