Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Tea Party Trying To Right U.S. Fiscal Ship

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Here’s my take on the debt-ceiling negotiations: There is no negotiation. Tea Party Republicans are insisting on a balanced budget amendment (BBA) because everything else is just a story to them and it’s not a real and meaningful spending cut.


Nothing has changed, and pundits and financial media are not listening to the Tea Party. I am. Democratic leaders are still insulting and trying to marginalize them. Wake up! They won’t be marginalized or even corralled by Speaker Boehner.


Most investors, pundits and the media feel Congress is “crying wolf” again, figuring Congressmen and women will come to their senses and pass something that works out okay. Well, a deal may not be reached. The Tea Party is dead serious about cutting up the governments’ credit cards and it will not increase the debt limit without clear assurances on major spending cuts and reducing the deficit.


The Tea Party is scared. Even under tremendous pressure of pending default and/or credit downgrade, President Obama, Democrats and many Republicans seek to keep doing business as usual – which means not turning around the escalating deficit. The status quo raises every excuse in the book, including the economy, jobs and morality.


It’s now or never for the Tea Party to seize the fleeting moment while it has minority blocking power. It was the same for Progressive Democrats in the last Congress to strong-arm through Obama Health Care Legislation in the nick of time.


In the Tea Party’s view, if it can block a smoke-and-mirrors deal, the debt ceiling will not be raised, and that is just what some want anyway. The Tea Party prefers its revised Boehner Plan with the BBA. For the Tea Party, increasing the national debt is lunacy, when you consider that much of it was recently purchased by the Federal Reserve under quantitative easing programs (QE1 and QE2). They don’t want QE 3 either.


For the Tea Party, it’s a charade for the government to be issuing debt – feigning repayment with real money – and then arranging for the Fed to print money to buy that debt which debases the dollar and the debt. The Tea Party wants to end this charade now — not in three or six months in the middle of an election season.? Why kick the problem can down the road, when you can start solving it today?


Can the Senate pass a Reid Bill or amend the revised Boehner Bill — which includes the Tea Party’s BBA plan addition — and seek to remove the BBA in conference between the Senate and House? Can it avoid a final vote in the House, or have that full vote with House Democrats joining Republicans to make a winning coalition over Tea Party no votes?

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Tea partiers are only fighting to control debt

Aug. 10 — To the Editor:

In response to Lenore Patton's letter to the editor from the Aug. 9 Hampton Union, I have this to say: You tell me, the "tea party brethren," and Rep. Guinta to listen to our mothers. To this, I say that my sainted mother would be spinning in her grave at the spending that is going on in D.C.

This was a woman who put her family before herself every time. She ate her meals last, bought her clothes last and always made sure that 10 percent of her family's income went into savings after every expense was paid.

Lenore, you brought up "our" mothers, but I can only tell you about my mother, who passed away in January. She taught me and my four siblings to save, live within our means and take care of our friends and family. Mrs. Kilgore taught me to be thrifty, creative and solve problems with a positive attitude. My mother may not have told me to "never say never," but she did tell me to stick to my convictions and stand up to bullies like you and your husband.

My mother would never have put the responsibility of her debt on her children or her 11 grandchildren. When her mother-in-law slipped into Alzheimer's, she did not institutionalize her, but gave up her "golden years" taking care of her and making sure she lived in a rich and loving environment until my father passed away. That is a lesson we all learned: We take care of our own and do not expect others to do what we are here to do.

I have listened to my mother. I have lived within my means, I have not asked for more than I have earned, and I hope that I have kept my promises as best as I could!

Representative Guinta and our tea party brethren have listened to our mothers, and we honor them in our fight to control spending and make the United States a better place for our children. We honor them by keeping our promises and being true to our ideals.

Wally Kilgore

North Hampton


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Monday, August 29, 2011

Tea partyers fault Democrats on downgrade

The blame game on Capitol Hill commenced immediately after Standard & Poor’s unexpected downgrade of its U.S. credit rating late last week.

Republicans pinned the move on Democrats “spend and tax” ways. Democrats said S&P was reacting to the conservative tea party movement’s intransigence in the debt-limit debate.

But tea party backers brushed off the criticism and unapologetically defended their tactics, saying the country’s economic troubles would be even worse without their influence on Capitol Hill.

“For them to blame this on the tea party movement is like blaming the firefighters for the fire. It’s absurd,” said Amy Kremer, chairman of Tea Party Express. “If it were not for the tea party movement, Washington would’ve already gone and spent more.”

S&P on Friday dropped the U.S. credit rating from “AAA” to “AA+,” questioning the ability of leaders in Washington to seriously deal with the nation’s debt crisis.

Tea party critics interpret the rating agency’s explanation as proof the downgrade was the result of the movement’s unwillingness to compromise and refusal to accept tax increases as part of a “balanced” approach to lower the nation’s debt.

Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, and White House senior adviser David Axelrod, both characterized S&P’s action as the “tea party downgrade.”

And Vice President Joseph R. Biden widely was reported as telling Democratic colleagues in a closed-door meeting that tea party supporters were “acting like terrorists” during the debt-limit debate.

Mark Meckler, co-founder and national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, said it was “radically disingenuous” to infer the downgrade had anything to do with the tea party. Instead, he pointed to S&P’s call for deeper federal spending cuts, a move he said Democrats have stubbornly resisted.

“John Kerry and his ilk are personally responsible for this downgrade,” he said. “It had to do with [government’s] inability to deal with our structural problems.”

Mr. Meckler added the attacks on the tea party show just how out-of-touch Democrats are with mainstream Americans, calling it a “monarchical attitude.”

“I have never seen politicians openly and directly attack a very large swath of the American public. It’s unprecedented,” he said.

Who is truly to blame for the country’s credit-rating downgrade — which was followed by plummeting stock prices this week — is difficult to gauge, as recent polls produced varying results.

“I don’t know if there’s anything that could happen that could change people’s minds” about the tea party, said independent pollster John Zogby. “If you’re an ardent tea party supporter, that’s ideological now, it’s not just a sign of anger and frustration.”

Results of a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey released Monday showed 29 percent of likely voters identified the tea party as “economic terrorists,” while 55 percent said they weren’t. Sixteen percent of poll respondents said they were undecided.

Story Continues →

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Tea: medicine in a cup

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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Is the tea party over?

Has the tea party peaked? Republican lawmakers affiliated with the upstart anti-tax movement scored big in the nerve-wracking debt-ceiling debacle, but the victory left enough hard feelings to feed the movement's ultimate downfall.

To quote an old Chicago White Sox slogan from the 1980s, their achievement was a case of "winning ugly."

With the nation's credit rating in the balance, they seized the normally routine matter of raising the nation's debt ceiling and held it hostage, gangsta-style: Cut government spending our way, they reasoned, and nobody gets hurt.

In the end, after weeks of partisan fighting, President Barack Obama signed without joy or ceremony a budget bill that avoided a credit default.

It cuts $2 trillion in spending over the next decade, yet shaves barely a sliver off of the expected growth in the national debt during that period.

That's largely because the bill doesn't include tax increases, a tea party no-no.

Instead the savings come entirely from cuts in programs and benefits.

Are there any reasons why this could hurt the teas and their allies?

I can think of three: Disappointment, divisiveness and dangerous disregard.

-- Disappointment. Polls indicate growing numbers of the public think the teas have become part of the problem they came to Washington to cure.

Fully 82 percent of Americans disapprove of Congress' performance in the hard-fought debt limit debate, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.

People love to hate Congress, even when they like their own congressman. But this was Congress' highest disapproval rating, the pollsters said, since they began asking the question in 1977.

And public disapproval of the "tea party" doubled to 40 percent from 18 percent when that question was first asked in April 2010.

Four out of five respondents said they thought the debacle was more about gaining political ground than advancing the nation's interests.

On that score, Congress is lucky that pollsters found any approval at all outside of the lawmakers' immediate families.

Forty-seven percent blamed congressional Republicans for the standoff while only 29 percent blamed President Obama and congressional Democrats. Twenty percent blamed both sides.

President Obama, whose approvals slid to a new low of 40 percent in another recent poll, knows how it feels to disappoint the people who sent you to Washington. Now the tea party does, too.

-- Divisiveness. The tea party movement grew out of conservative frustration with a Washington they saw as taxing and spending too much under both parties.

Republican leadership, still shaken from 2006 election losses, welcomed the new energy that led to a comeback in the 2010 midterm elections.

But fissures still show in the uneasy alliance between the teas and the party establishment.

