Thursday, June 9, 2011
Japan may face green tea shortage due to radiation leakes from Fukushima plant
The government decided on Thursday to curb shipments of dried tea leaves containing more than 500 becquerel per kg of radioactive cesium.var AddOthers = document.getElementById("yahoobuzzsyn").innerHTML;var msgparent = '8721471'; var _obj=document.getElementById("reportAbuseDiv"); var y = findPosY(_obj); window.onscroll=setabuseForm;var facebooklink=document.location.href;function callPublish(msg, attachment) {FB.ui( { method: 'stream.publish', message: msg, attachment: { media: [{ type: "image", href: facebooklink, src: fb_Img }], name: facebookktitle, caption: 'economictimes.indiatimes.com', description: facebooksyn, href: facebooklink }, user_message_prompt: "What's on your mind?" }, function(response) { if (response && response.post_id) { } else { } } );}var share = { method: 'stream.share', u: 'http://economictimes.indiatimes.com' }; FB.ui(share, function(response) { console.log(response); });function blockError(){return true;} window.onerror = blockError; var timeslog_channel_url = 'economictimes.indiatimes.com';var ttrendlogmsid='8721471'; var usersessionkey=""; FB.init({appId: '47255beefd20a79f1f2e244087a0dcc7', status: true, cookie: true, xfbml: true}); function getSessionFB(){ FB.getLoginStatus(function(response) { if (response.session) { session = response.session; sessionkey=session.session_key; usersessionkey=sessionkey; } else { } }); } setTimeout("getSessionFB()",2000); ![]()
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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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Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Drinking green tea in Newcastle
Drinking green tea in Newcastle
03 Jun 2011
03 Jun 2011
I SPENT three days in Newcastle last week researching a story on the challenges facing the clothing and textile industry in the area. This involved interviewing several owners of cut, make and trim factories, all of them Chinese immigrants. Such meetings also meant drinking copious amounts of green tea, the beverage of choice among the Chinese. Green tea is well known for its sleep-denying properties, but given the amount I drank, I’m surprised I didn’t start seeing monkeys.
Green tea’s propensities for wakefulness go back to one of the legends related to the discovery of tea. This is the story of Bodhidharma, a bearded Indian monk who is said to have taken Buddhism to China in the sixth century CE. After a fruitless meeting with the emperor, Bodhidharma went off to meditate in a cave on Mount Sung close to the Shaolin Temple — yes, the kung fu one. There he spent nine years in meditation facing the cave wall. At some point Bodhidharma got a bit drowsy and, annoyed at this backsliding and in a bid to stay awake, he tore off his eyelids and threw them to the ground. Where they landed tea bushes grew.
Bodhidharma later became acknowledged as the founding patriarch of the school of Buddhism in China known as Chan. It was later exported to Japan where it became known as Zen. Chan or Zen, both words simply mean meditation. The story of Bodhidharma’s eyelids could well be a story composed, in hindsight, to explain the practice of Zen Buddhist monks who resort to drinking green tea to banish sleepiness during overnight meditation sessions.
Tea and meditation are often interlinked. In his book Road to Heaven, the writer and translator, Bill Porter, recounts his trips to the Chungnan Mountains in central China to find out if any Buddhist hermits managed to survive the depredations of the Cultural Revolution and were still practising in their mountain hideaways.
Porter visited various mountains where hermits — male and female — had been known to live in the past. Some mountains had not only lost their hermits, but also the forests that once grew upon their slopes. Arriving at a mountain and finding that its forest had been harvested, Porter deduced that hermits would be in short supply: “There was hardly a tree in sight. I reasoned no forest, no deadfall; no deadfall, no firewood; no firewood, no tea; no tea, no meditation; no meditation; no hermits.”
And the monkeys? There is a ghost story by the 19th-century Anglo-Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu, titled Green Tea. It is about an academic clergyman “the Reverend Mr Jennings”, who is immersed in a work “upon the religious metaphysics of the ancients”. To aid his concentration he resorted to tea: “It cleared and intensified the power of thought ... and it became a habit with me to sip my tea — green tea — every now and then as my work proceeded.”
After a while, the reverend gentlemen begins to be plagued by the unwanted attentions of a monkey. A creature he alone can see. Eventually he is driven insane and commits suicide.
