Tea Party Patrons Point New Recruits Toward 2010

Conservative Tycoon David Koch Acknowledges Financial Role in Anti-Tax Movement

http://washingtonindependent.com/62318/tea-party-patrons-point-new-recruits-toward-2010

As the activists moved out of that room, they could pick up red-meat bumper stickers from Accuracy in Media (”Ted Kennedy’s car has killed more people than my gun”), copies of new and old books by Glenn Beck from The Leadership Institute, and DVDs of “Not Evil Just Wrong,” a climate change skepticism documentary that was also previewed for a late-night audience. Townhall.com handed out free books by Michelle Malkin in exchange for magazine subscriptions; The Claire Booth Luce Policy Institute handed out copies of its “Great American Conservative Women” calendar, some of them freshly signed by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.).

Inside the ballroom, the pro-Republican slant of this was even more clear. Koch’s speech was one of several that clearly branded the crowd as part of a movement that would elect more Republicans to Congress. Gingrich–who was introduced by AFP’s Phillips as “the best mind in our movement”– made a half-hearted attempt at bipartisanship, encouraging activists to run as Democrats if they were in heavily Democratic districts. The point of his address, however, was a five-part Republican agenda that had hardly changed since Gingrich was toying with the idea of a 2008 presidential bid. Conservatives, said Gingrich, should campaign on a 50 percent, two-year cut in FICA taxes that would help every American “suddenly learn how much in taxes they had been paying.” They should promise to “match the Chinese capital gains tax, which is zero,” end the estate tax, and “match the Irish corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent.” And they should promote an “American energy policy using American sources of energy,” an applause line that split the crowd in two. Some activists chanted “drill here, drill now,” the slogan that Gingrich’s group, American Solutions, had branded with a 2008 ad campaign and quickie book. And some chanted “drill, baby, drill,” the variant that now-RNC Chairman Michael Steele promoted at the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Libertarian purists in the crowd found some reasons to be cynical. Three of the headlining speakers, including Gingrich, had supported the Troubled Asset Relief Program–a major motivating force for the Tea Parties. Gingrich’s version of recent political history was kind to the GOP congressional majority in a manner that stretched some facts. “We can balance the federal budget,” he said, “because for four years, when I was speaker, we balanced the federal budget.”

But hard partisan politics won the weekend, and gave some form to the movement Koch finally took some credit for organizing. Activists learned that they were on the cusp of saving the long-planned, one-year elimination of the estate tax. If Democrats fail to pass a bill extending the estate tax in 2010, one of the key Republican victories of George W. Bush’s presidency would be realized. And the more the Tea Party movement could slow down the works in Congress, the better the chance of Democrats forgoing that bill.

“If we run out the clock,” said Phil Kerpen, AFP’s policy director, “the estate tax is gone in 2010, and it would be tricky for Democrats to try and bring it back.”