As House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio pushed to strike a deal to increase the nation's borrowing authority, some of the tea party faction argued whether the debt ceiling should be raised at all.

The founding fathers would have quaked.

These issues undoubtedly will be put to the voters in next year's presidential races, reviving divisions between the Grand Old Party's conservative purists and the pragmatists who want a candidate who appeals to independent swing voters.

Tea party freshmen faced a more conservative electorate in the 2010 midterms than the larger turnout that's expected in a presidential year.

Yet they continue to push farther right. Let the voters decide.

-- Dangerous disregard. Even fellow conservatives are beginning to speak out against the frightening radical ax with which tea party folks want to take a wide swing at government spending.

"Don't call them conservatives," fumed conservative Hal Gordon, who wrote speeches for the Ronald Reagan White House and for Colin Powell, in a blog post. "Call them Banana Republicans if you like -- or Republicans-Gone-Bananas."

His beef, that the tea party faction is rewriting the meaning of conservatism in ways unimagined by historical figures like Edmund Burke, the father of modern conservatism, to save short-term dollars.

"First and foremost," Gordon exclaimed, "conservatives pay their bills." Amen.

Grassroots movements are like bees, an old saying goes, they sting and then they die.

The tea party, like the original Boston Tea Party, fits what the founders called a movement of the moment.

Like others, the teas are likely to melt, at best, into one of the major parties.

In the meantime, they can stir up a lot of mischief, even to those who otherwise want to be their allies.

E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.


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Tea export declined by half in March '11

New Delhi, Aug 10 : Export of tea has declined by nearly half in March this year to 11.90 million kg due to low overseas demand and payment problems from importing countries, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya M Scindia said in a written reply that the estimated export of tea from India during March 2011 has declined due to political disturbances in Afghanistan, Egypt and a few Middle East countries, payment problems associated with exports to Iran and non-tariff barriers regarding exports to Iraq.


He said India through the Tea Board is taking various steps to boost its export which include promotional campaigns in the foreign markets, buyer-seller meets, tea tasting sessions, trade fairs, international conventions, incentive to exports and lending promotional support to Indian tea exporters in their marketing efforts.


Responding to another question, Mr Scindia said there is, however, a sharp rise in the exports of Indian tea to Pakistan over the past three years as this is evident from the fact that tea export to that country went up from Rs 57.42 crore in 2008 to Rs 119.57 crore by 2010.

--UNI


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Saturday, August 27, 2011

Tea party places bets on Bruning vs. Nelson

Tea party places bets on Bruning vs. NelsonBy Robynn Tysver | Wednesday, May 11, 2011 4:07 AM CDT

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Omaha World-Herald OMAHA - The Tea Party Express has hitched its wagon to Republican Jon Bruning. The national group plans to make an early endorsement in Nebraska's 2012 U.S. Senate race, and Bruning will earn the nod Wednesday despite not yet securing the GOP nomination, said Sal Russo, a spokesman for the Tea Party Express. Russo said the group wanted to make clear with its first 2012 endorsement that ousting Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson will be a top priority. He also said Bruning is the "strongest candidate" in the race, and they wanted to help him early in the campaign. The endorsement will be made at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The group's early entry into the Nebraska race comes with some tension. Local tea party supporters say they believe it's "premature," and they question why the national group did not interview the other top candidate in the race, State Treasurer Don Stenberg.

Bruning is running for the GOP nomination against Stenberg and Schuyler businessman Pat Flynn. In addition, other Republicans have been mulling whether to jump into the race, including State Sen. Deb Fischer of Valentine. Joanne Elliott, co-organizer of Conservative Connections in Lincoln, said her group was "disappointed" that the national group was weighing into a Nebraska race without getting "input" from local groups. Others echoed her sentiments. "It's a little early - 12 months out of the primary," said Patrick Bonnett, the founder of a coalition of about a dozen tea party-affiliated groups in Douglas County, the Conservative Coalition of Nebraska. Bonnett said he has heard of no tea party organization in Nebraska that plans to make an endorsement before the primary. Paul Johnson, Nelson's campaign manager, downplayed the endorsement. He said it appeared to be more about raising money nationally than influencing Nebraskans, noting that the endorsement is being made in D.C. He also questioned the group's influence, saying several of the group's chosen candidates in the last election failed. "They also made Christine O'Donnell, Sharron Angle and Joe Miller priorities - all of whom lost," said Johnson. Russo did not shy away from his group's 2010 failures. He says that is one reason they are jumping into the Nebraska race early, to help Bruning with his campaign. He said neither the Angle nor the Miller campaigns were as strong as they needed to be to win. The group gave about $1 million each to Angle and Miller, Russo said. "We believe Jon Bruning is a strong candidate," he said. "He's strongly in tune with tea party values. He's also able to put together a first-rate campaign." - World-Herald News Service




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Friday, August 26, 2011

Tea party fortunes are fading even as its star Michele Bachmann shines

Even as tea party idol Michele Bachmann has emerged as a prominent contender for the Republican presidential nomination, the popularity of the tea party movement among the US public is slumping to a new low.

That's the message of a new CNN/Opinion Research poll that asked whether Americans have a favorable opinion of various people and groups.

When it came to "the tea party movement," known for its hard line on federal spending and deficits, only 31 percent of respondents said they have a favorable view. That's down from 37 percent in mid-July, and the lowest level since the CNN poll began asking the question in January 2010.

Fifty-one percent of Americans said their view of the tea party is unfavorable, the most ever and the first time a majority of Americans have held that view in the survey. The poll was taken last weekend, Aug. 5 to Aug. 7.

IN PICTURES: Michele Bachmann

However the downshift in tea party esteem hasn't dimmed Ms. Bachmann's own star, at least so far.

Many viewers saw her as a winner in a televised Republican debate Thursday night, and the CNN poll finds that many Americans would vote for her if she wins the presidential nomination in 2012 (45 percent, versus 51 percent who said they'd prefer to reelect President Obama). For comparison, some polls show a generic "Republican" enjoying roughly that same level of support against Obama, while the CNN poll found slightly stronger support for Mitt Romney (48 percent) and Rick Perry (46 percent). Although various factors may have played a role in the survey results, the declining approval for the tea party comes after one prominent event in which the movement's followers played a big role: the debt talks in Washington that ended recently in a patched-together compromise. Democrats wanted a deal that included increased tax revenues, along with spending cuts, as part of a deficit-reduction package accompanying a vote to raise the ceiling on US Treasury borrowing. Republicans stood against any deal that boosted federal tax revenues, with tea-party-aligned lawmakers among the firmest on that point. Some, including Bachmann, went a step further, saying they would not support any deal to allow the Treasury to go deeper into debt. An impassioned body of Americans agrees with that view, arguing that a radical move to downsize government is needed immediately to liberate a debt-laden economy. Many economists and finance experts, however, while agreeing that the current fiscal path is not sustainable, argue that a refusal to raise the debt ceiling would have caused such deep spending cuts that the resulting jolt would have damaged an already weak economy. They argued, as well, that America's credit rating could suffer as the world witnessed budgetary chaos, with the Treasury wrestling with which bills it would or would not pay. (The US has been borrowing about 40 cents for every dollar of federal spending this year.) As the nation neared that brink, the White House, in an apparent jab at the tea party, argued that "cooler heads" would prevail, and a compromise would be reached. In the end, a deal happened. But it wasn't the "grand bargain" that some had hoped for, which would have reduced deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade, including entitlement cuts and some tax-revenue increases. The final deal is expected to cut future deficits by about half that amount. Many budget experts believe a credible $4 trillion bargain could have averted the recent move by Standard & Poor's to downgrade its credit rating of US Treasury debt.

Fiscal conservatives including tea party members put their stamp on the final deal. The compromise contained echoes of their "cut, cap, and balance" platform (spending cuts, hard limits on the rise of future spending, and consideration of a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution).

The debt talks gave some tea party members a chance to espouse their ideas on national TV, but is also exposed them to some criticism from within Republican ranks (the "hobbits" comment, for example, from Sen. John McCain of Arizona) and from outside (words like "terrorist" and "extortionist" surfaced in Democratic circles). Now Bachmann finds herself on the cover of Newsweek, but with what appears to be an intentionally unflattering, wild-eyed look on her face. Meanwhile, if the tea party has taken a hit from the difficult budget battle, so has Obama. According to Gallup polling, the president's approval rating is at a recent low of 41 percent, down from the mid-40s in July.