The reader is informed that the unfortunate scholar had fallen victim to the hallucinatory qualities of green tea consumed in large quantities. Monkeys, apparently, being the pink elephants of overindulgence in the beverage.
Hence my relief, given the quantities of green tea consumed, that I saw no monkeys during my visit to Newcastle.
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Tanzanian Tea Output Set to Miss Estimate as Drought Cuts Leaf Yields
Tanzania’s tea crop, the fourth- largest in Africa, is set to miss an initial estimate by 8.6 percent in the current 2010-11 season after a drought cut yields, according to the Tea Board of Tanzania.
Production may come to 32,000 metric tons in the year through June, compared with the prior 35,000-ton estimate, Director General Mathias Assenga said yesterday by phone from the commercial center of Dar es Salaam. Output is just 1,500 tons short of the reduced goal, he said. Farmers grew 33,000 tons of the leaves in the prior year, board figures show.
“This season the weather has not been very good, especially since September,” Assenga said. “We cannot achieve 35,000 tons, but 32,000 tons, and we are now remaining with a little volume to achieve this.”
Tanzania exported 28,064 tons of the leaves in the 2009-10 season worth about $57 million, according to the board. Agriculture generates more than 40 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, the CIA World Factbook shows. The board is trying to encourage farmers to introduce the crop to areas bordering Kenya and to use more fertilizers.
“Production by some estates will be a little bit up because of increased care, and volumes from Usambara in the north will improve because of a replanting program,” said Assenga.
Still, output in the coming 2011-12 year may be 35,000 tons, 3 percent lower than the March 11 forecast of 36,000 tons, because of adverse weather, he said. Wider planting and improved field management may raise production from the current period, he said.
The March projection for the next season’s output would be 18 percent lower than the 44,000-ton target in 2008, Assenga said, citing lower-than-anticipated planting and adverse weather. A sowing plan that’s in progress may raise production to 44,000 tons in the 2015-16 year, he said.
Tanzania, East Africa’s second-biggest economy, ranks behind Kenya, Malawi and Uganda in tea production on the continent, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization. The main Tanzanian growing areas are Iringa and Mbeya in the south, Tanga in the northeast and Kagera in the northwest.
Four-fifths of the country’s tea is sold to foreign buyers from the U.K. and Germany to India and the United Arab Emirates. About half of Tanzanian tea exports are channeled through the world’s biggest auction for the leaves in the port city of Mombasa in neighboring Kenya.
To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala at fojambo@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
Top Tea Houses Around Denver
Seven Cups (credit: Sarah Carpenter)
Tea time is highly underrated and should be experienced more often, I believe. There are so many benefits from drinking tea, including ceremonious celebrations, learning about all the cleansing qualities, partaking in a traditional afternoon tea with finger sandwiches and getting a break from the happy hour while sipping tea and enjoying conversation with your friends. I was pleased to find that Denver really has a good variety of teahouses. From dainty ones that house red hatters to exotic ones that bear Persian artwork, there’s much to be explored. A game of Mahjong at Seven Cups (credit: Sarah Carpenter)1882 South Pearl Street
Denver, CO 80210
(303) 777-2877
sevencupsdenver.com
Seven Cups off of Evans and Broadway is truly a teahouse to become a regular patron of. Their imported teas from Asia — plus the education they offer through events and knowledgeable staff — is admirable. Upon walking in you are greeted immediately with smiling faces and hospitality, ringing true to the nature of teatime itself. Be sure to inquire about how the shop was created and don’t hesitate to pose questions to the staff, who are all educated in nutrition and detoxification. In addition to their tea culture classes and Friday free tea tastings, devotees come to play the game of Mahjong on Tuesdays and Thursday nights. And as for the tea itself? Elegant Chinese carved stands hold specialty white tea, a sweet and nutritious tea that is picked from a bud that only grows once a year in one area of China. You’ll find herbal teas, green teas and rare yellow teas — a cooling tea rich in antioxidants similar to green tea. There’s Oolong, black and blended teas. There are tea selections from Japan such as Matcha, a thick bitter tea that is whisked into hot water, and Sencha Green tea, where the leaves are steamed rather than roasted. Perhaps the most impressive tea at Seven Cups is the Puer Tea from Yunnan Province in China, which is processed by taking sun dried green tea and compressing it into cakes which are then left to ferment. It offers a robust taste and supports digestion.