IN PICTURES: Michele Bachmann


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Tea Party Express ready to roll

What’s being billed by organizers as a “Tea Party Super Rally” is headed to Napa later this month, and event organizers say a few White House hopefuls have already committed to appear.

The event — a kickoff rally for the nationwide Tea Party Express tour — is set to take place on Aug. 27, and has already generated RSVPs from a few GOP presidential candidates, said Pam Silleman, head of the Napa Tea Party.

Silleman wasn’t willing to reveal which candidates were making plans to attend the rally, saying it was up to the candidates themselves to announce whether they would be attending.

Tea party luminaries such as Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain would likely be among those most willing to commit to the Napa rally, although inquiries to their respective campaigns were not immediately returned.

Calls to Sal Russo, a GOP consultant and co-founder of Tea Party Express, were also not returned Wednesday.

While the names of the candidates will remain a mystery for now, Silleman was willing to report that the logistical aspects of the rally had largely fallen into place.

“It seems like it’s going to be quite a big rally,” she said. “It’ll be something Napa’s never seen before.”

Silleman previously said that attendance at the event could be measured in the tens of thousands.

Not everyone gathering in Napa that Saturday will do so to support the tea party movement. Members of the local Green Party have already announced plans for a counter rally that day.

According to Napa County Green Party spokesman Alex Shantz, the local chapter will be hosting what they are calling a “green tea party” at Veterans Memorial Park to protest the tea party’s presence in Napa.

“The purpose of this rally is to show our opposition to the tea party's far right-wing agenda while affirming positive Green Party values, such as grassroots democracy, social justice, respect for diversity, nonviolence, community-based economics and ecological wisdom,” Shantz said in a statement.


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Thursday, August 25, 2011

Tea Party Endorsements Have Lost Their Luster

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann won a test vote of Iowans on Saturday, a show of popularity and organizational strength for the tea party favorite five months before the state's caucuses kick off the GOP presidential nominating season.


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Patna's Muslims prefer sipping Kashmiri tea after Ramadan fasting ends

Ramadan, the ninth month of the Hijri Lunar calendar honours the revelation of the holy Koran to Prophet Muhammad and has traditionally been a time of religious fervour.

During this month, Muslims do not consume food or water from dawn to dusk. They eat Sehri (a small pre-dawn meal) and at dusk, they break the daylong fast with the Iftar (evening meal).

A large number of Muslims prefer to break their Iftar with 'Shir Tea', rather than water.

This tea has gain popularity in the Patna city, as devotees feel it gives them energy and helps to revitalize.

Mohamad Sabbaruddin, a tea maker involved in this business for the past 40 years, pointed out that devotees fasting during this month feel weak after starving for the whole day and adds that this tea helps them to re-energize. He said the preparation of this tea requires a lot of hard work.

"The tea that we make is made with Kashmiri tea leaves. So, this has been named Kashmiri tea. We also call it 'Shir tea'. We call it Shir tea, as it is sweet and it requires a lot of hard work to prepare this tea," he said.

Devotees asserted that this tea is different from the usual tea as it has a lot of dry fruits and spices added to it, which makes it a delicacy worth fasting for.

"The difference between the other forms of tea and this tea is that, in this tea, various spices and dry fruits are added to enhance its flavour. In other forms of tea, only tea leaves are used. But in this tea also, leaves are added but it is of a different quality," said Mohamad Ilam, Customer.

Several fasting Muslims visit the market to relish the Kashmiri Tea.

Ramadan is a time when Muslims are required to abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex from dawn to dusk.

The festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, a joyous occasion for Muslims all over the world, is celebrated after the conclusion of Ramadan.


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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Time 4 Tea for Meningitis UK

12:30pm Saturday 13th August 2011


TEA and cake lovers in Yeovil are being urged to brew and bake next month for a tasty fundraising initiative.

September’s the time to get creative in the kitchen for Meningitis UK’s latest event – Time 4 Tea.

Celebrity cake-maker and best-selling cookery writer Mary Berry has put forward her favourite cake recipe – Ginger and Treacle Spiced Traybake – to encourage everyone to indulge in some culinary action.

All sorts of tasty tea-themed events are possible, from tea dances to teddy bears’ picnics.

Money raised from Time 4 Tea will go towards Meningitis UK’s Search 4 a Vaccine Campaign which funds cutting-edge research to find a vaccine to eradicate all forms of the disease.

Mary, who is appearing as a judge on BBC 1’s Great British Bake-off later in the year, said: “Meningitis is the disease which parents fear most. As a mother and a grandmother, to find a vaccine which would protect future generations would be a wonderful achievement, which is why I’m honoured to be supporting Time 4 Tea." Party balloons, colourful bunting and a selection of Twinings tea samples will be sent to anyone who registers for a tea party pack with invitations, a collection box and a fundraiser’s guide featuring Mary Berry’s cake recipe.

A range of delicious new cupcake recipes kindly provided by Country Cupcakes are also available on the charity’s website www.meningitisuk.org/time4tea.




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Tea planters threaten garden closure

Siliguri/Jaigaon, Aug. 11: Tea planters today threatened to shut down gardens in the Dooars and Terai if workers continued with strikes and embargo on the despatch of manufactured tea to markets to demand a hike in daily wages.

The two apex bodies of trade unions, on the other hand, decided to go ahead with a general strike across north Bengal tomorrow to increase the wage from Rs 67 to Rs 130.

The Progressive Tea Workers' Union will not take part in tomorrow's strike, but has chalked out its own agitation plans for the next fortnight. The union, affiliated to the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad, has been stalling the despatch of manufactured tea from the gardens since August 5 to press for the demand.

"The CCPA has met among its constituents and have now resolved that if the path of agitation, that is, strikes and road blockade continues, management would have no other option but to consider suspension of operations to limit collateral damage," reads the release issued by Monojit Dasgupta, the secretary-general of the CCPA (Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations).

The planters also said rivalry between unions was also contributing to the troubles of the industry.

"The path of agitation has been further complicated by inter-union rivalry…there is clear evidence that decisions of PTWU central leadership are not percolating to or not being observed in grassroots. Confrontation like situation between union groups is also reported in gardens. It is these conditions that may eventually lead the industry to take precipitate action on the lines already stated."

The CCPA iterated that the strikes and the embargo on the despatch of tea had hit the operations in the gardens and resulted in losses.

"The continuing accumulation of manufactured teas in estates, constrained by limited factory space, is leading to choking of manufacturing operations and consequential delays of dispatching teas to auction centres and other markets is resulting in delayed cash flows, which might cripple a cash-based industry like tea with limited recourse to credit," said the CCPA.

The trade unions, however, are not ready to budge from their stance. "The attitude of tea planters in the six rounds of talks held to reach an agreement on wages was utterly disappointing," said Chitta Dey, the convener of the Coordination Committee of Tea Plantation Workers.

"That is why we are on strike to mount pressure on the planters in the interest of over two lakh workers and their families."

The Co-ordination Committee and another body of trade unions, the Defence Committee for Plantation Workers' Rights, enforced a strike in the gardens in the plains yesterday and today. They have called a general strike across north Bengal tomorrow.

"We have received an overwhelming support from political parties and organisations and expect it to be a complete shutdown tomorrow," said Dey.

The Parishad union has called a strike in the gardens on August 17 and 18 and a bandh in the plains from August 22 to August 24.


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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Tea Party Sparks More Antipathy Than Passion

PRINCETON, NJ -- More Americans consider themselves strong opponents of the Tea Party movement than strong supporters, by 20% to 14%, and the ratio is a similar 22% to 15% among registered voters. When factoring in those who support or oppose the movement but not strongly, the opposing groups are more evenly matched, with 25% of Americans in total classified as Tea Party supporters and 28% as opponents. About 4 in 10 Americans as well as registered voters say they neither support nor oppose the Tea Party.




Gallup has previously measured support for the Tea Party movement, but this is the first time it asked a follow-up question that probes intensity.


One of the more striking findings of the Aug. 4-7 USA Today/Gallup poll is that nearly half of self-described liberals, 48%, consider themselves strong opponents of the Tea Party, significantly greater than the 30% of conservatives calling themselves strong supporters. Similarly, by 39% to 31%, there are more strong Democratic opponents than strong Republican supporters. Among independents, 14% are strong supporters and an equal number are strong opponents.




Adults 35 and older are slightly more likely to call themselves strong supporters of the Tea Party movement than are those 18 to 34. Also, consistent with racial differences in party identification, whites are more supportive than blacks of the Tea Party. Gallup finds little difference between men's and women's relationship to the movement.