2401 15th Street
Denver, CO 80202
(303) 455-4832
houseofcommonstea.com
If you are searching for a tea house that reminisces and celebrates the long held British tradition of afternoon tea and little cucumber sandwiches, House of Commons in the Highlands is your place! Located on Platte Street, just off of 15th, in the lower area of the Highlands, just north of Downtown, you’ll find the quaint little shop, named after Commons Park nearby. House of Commons imports many of their teas straight from England, by a family in Yorkshire that’s been blending teas since late 19th century. However, teas at House of Commons are not limited to the British taste. Sip on teas such as the malty Scottish Breakfast, South African Kwazulu, China Rose Petals, or (my favorite) Specialty Peach Iced Tea which is blended with sunflower and safflower. Be sure to try their sandwiches, soups, quiches or desserts, and of course, their afternoon tea (which is actually served all day)! It includes finger sandwiches, scones and jam, lemon curd and Devonshire Cream, English Biscuits, Petits Fours and a pot of tea.
Serendipitea (credit: Sarah Carpenter)5610 South Curtis Street
Littleton, CO 80120
(303) 904-2376
serendipi-teashoppe.com
If the adorable type of teahouse is your cup of tea, Serendipitea in downtown Littleton is one to visit. The shop is located in a turn-of-the-century house just north of Main Street on Curtis and features lacy benches, gardens, an outdoor patio and a warm and inviting interior. It is run by Jean Labo, who has a passion for tea and its history, and who is as warm and wise as her splendid tea. Her daughter can be found within the shop, as well as the gorgeous white, tiered cake that was made by her for their party to honor Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding. Lunch and Cream Tea is served until 3 p.m. (reservations recommended) and afternoon tea starts at 2:30 p.m. (reservations required). Serendipitea features “Elevenses” — fulfilling lunch sandwiches — and also provides a cutesy and cozy space for special events like baby showers.
Mrs. B's (credit: Sarah Carpenter)2506 West Alamo Avenue
Littleton, CO 80120
(303) 797-3500
mrsbsteaparlor.com
If I could bundle up my sweet grandmother and transform her into a tea parlor, the result would be Mrs. B’s — and I mean that in the most affectionate and sincere way! Inside even smells like the home cooked meals she would make when I was little, not to mention adorning china that bears the tea, as well as pink, frilly, flowery wallpaper. The dainty aprons that the waitress wears while serving guests also makes me feel all nostalgic and happy. Mrs. B’s was created when a stay-at-home mom decided to open her own tea house in honor of her mother — “Mrs. B.” As a child she learned the many ways to serve tea time and make comfy meals from her mom. Here, you’ll find afternoon tea at 2 p.m.
Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse (credit: Sarah Carpenter)1770 13th Street
Boulder, CO 80302
(303) 442-4993
boulderteahouse.com
The Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse has to be one the country’s most exquisite teahouses. The entire structure was created after a Sister Cities partnership was formed between Boulder and the city of Dushanbe in Tajikistan in 1987. The mayor at the time visited Boulder and decided to offer the handmade teahouse as a gift. It was designed by more than 40 artisans and features intricate Persian columns, tiles and motifs. All the pieces arrived in Boulder in 200 crates and it reassembled in 1998. Now it is enjoyed by residents of Boulder and its surrounding communities, as well as tourists. You’ll delight here in the more than 100 choices of tea, plus truly delicious Mediterranean style food.
- Sarah Carpenter lives in Littleton, where she was born and raised. She spent a decade in Downtown Denver, and its surrounding neighborhoods, going to school for writing, working in the service industry, and getting to know Denver’s diverse culture. She has a passion for travel writing, local and afar, focusing the story on its people, culture and region.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Cooper Tea, Third Street Chai Merge
Two of Boulder, Colo.’s specialty tea companies, Cooper Tea Co. and Third Street Chai, announced on May 19 that they have signed a definitive agreement to merge. Both companies will operate independently under the DrinkWorks banner. The merger will enable them to leverage relevant brand and positioning strengths, forming a larger foundation for growth for each within their respective markets.
Cooper Tea and Third Street will offer a combined product portfolio that will serve both the natural/organic and conventional grocery markets as well as restaurants, coffee shops and other foodservice operations.