Residents of the East are less likely than those in other regions to be strong Tea Party supporters, and the East has the highest percentage of strong opponents. The South, however, is the only region where strong supporters outnumber strong opponents (17% vs. 11%).




Tea Party Support Dips to New Low


At 25%, overall support for the Tea Party among U.S. adults is similar to the previous low of 26% found in October 2010. Support increased to 32% last November -- immediately after the 2010 midterm elections -- and held at 30% in January and April of this year before dropping to the current new low.


Overall opposition to the Tea Party movement, now 28%, is about average for where it has been since early 2010, while the 42% saying they are neither supporters nor opponents is a new high.




Bottom Line


The national Tea Party movement appears to have lost some ground in popular support after the blistering debate over raising the nation's debt ceiling in which Tea Party Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate fought any compromise on taxes and spending. Fourteen percent of Americans consider themselves strong supporters of the Tea Party movement, and, perhaps not coincidentally, 12% of the public consists of conservative Republicans who wanted members of Congress who shared their views on the budget to hold out for a deal they could agree with. That is according to a July 15-17 Gallup poll on the debt ceiling debate.


Along with the decline in overall support for the Tea Party from 30% to 25% in recent months, Gallup finds more Americans holding intensely negative feelings toward the movement than intensely positive feelings. It thus appears that, to date, the Tea Party's leadership and activities may have been more successful at galvanizing the movement's opponents than expanding its base of passionate supporters.

Survey Methods

Results for this USA Today/Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Aug. 4-7, 2011, with a random sample of 1,319 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The survey includes an oversample of 376 non-Hispanic blacks, consisting of 88 interviews done as part of the random national sample and 288 interviews with blacks who had previously participated in national Gallup Polls and agreed to be re-interviewed at a later date. The data from the national sample and re-interviews are combined and weighted to be demographically representative of the national adult population in the United States and to reflect the proper proportion of blacks in the overall population.


For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.


For results based on the sample of 376 non-Hispanic blacks, the maximum margin of error is ±6 percentage points.


For results based on the sample of 796 non-Hispanic whites, the maximum margin of error is ±5 percentage points.


Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones and cellular phones, with interviews conducted in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking. Each sample includes a minimum quota of 400 cell phone respondents and 600 landline respondents per 1,000 national adults, with additional minimum quotas among landline respondents by region. Landline telephone numbers are chosen at random among listed telephone numbers. Cell phone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. Landline respondents are chosen at random within each household on the basis of which member had the most recent birthday.


Samples are weighted by gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, adults in the household, and phone status (cell phone only/landline only/both, cell phone mostly, and having an unlisted landline number). Demographic weighting targets are based on the March 2010 Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older non-institutionalized population living in U.S. telephone households. All reported margins of sampling error include the computed design effects for weighting and sample design.


In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.


View methodology, full question results, and trend data.


For more details on Gallup's polling methodology, visit www.gallup.com.


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Monday, August 22, 2011

Tea Party Understands Economics Better Than Obama Or Bill Maher

"Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist."

-- John Maynard Keynes, 1936

John Maynard Keynes was the most influential economist of the first half of the 20th century. He is correctly associated with the policy of increased government spending and deficits to combat economic downturns. Keynes is the economic icon of the Obama administration, which uses his multiplier to justify its huge stimulus programs and soaring deficits.

Keynes would be irritated to know that I count him among the "defunct economists" whom he disparaged.

The appeal of Keynesian economics is its simple logic. If government spending for goods and services is part of GDP, then any increase in government spending must raise GDP.

As President Obama explained in a town hall meeting on Feb. 8, 2009:

"Republicans say this is not a stimulus bill but a spending bill. What do you think a stimulus is? That's the whole point." (Laughter from the crowd).

Keynesian economics is easy, even for stupid people. More thought and analysis are required to understand why it has not worked as it is supposed to. Keynesian skeptics must show that increases in government spending cause other components of GDP, such as consumption, investment, or exports, to fall. Such countervailing forces require more nuanced and sophisticated thought. They are not for the mentally lazy or those seeking simple answers.

Liberal commentators and comedians appear to accept Keynesian economics as such an evident truth that non-believers must be stupid. Keynesian economics has become a liberal dogma, not subject to challenge by reasonable people.

Consider comedian Bill Maher's quip to a former Obama advisor on Aug. 6, 2011:

"Keynesian economists and climate scientists both know real things, but the stupid people who don't know things get an equal vote. Isn't that frustrating?" (Laughter from the audience.)

Liberals target the Tea Party as their favorite nominee for the "stupidity" prize. Tea Party members are not only dunces. They are irresponsible hostage takers who do not care if they bring the country down with them.

Here is a shocker for Obama, Maher and Tea-Party haters: Since the Nobel Prize in economics was established, seven Nobel Prizes have been awarded to economists who cast serious doubt on Keynesian economics. Not one Nobel Prize has been awarded to an economist who advanced the Keynesian agenda. New York Times liberal columnist, Paul Krugman, won his Nobel Prize for trade theory, not for macroeconomics.

Maher's "stupid people" who reject Keynesian economics, it seems, are in rather distinguished intellectual company.

Let me go down the list of Nobel-laureate Keynesian skeptics:

1) Permanent or life-cycle income (Milton Friedman, Franco Modigliani)

This theory says that consumers are forward looking. They base their consumption decisions on income they expect to earn over a longer period of time, not what they earn now. They change their spending only in response to changes in long-term income, not in current income.

This proposition is well accepted by the mainstream of economists. It says that consumer spending is unlikely to be affected by transitory changes in income. A permanent tax cut or increase will affect consumer spending. A temporary tax change will not.

Lyndon Johnson was the first to learn this lesson when his income tax surcharge of 1969 failed to affect consumer spending.? The Obama administration is learning this lesson as consumers try to figure out whether their Bush tax cuts will be extended.

2) Crowding Out (Milton Friedman)

This proposition says that increases in government spending crowd out investment and even consumer spending. In its simplest form, it says that when the government borrows for spending, less capital is left for private investment and for consumers.

3) Ricardian Equivalence (future Nobel Laureate Robert Barro?)

This fancy term -- dating back to the 19th century writings of David Ricardo -- rejects the notion that people are stupid with respect to the effects of government taxes and spending.? Instead, people and businesses are forward looking and understand that increased government spending and deficits must eventually be paid for by higher taxes. Alarming deficits alert households and businesses to expect higher taxes. They respond by spending less to build their balance sheets to prepare for the day of reckoning.

We are now going through our first large-scale test of this proposition, and it appears to hold. Businesses and households are indeed retrenching in the face of soaring deficits. The Obama administration has even encouraged this type of behavior by its constant talk of new taxes. The Tea Party is a creation of? Ricardian equivalence. It proclaims to the world that if we do not stop this spending, the day of reckoning will come soon and it will be brutal.

4) Rational expectations (Robert Lucas, Finn Kydland, Edward Prescott)

Rational expectations came about to explain the stagflation of the late 70s and early 80s. This theory maintains that households and businesses pay attention to government policy. Instead of acting like mindless robots, they try to outguess government policy makers so as to not get caught off guard. If? people correctly anticipate expansionary economic policy, they nullify its effects on GDP and employment.

5) Mundell, Effect (Robert Mundell)

This work shows that in a globalized economy, expansionary fiscal policy sets in motion forces that cause exports to fall, thereby reducing GDP.

We can pardon a comedian like Maher who is simply trying to please his liberal audience. We should not expect him to know anything about the Nobel laureates I listed above. There is no reason not to expect him to be "stupid" with respect to modern macroeconomics.

President Obama is another matter. Presumably he has access to economists of all persuasions. Any number of them can tell him the things I just described. They are well known. No one is keeping them secret. They are found in modern principles textbooks. If he cannot understand what they are saying, then he might qualify for the?epithet Maher directed at Keynesian skeptics.

Perhaps the president simply does not want to hear from those who disagree with the course he has chosen. It could be that the president's goal is not recovery and economic growth but growing the size and scope of government to achieve his goal of a redistributive state.

If that is the case, we are in for trouble.


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Tea party harnessed social media in 2010

Last Updated: August 11. 2011 7:32AM

Republicans and tea party candidates, especially, used Twitter more effectively in the 2010 election, spreading a more cohesive message and following each other more closely, according to a University of Michigan study.


Researchers from the School of Information and the College of Engineering looked at more than 460,000 tweets over three years from 687 candidates running for U.S. House, Senate and gubernatorial seats.


It's among the first studies to look at the tea party's social media strategies. Despite a lack of party leadership, tea party candidates had the most cohesive message, used hashtags most effectively and joined forces through retweeting most often, largely to attack key Democrats. Among the party's most popular terms were " Nancy Pelosi ," " Barney Frank " and " Clinton ."


"Tea party members appeared to be running an organized Twitter campaign. This is somewhat surprising given the grassroots nature of this movement," the study found.


The study found that Republicans ran a stronger social media campaign on Twitter by staying on point on economic issues. The top terms in Republicans' posts were "spending," "bills," "budget," "WSJ" (Wall Street Journal), " Bush " and "deficit." Republicans tweeted an average of 723 times.


Democrats posted less frequently, an average of 551 tweets. Their tweets covered a wider range of topics: "education," "jobs," "oil spill," "clean energy," "Afghanistan" and "reform."


Political Insider caught up with former U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer on Tuesday, the day Gov. Rick Snyder approved new Congressional district maps that essentially dashed the Democrat's chance at a rematch against political nemesis Republican Rep. Tim Walberg of Tipton.


For the past several elections, the two duked it out to represent the 7th Congressional District with Walberg winning the last round in 2010.


Despite being drawn out of his congressional district under the GOP-drawn maps, Schauer was upbeat about the new 7th District, because, he says, the swing district is now half a percentage point more Democratic.


"I don't think Tim Walberg should get comfortable in his office," said Schauer, who now stumps for the Blue Green Alliance.


The new 7th doesn't include Schauer's home base of Battle Creek. Instead, Calhoun County is part of the 3rd District, a Republican stronghold represented by tea-party backed freshman Rep. Justin Amash of Cascade Township in Kent County. The new 7th extends eastward to pick up Monroe County, now represented by Democrat Rep. John Dingell .


"What Republicans in Lansing did was, they sort of dared me to run. They knew that I would have to move to do it and sacrifice my family to do that, but in doing that they actually drew a district that's a little more Democratic."


No respect


Like vice presidents, lieutenant governors are the source of endless jokes about their perceived lack of importance.


Lt. Gov.?Brian Calley loves to tell about the time he forgot his state government identification and had trouble getting past security on the main floor of the Romney Building, even after showing the guard his driver's license.


A similar amusing — if humbling — incident happened in Grand Rapids recently when Calley was asked to sign a petition to recall Gov.?Rick Snyder , the Grand Rapids Press reported Sunday.


Calley said he asked the man if he knew the lieutenant governor would take over if the recall was successful. The man replied the lieutenant governor couldn't be any worse.


"I said, 'I happen to know the lieutenant governor and I think if you don't like Rick Snyder, you would really not like him,' " Calley told the newspaper.


Due to a lack of consistency between wording in the Michigan Constitution and state election law, there is disagreement over whether Calley would complete Snyder's term in the event of a successful recall or serve only until a special election is held.


The Committee to Recall Rick Snyder has abandoned hopes of getting the recall on the November ballot and is now pushing for February.


Big numbers


Pete Hoekstra has a huge lead over the other Republican candidates for U.S. Senate, according to a Tuesday poll.


Hoekstra, the former U.S. representative from Holland who retired from Congress and ran unsuccessfully for governor, wins 78 percent support among 400 usual Michigan Republican primary voters. Former judge Randy Heckman gets 5 percent and party activist Peter Konetchy gets 3 percent. Eleven percent was unsure in the poll by Public Policy Polling.


Looking at the presidential race, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter gets 5 percent support in his home state while Mitt Romney , also a Michigan native, captures 25 percent, the most among the field. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is second at 13 percent and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachman got 11 percent support each.


The automated telephone poll was taken July 21-24 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. The Democratic polling firm said the poll wasn't paid for by any political organization.


A second poll by the same firm, released Wednesday, found:


Only 4 percent of Michigan voters polled have a favorable opinion of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick , while 77 percent have an unfavorable opinion. Kilpatrick was released from prison last week in a text message scandal.


Just 39 percent of voters say they like former Gov. Jennifer Granholm , while 54 percent do not.


The poll of 593 Michigan voters was taken July 21-24. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.


Contributors: Paul Egan and Marisa Schultz.


Story ideas: (313) 222-5374 or nassendelft@detnews.com


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Sunday, August 21, 2011

Tea Party sounds a needed alarm

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T HE FIRE hall next to my in-laws’ house in northern New York State has a siren that can be heard for miles. “Loud’’ doesn’t begin to describe the sound: a shrill, relentless, piercing wail that is impossible to ignore - and can be extremely upsetting for anyone who isn’t used to it. There’s good reason for that. None of the rural towns in the area has a professional fire department, so when a fire breaks out, the siren is needed to summon volunteers. The urgent blast of that siren used to terrify my younger son, who would hide under a bed when it sounded, and angrily tell us afterward how much he hated it.


In the recent clamor over the federal debt ceiling and the Standard & Poor’s downgrade of US Treasury bonds, the Tea Party has been that fire hall siren. And a lot of liberals have been angrily telling us how much they hate it.


But hating the Tea Party for being so insistent and single-minded about cutting spending is like hating a fire hall siren for calling attention to a potentially devastating blaze. And blaming the S&P downgrade on Tea Party-backed House Republicans makes about as much sense as blaming a raging fire on the 911 dispatcher.


Worse than pointing fingers at the Tea Partiers, however, is when a government official demands that they be frozen out.


Speaking on MSNBC the day S&P lowered its credit rating on US debt from AAA to AA+, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry called on the media to blackball the Tea Party and its message.


“What we had was a group of people who are completely unaware, or didn’t care about the consequences of their actions,’’ Kerry claimed. It is typical of him to attribute opposition to Democrats’ policies to ignorance or bad faith; shortly before the 2010 tsunami that handed the House GOP its greatest triumph in 60 years, Kerry seethed that voters were yielding to “know-nothingism’’ and rejecting “truth and science and facts.’’ Now he wants the views he rejected then to be silenced, and the press to do the silencing.


“The media has got to begin to not give equal time or equal balance to an absolutely absurd notion just because somebody asserts it,’’ Kerry said. “It doesn’t deserve the same credit as a legitimate idea about what you do. And the problem is everything is put into this tit-for-tat equal battle and America is losing any sense of what’s real.’’


Kerry, one of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s appointees to the super committee on debt reduction, has been in the Senate since 1985. He is an entrenched member of the bipartisan Beltway establishment that has overseen the explosion of spending and debt that the Tea Party was born to resist. It is perfectly understandable that he would push back against the conservative insurgents’ agenda, which he characterizes as “cutting, cutting, cutting.’’


But he ought to have the intellectual honesty to acknowledge that the Tea Partiers are not “absurd’’ to focus on budget cuts and entitlement reform - not when federal outlays have more than doubled (from $1.8 trillion to $3.8 trillion) in a decade. Not when entitlement payments are eating up two-thirds of the federal budget. Not when Washington has to borrow about 40 cents for every dollar it spends. And not when, as a result, the US debt burden has ballooned from 40.3 percent of GDP in 2008 to an alarming 72 percent this year - and growing.


In explaining its downgrade, S&P did not call for the higher taxes that Kerry and many Democrats seek. Instead it said that the debt deal “fell well short’’ of the deficit reductions needed, that it provided only “modest savings’’ in discretionary spending, and that Congress was unwilling to curb Medicare and other entitlements, which is the “key to long-term fiscal sustainability.’’ That sounds an awful lot like what the Tea Party has been saying - except that the Tea Partiers were raising the alarm well before S&P got involved.


Kerry is under no obligation to like the Tea Party’s style. He does have an obligation to contend responsibly with its arguments. A fiscal fire is burning, and reasonable people can differ on how best to quell it. But silencing the siren will accomplish nothing.


Jeff Jacoby can be reached at jacoby@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeff_Jacoby.

c Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.

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McCain won’t apologize for calling tea partiers ‘hobbits’

A tea partier confronted Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain during a town hall meeting Monday with one simple request: Please apologize for calling us "hobbits."

Instead, McCain may have just made matters worse. "I am sorry if I was misunderstood," he told the constituent after a testy exchange, which can be seen on video below. "But I am not sorry for what I said. Why should I if it was a fact?""

At the the height of the debt ceiling battle last month, McCain read a Wall Street Journal editorial aloud on the Senate floor that slammed tea party-backed Republicans and called them "hobbits" for demanding a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution in return for their votes to raise the debt ceiling.

You can watch the video here:

McCain appeared on Sean Hannity's show on Fox News in late July to explain his comments, insisting that he meant no offense and that it was meant as a criticism of President Obama.

Obviously, not everyone bought it. Here's part of the exchange from the town hall:

Constituent: "What I'm here to do is ask you for your apology."

McCain: "What apology is in order?"

Constituent: "Because that was very clumsy of you"

McCain: "Was there anything wrong with what I said?"

Constituent: "Are you saying you're not apologizing?"

McCain: "I don't know what to apologize for."

Heard in the back: "For calling tea partiers hobbits!"

McCain: "What I said was true. It's unrealistic and unfair to the American people to tell them that we have to pass a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution before we would act. If anyone misunderstood that then of course I would apologize. ... But it's not my fault if they misunderstood. ... I am sorry if I was misunderstood. But I am not sorry for what I said. Why should I if it was a fact?"


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Saturday, August 20, 2011

New breakaway tea party group forms in RI

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Leading members of Rhode Island's statewide tea party have defected to form a new group that will focus on issues in the state legislature.

The Providence Journal reports ( http://bit.ly/pI9S8X) that on Friday, Lisa Blais, a board member of the RI Tea Party, announced the formation of the Ocean State Tea Party in Action.

Blais said her new group would not compete with the RI Tea Party. She said it would instead put a "constant spotlight" on Rhode Island state officials and their voting records.

Tea party groups are generally in favor of reduced government spending and against tax increases.

The union-backed Ocean State Action, which opposes the tea party, joked the new group had stolen its name and stressed the importance of defeating the tea party in elections.

Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.projo.com/


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Friday, August 19, 2011

Tea fave Bachmann wins Iowa Straw Poll

AMES, Iowa — Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann won a test vote of Iowans on today, a show of popularity and organizational strength for the tea party favorite five months before the state's caucuses kick off the GOP presidential nominating season.


The result is the first indication of what Iowans think of the field of Republicans competing for the chance to challenge President Barack Obama next fall. But it's hardly predictive of who will win the winter Iowa contest, much less the party nod or the White House.


Rather, the outcome suggests that Bachmann has a certain level of support and, perhaps even more important, the strongest get-out-the-vote operation and widest volunteer base in a state whose caucuses require those elements.

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann won today's Iowa straw poll, giving the Tea Party darling critical momentum.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul finished a close second while former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty placed a distant third.


"We have a lot more work to do," Pawlenty said, making clear he wasn't dropping out despite a disappointing finish. "We are just beginning and I'm looking forward to a great campaign."


The results of the nonbinding vote, held on the Iowa State University campus, came just hours after Texas Gov. Rick Perry entered the race.


"I full well believe I'm going to win," Perry told South Carolina voters on a conference call before delivering his first speech as a candidate.


"It's time to get America working again," he declared in Charleston, S.C. "America is not broken. Washington, D.C. is broken."


Despite Perry's best efforts to overshadow the day, the epicenter of the presidential contest was in this Midwestern town, where nearly 17,000 Iowans cast ballots during a daylong political festival, a late-summer ritual held every four years.


In speeches throughout the day, candidates scouted for support by assailing Obama and offering themselves as the answer to an America plagued by high unemployment, rising debt and stock market swings.


"We know what America needs. But unfortunately Barack Obama has no clue. He's like a manure spreader in a windstorm," Pawlenty said, adding: "Mr. President, get the government off our backs." That elicited chants of his nickname: "T-Paw! T-Paw! T-Paw!"


Pawlenty had a lot on the line. He's ranked low in polls and was looking to prove he was still a viable candidate. He argued that he was the candidate of results, given his record as Minnesota governor.


Bachmann stressed faith and her Iowa roots — she was born in Waterloo — as well as her opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage. She earned cheers when she declared: "We are going to make Barack Obama a one-term president."


Bachmann, riding high since entering the race earlier this summer, had hoped that a strong finish would give her even more momentum just as Perry looks to infringe on her base of tea party and evangelical support. She invoked God and faith as she stressed what she called her conservative values, saying: "In Iowa, we are social conservatives and we will never be ashamed of being social conservatives."


Paul, with a following among libertarian-leaning voters, wanted a surprise showing that might convince Republicans he was more mainstream than not in his second shot at the GOP nomination. He referenced his fellow Texan's entrance in the race and said he didn't anticipate many of his supporters jumping ship for what he called a "super-establishment candidate."


Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, businessman Herman Cain and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia also were on the ballot. So were GOP front-runner Mitt Romney and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, though they weren't competing in the contest.


Perry and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who made a splash Friday when she visited the state fair, weren't listed. But their backers planned write-in campaigns that could outpace candidates who have spent months trying to line up supporters to participate.


The straw poll isn't a scientific poll at all; it amounts to a popularity contest and a test of organizational strength.


Poor showings usually force some candidates, mostly those who are not well-known and are struggling to raise money, to abandon their bids. That could happen this year, too.


The straw poll has a mixed record of predicting the outcome of the precinct caucuses.


In 2008, Romney won the straw poll, but the big news was the surprising second-place showing of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Huckabee won the Iowa caucuses, but dropped from the race soon after. Sen. John McCain, who eventually won the nomination, didn't compete in the straw poll and finished in 10th place.


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Tea planters threaten garden closure Bandh for wage hike today

 A woman cycles in a garden closed during a strike called by trade unions on Wednesday. (Biplab Basak) Siliguri/Jaigaon, Aug. 11: Tea planters today threatened to shut down gardens in the Dooars and Terai if workers continued with strikes and embargo on the despatch of manufactured tea to markets to demand a hike in daily wages.

The two apex bodies of trade unions, on the other hand, decided to go ahead with a general strike across north Bengal tomorrow to increase the wage from Rs 67 to Rs 130.

The Progressive Tea Workers? Union will not take part in tomorrow?s strike, but has chalked out its own agitation plans for the next fortnight. The union, affiliated to the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad, has been stalling the despatch of manufactured tea from the gardens since August 5 to press for the demand.

?The CCPA has met among its constituents and have now resolved that if the path of agitation, that is, strikes and road blockade continues, management would have no other option but to consider suspension of operations to limit collateral damage,? reads the release issued by Monojit Dasgupta, the secretary-general of the CCPA (Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations).

The planters also said rivalry between unions was also contributing to the troubles of the industry.

?The path of agitation has been further complicated by inter-union rivalry?there is clear evidence that decisions of PTWU central leadership are not percolating to or not being observed in grassroots. Confrontation like situation between union groups is also reported in gardens. It is these conditions that may eventually lead the industry to take precipitate action on the lines already stated.?

The CCPA iterated that the strikes and the embargo on the despatch of tea had hit the operations in the gardens and resulted in losses.

?The continuing accumulation of manufactured teas in estates, constrained by limited factory space, is leading to choking of manufacturing operations and consequential delays of dispatching teas to auction centres and other markets is resulting in delayed cash flows, which might cripple a cash-based industry like tea with limited recourse to credit,? said the CCPA.

The trade unions, however, are not ready to budge from their stance. ?The attitude of tea planters in the six rounds of talks held to reach an agreement on wages was utterly disappointing,? said Chitta Dey, the convener of the Coordination Committee of Tea Plantation Workers.

?That is why we are on strike to mount pressure on the planters in the interest of over two lakh workers and their families.?

The Co-ordination Committee and another body of trade unions, the Defence Committee for Plantation Workers? Rights, enforced a strike in the gardens in the plains yesterday and today. They have called a general strike across north Bengal tomorrow.

?We have received an overwhelming support from political parties and organisations and expect it to be a complete shutdown tomorrow,? said Dey.

The Parishad union has called a strike in the gardens on August 17 and 18 and a bandh in the plains from August 22 to August 24.


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Thursday, August 18, 2011

Hot Tea and Coffee Drinking Keeps Staph Infection at Bay

Summary
The bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, which is increasingly becoming resistant to methicillin, an antibiotic, is a major cause of severe and fatal infections in the U.S. More than 6,500 people died of infections from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in 2005. Persistent harboring of bacteria in the body is known as carriage. The nose is a common site for carriage of MRSA. In the present study, the researchers examined the effect of drinking tea, coffee and other beverages on nasal MRSA carriage. It was found that those who consumed hot tea or coffee had a lower likelihood of being carriers of MRSA.

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Introduction
Many in vitro studies on tea and coffee as well as studies on the topical application of extracts of tea and coffee have shown that these have antibacterial properties. They have been found to be particularly effective against E. coli, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus aureus. So far, very few studies have been conducted to evaluate the systemic antibacterial actions of tea and coffee. Owing to a steady increase in the incidence of MRSA-related infections, researchers are constantly looking for substances, especially plant extracts, which reduce the carriage of these bacteria and thus decrease the prevalence of MRSA-related infections. This study was carried out to find out whether an association exists between the consumption of tea and coffee and the nasal carriage of MRSA.

Methodology
* The data for the present study was collected from the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which provided highly representative medical information on the non-hospitalized population of the US.
* Nasal carriage of MRSA was assessed in 5,555 participants by culturing the nasal samples in mannitol salt agar, and then assessing their sensitivity to methicillin by a standard diffusion technique.
* The participants were given questionnaires to assess the consumption of tea, coffee, and other beverages. They were particularly asked whether they consumed hot or cold beverages.
* Data regarding confounding factors such as age, sex, race, poverty status, recent antibiotic use, and health status were also collected.

Results
* Overall, 1.4 percent of the participants were nasal carriers of MRSA. About 48 percent of the participants consumed tea, while 61 percent participants consumed coffee.
* “Individuals who consumed hot tea had a slightly more than one-half reduction in the likelihood of MRSA nasal carriage relative to their counterparts who reported consuming no hot tea.” Similar findings were observed with the consumption of hot coffee as well. These findings remained the same even after considering all the confounding factors.
* Consumption of cold tea or cold coffee and other beverages did not reduce the nasal MRSA carriage.

Shortcomings/Next steps
In the present study, data was collected only once. Follow-up studies are necessary to confirm the antibacterial effects of tea and coffee. The researchers of the present study did not collect information on the timing of consumption of tea or coffee. Further studies are necessary to identify the components in tea and coffee, which are responsible for their antibacterial effects.

Conclusion
In 2005, more than 278,000 Americans suffered from MRSA infections. Nasal carriage is thought to be the primary source of infection in all these cases. The present study has shown that carriage is about 50 percent less in those who consume hot tea or coffee. Hence, consumption of hot tea and coffee is an easy, inexpensive and safe method to prevent infection from MRSA. Trigonelline and glyoxal present in coffee and tannic acid and catechin present in tea are probably responsible for the antibacterial activity of these beverages. The reason for the lack of antibacterial activity of cold tea/coffee in contrast to hot tea/coffee cannot be ascertained. However, the authors assume that the antimicrobial compounds in hot tea and coffee reach the nose in vapor form, which is not possible in cold tea and coffee. An earlier study has shown that consumption of tea reduces the duration of hospitalization of patients with MRSA-related pneumonia from 85 days to 51 days. The findings of the present study reinforce the results obtained from prior studies.

For More Information:
Tea and Coffee Consumption and MRSA Nasal Carriage
Publication Journal: Annals of Family Medicine, July 2011
By Eric M. Matheson, MD; Arch G. Mainous, PhD; Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston

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Tea Party faithful wonder if Rick Perry walks the walk

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rick Perry has been widely touted as a Republican presidential candidate who could appeal Tea Party voters, but some in the anti-tax movement wonder if his record as Texas governor stacks up to his rhetoric.

After all, they say, there are reasons to think he's a spendthrift. He once campaigned for Democrat Al Gore, reviled by the Tea Party for being Bill Clinton's vice president and for his campaigning on climate change, and he even spoke kindly about Hillary Clinton's healthcare reform efforts.

Then there is the issue that he was once a Democrat.

So as Perry plans the 2012 White House bid many observers expect he may announce as early as this week, some Tea Party faithful wonder what to make of him.

"They're vetting, they want to know if he is for real," Dallas Tea Party leader Katrina Pierson, said, adding she has fielded questions about Perry's record from Tea Party members as far flung as California, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Tea Party voters could have a big impact on the Republican nomination if they vote heavily in early U.S. primaries, which historically see low voter turn-out.

Perry "speaks the Tea Party language," said Sean Theriault, a political science professor at the University of Texas. But such rhetoric could alienate independent voters, who play a crucial role in U.S. presidential elections.

"I think the Republican nomination for him would be much easier than the general election," Theriault said.

Perry, who followed George W. Bush as Texas governor in 2000 after Bush was elected to the White House, has earned headlines for saying that perhaps Texas should leave the United States and for holding a prayer rally this month that drew 30,000 people.

He was an early booster of the fiscally conservative Tea Party movement, which takes its name from the 1773 Boston tax rebellion against the British.

More recently, Perry took a hard line against raising the U.S. debt limit, saying he did not think the government would default if it was not raised in time -- a view most economists disagreed with, but which appealed to Tea Party types.

Perry also told televangelist James Robison in May that Americans risked becoming "slaves" to government as a result of excessive spending.

"I think we are going through these difficult times for a purpose to bring us back to those biblical principles of you don't spend all the money," he said.

WHICH RICK PERRY?

But even as he rails against wasteful spending by Washington, federal dollars accounted for nearly 37 percent of Texas' spending -- one of the highest rates in the nation -- RBC Capital Markets said in a report this year.

Perry has been accused of wasteful spending himself, including using as much as $10,000 per month of taxpayer money to pay for a luxury rental home while the Governor's Mansion was being rebuilt after a fire.

Two of the governor's biggest initiatives have flopped: the $150 billion Trans Texas Corridor, which ranchers said would have paved too much of their land, and a 2007 executive order, overturned by the legislature, that would have forced teenage girls to be vaccinated against cervical cancer.

Pierson has shared her doubts about Perry with out-of-state Tea Party voters -- many of whom call her because they don't trust the media. "They want to check facts with me," she said.

In her view, Perry's budget is balanced only on paper.

And then there is the issue of his politics. Perry was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1984 when the Lone Star state was a Democratic stronghold. He served as a conservative Democrat in the state legislature until switching to the Republican Party in 1989.

While a Democrat, he was the Texas chairman for Gore's failed 1988 presidential bid. And even after he became a Republican, in a 1993 letter he praised Hillary Clinton's healthcare reform efforts while she was first lady as "most commendable."

Tea Party activists interviewed by Reuters voiced most enthusiasm for former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who has been coy as to whether she will run. They were also curious about Perry, but said they knew less about him.

For that reason, Perry's late entry into the race could hurt his chances in early-voting states such as Iowa.

"A lot of people don't know much about him and it's tough to actually vet him," said Iowa Tea Party leader Ryan Rhodes. "He has multiple records."

Rhodes also echoed a line taken by Tea Party Nation leader Judson Phillips in a recent blog post: "It's a question of which Rick Perry shows up."

(Additional reporting by Joan Gralla; Editing by Mark Egan and Xavier Briand)


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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Tea Party Made Up of 'Freaked Out White Men': Whitney

Tea Party members are primarily “freaked out white men” who pose the greatest political threat to Democrats in 2012, according to banking analyst Meredith Whitney.

Jin Lee | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesSpeaking in the broader context of a discussion on CNBC regarding the Standard & Poor’s downgrade of U.S. debt, Whitney said the dissenters represent the type of problems that have led to the current predicament in Washington.

“Call it Tea Party, whatever you will, the fringe element is I characterize (as) freaked-out white men who are unemployed and have been unemployed for three years and they’re scared to death,” she said. “Three to four million of them are about to roll off unemployment benefits in the next three to four months. This is only going to get worse.”

Democrats looking to hold the White House and regain full control of Congress will need to take note.

“For this reason you have to deal with the structural issues,” Whitney said. “If you are a Machiavellian Democrat you want do deal with this issue and defuse the Tea Party as fast as you possibly can because this poses the biggest threat to their re-election in 2012.”

Her comments come at a turbulent time for markets, which saw a more than 600-point drop for the Dow industrials on Monday that was followed by a more than 400-point gain on Tuesday.

Economic uncertainty is at the crux of the tumult, with investors caught between crosswinds of debt issues in Europe and the U.S. as well as the threat of rising unemployment.

Whitney said extending unemployment benefits, which already have been pushed to 99 weeks, is not the answer.

“You feel better about yourself when you’re working. Kids feel better about their parents when they’re working. Having a job is more than having a paycheck,” Whitney said. “To push for the extension of unemployment benefits is going to and should unleash absolute backlash against this administration because that’s a horrendous idea.”

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Tea party's effect on the federal government?



(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)


FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:


The old saying is you can't fight city hall. The country's city hall is Washington, D.C.


And the frustration being felt by Americans with that city is palpable. We are lied to, pandered to, taken advantage of and taken for granted. And election after election, we watch the quality of our lives and our country continue to ebb away.


Most of us feel powerless to do anything about it.


Enter the tea party.


Love them or hate them, they are making a difference, changing the debate. When the conservative faction of the Republican Party was formed, it subscribed to a set of principles that, surprise, it continues to cling to today.


Tea party movement members said they would go to Washington and work for smaller government, lower taxes, less spending and a general disengagement of the federal government from our everyday lives.


Now granted, their recipe for success doesn't appeal to everyone.


But the point worth making here is this:


It is possible to fight Washington. They just finished doing it with the debt ceiling fiasco. The government was brought to its knees and made to look absolutely silly by a small group in the House of Representatives – just 60 out of 435 members.


They came to Washington and did exactly what they said they would do. That doesn't happen often in Washington.


But there is a lesson here for all of us:


Vote in enough numbers for the people you believe in and can trust, and who knows what might be possible.


Here’s my question to you: What's your impression of the effect the tea party has had on the federal government?


Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.


And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.


Jack Cafferty sounds off hourly on the Situation Room on the stories crossing his radar. Now, you can check in with Jack online to see what he's thinking and weigh in with your own comments online and on TV.


About Jack Cafferty


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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Rating falls, markets plunge, critics rage. But tea party isn't blinking.

It was tea party intransigence in debt ceiling talks that led to the first-ever downgrade of the US credit rating, critics say.

But as world financial markets reacted convulsively to the downgrade on Monday, tea party leaders were not blinking.

“Blaming the tea party for America’s debt crisis and downgrade is like blaming the fireman for fires,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky, whose surprise primary victory in May 2010 put the tea party insurgency on the map.

From Standard & Poor’s stunning downgrade on Friday to a 634-point plunge in US stock markets on Monday, tea party lawmakers saw it all as confirmation that they had been right all along.

RECOMMENDED: Five reasons the S&P downgrade isn’t so bad – and one word of caution

The tea party response to the events comes down to two themes: First, the way out of unsustainable debt is deep cuts in spending, no tax hikes, enforceable spending caps, and a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, period.

And second – in response to S&P’s concern that Washington doesn’t have the political capacity to solve its debt problem – if there is any dysfunction in Washington, it’s the refusal of the White House to adopt the tea party formula.

“While Democrats would like to lay the blame on the tea party for the current economic failure, it is their president who has failed in leadership, failed to lower unemployment, failed to rescue our economy, failed to prevent a downgrade of our debt,” said Senator Paul, in a statement on Monday.

Both tea party lawmakers and their foes claimed justification for their side in the rationale offered by the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s for its decision to drop the US credit rating from the top AAA rate to AA+ on Friday.

Tea party critics focused on the S&P’s criticism that the “prolonged controversy” over raising the statutory debt ceiling signaled that future deficit-cutting agreements, especially over cutting entitlements or raising revenues, would be “less likely.”

Democrats blamed the tea party for political brinkmanship.

“This is essentially a tea party downgrade,” said David Axelrod, President Obama’s top campaign adviser, on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “The tea party brought us to the brink of a default.”

Tea party-backed lawmakers, meanwhile, hailed S&P’s call for a more robust deficit-cutting plan. “S&P’s downgrade is a warning shot the whole world saw coming,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R) of Ohio, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, in a statement on Monday.

“Tinkering around the edges won’t solve the problem,” he added. “Even the Italians, with bigger debt problems than ours, are moving to amend their constitution to require a balanced budget. It’s time the US did the same.”

In a controversial move, chairman Jordan had lobbied outside business groups in July to pressure Republican lawmakers to oppose the “grand bargain” being negotiated between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R) of Ohio. The plan aimed to cut at least $4 trillion over 10 years – a level that would have met the mark set by the ratings agencies. But the negotiations included deficit cuts on the revenue side that were unacceptable to conservatives.

Many tea party lawmakers said during negotiations that they would rather see the nation default on its debt, rather than fail to curb unsustainable deficits. In the absence of a grand bargain, Congress and the White House eventually agreed on $2.4 trillion in cuts only.

“The tea party had a shot at a big deal that avoided a downgrade, but rejected it because it included a tax increase, preferring to roil the markets,” says Stan Collender, a longtime federal budget analyst and partner at Qorvis Communications in Washington.

“S&P’s statement signals that the downgrade has nothing to do with America’s ability pay its debt,” he adds. “It’s all about the apparent unwillingness of the political system to deal with the problem. That only happened after the tea party got elected and held the debt ceiling hostage.”

Meanwhile, Monday’s S&P announcement that it is also downgrading home mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac only reaffirmed the tea partyers’ conviction. “The downgrades of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reflect their direct reliance on the US government,” said S&P in a statement. S&P also lowered ratings for 10 of 12 Federal Home Loan Banks.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R) of South Carolina, an early supporter of tea party candidates, say that S&P’s latest decision is not surprising. “It’s a reflection of their direct reliance on the US government, which has delivered the entities over $160 billion in endless bailouts,” he said in a statement on Monday. “Just last week, Fannie Mae requested an additional $5 billion taxpayer bailout.”

“The president should do what conservatives who opposed the original mortgage bailout called for years ago: break up the mortgage giants and privatize them. Forcing taxpayers to prop up these failed entities hasn’t solved the housing crisis; it has prolonged it,” he added.

Opposition to government bailouts was a rallying cry of the tea party movement in the 2010 election cycle. In late 2008, House Republicans initially voted down then-President Bush’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), but a 740-point drop in the stock market drove lawmakers to reconsider that vote and pass the bill.

Tea party lawmakers say they won’t be pressured by the markets to make a similar course change on the debt. It’s this willingness to take the nation to the brink of default – and beyond – that gave tea party so high a profile during debt talks. Critics say that stand shows no sign of shifting as Congress moves next month to the next phase of deficit reduction through a new joint congressional committee.

RECOMMENDED: Five reasons the S&P downgrade isn’t so bad – and one word of caution


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Monday, August 15, 2011

Excess stock blow to tea factories

Siliguri, Aug. 12: Bought-leaf factories, which thrive on supply from small growers, today said they were finding it difficult to carry out their operations because of the tea strikes in north Bengal

Sanjoy Dhanothi, president of the North Bengal Tea Producers' Association (NBTPA) that represent the factories, said prices of the tea in auctions had drastically come down in the past few weeks, and now, it was even lower than the cost of production. "All BLFs (bought-leaf factories) are overloaded with stocks of made teas because of lack of demand from buyers. Added to this, is the continuous fall in auction prices over the past few weeks. Our tea is selling at Rs 65-80 per kilo. This has reduced our profitability as such low rates are not even covering our cost of production, leading to losses," Dhanothi said. "We have urged the state government and tea board to intervene and take initiative to ensure that we tide over this crisis."

The BLF owners, while elaborating on the deterrents in the growth of the sector, said they were facing acute shortage of tealeaves. "As new production units have been set up by tea estates and new licences are being provided to more BLFs, the supply of tealeaves is not steady even during the peak season. Each of our units is facing a daily shortage of around 35 per cent, compared to their optimum production capacity. This is increasing our per unit production cost as certain expenses are fixed and do not change with the scale of production," the NBTPA president said.

Asked about the allegation levelled by small growers that the BLFs were paying lesser prices to them, Dhanothi said it was only because of the strike in the tea gardens. "Once the strike is over and the small growers start supplying to the bigger gardens, we will again face the problem of shortage of raw material," he said.

Small growers or planters, who own less than 25 acres and have been hit because of the ongoing impasse and strike in the Dooars and Terai tea industry, however, stuck to their allegation that they were being paid less. "This year, a kilo of tea fetched us as high as Rs 12 but right now, it has dropped to Rs 5. We cannot sustain this loss as our average production cost is Rs 10.50 per kilo," Bijoygopal Chakraborty, associated with the United Forum of Small Tea Growers Associations, an apex body of small growers in the region, said. "Correspondences have been made with the tea board and the state government, and we have urged them to look into our problem of poor price realisation."

According to figures available in the industry, there are around 30,000 small growers and 95 BLFs in north Bengal. In 2010, the total tea produced in north Bengal was 240 million kg. Of this, 92 million kg had been produced from leaves provided by small growers.

The crisis, which is plaguing both the growers and the BLFs, has prompted the tea board to call a meeting here on August 17. "A meeting has been called to discuss certain issues with representatives of BLF owners and growers," said K.K Bhattacharya, the deputy director of the tea board posted in Siliguri. "Issues like price realisation and production would be discussed in detail."


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