Cooper Tea crafts premium organic and conventional iced tea and tea-related beverages, including B.W. Cooper’s Iced Brew Tea-brand products. Additionally, Cooper Tea brings its global sourcing relationships and national foodservice network to DrinkWorks.
Third Street Chai brings its own proprietary brew process and production facility, which brew organic and Fair Trade chai teas, yerba mate and lemonade beverage concentrates under the Third Street and Pixie Mate brands. Third Street also is in the natural grocery marketplace.
Last summer, the companies jointly launched a co-branded line of iced tea concentrates in two Whole Foods Market regions. The partnership clearly presented the strong synergies of both companies, and its success led to the eventual merger.
Chairman and CEO of Cooper Tea Barry Cooper says the two tea companies have no overlap in distribution and sales channels.
John Simmons, president of Third Street, will join the Cooper Tea board of directors as part of the merger and remain president of Third Street.
Source: Cooper Tea Co.
Japan: Radioactive tea throws ministries into confusion
Local farmers have been thrown into confusion after the health and farm ministries expressed differing views over shipments of tea harvested in Kanagawa Prefecture after fresh leaves were found to have exceeded government limits for radioactive cesium.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has been trying to restrict shipments of tea leaves from the prefecture about 300 kilometers from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant due to health concerns. The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, however, has claimed that despite the high levels of radioactive material, drinking tea made from the leaves would be safe because the radioactive material would be diluted.
One tea farmer in the prefecture grumbled, "I have no idea what's going to happen. I want them to clear things up."
The radiation safety limit for tea leaves is 500 becquerels per kilogram, the same as for vegetables, while the limit for tea drinks is 200 becquerels per kilogram, the same as for drinking water.
There have been no reports of drinks exceeding the 200-becquerel limit made from radiation-contaminated tea leaves. But fresh tea leaves harvested May 9-12 in six municipalities in the prefecture were found to have been contaminated with more than 500 becquerels of radioactive material.
Radiation levels for dried tea leaves that have been minimally processed (ara cha) are said to be five times higher than in just-harvested leaves. Dried tea leaves originally harvested in Minami-Ashigara, Kanagawa Prefecture, were found to contain 3,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium.
Shipments of tea leaves from the prefecture are currently under voluntarily suspension. But making the suspension legally binding is up to the government's nuclear crisis headquarters led by Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
The health ministry has asked 14 prefectures, including Shizuoka and others in the southern Tohoku and Kanto-Koshinetsu regions, to inspect farm produce, as radioactive material has spread over a wide area. On Monday, the ministry ordered additional tests on dried tea leaves.
"Even though [radioactive materials] are diluted when the tea is consumed, would consumers feel safe with tea leaves containing several thousand becquerels of radiation on the market? We need to restrict shipments of tea leaves," an official of the health ministry's Inspection and Safety Division said.
But an official of the farm ministry's Agricultural Production and Marketing Promotion Division said: "Tea leaves are basically raw materials. It's not reasonable to impose restrictions when they're at the leaf stage."
According to the division, radioactive materials are diluted to from one-30th to one-45th when tea is made from minimally processed leaves. Radiation is reduced by one-sixth to one-ninth in tea made from fresh leaves.
Therefore, if tea is made from fresh tea leaves containing 1,000 becquerels of radiation, the radiation levels would drop to around 100 becquerels, a level below the government's safety limits.
"The 500-becquerel limit is too strict. Even though tea leaves aren't supposed to be eaten raw, they're subject to the same limit as vegetables," the farm ministry official said. "We don't have rules on what stage of processing should be restricted. So restricting shipments under these circumstances would only create confusion."
According to international standards, the annual acceptable dose of cesium from food is five millisieverts. If a person were to consume one liter of tea containing 200 becquerels of cesium every day for a year, he or she would consume about one millisievert of radiation.
Tea farmers have been frustrated with the government's indecisiveness on the matter.
Hisao Nakamura, a 74-year-old tea farmer from Minami-Ashigara, said: "We've thrown away all the ichibancha top-quality tea leaves picked so far. That cost us more than 1 million yen."
"The harvest of second-tier nibancha tea is scheduled to start next month, but we need to start preparing now," Nakamura said. "We want them to quickly decide on safety limits for radiation and whether we'll be compensated if we're not allowed to ship our leaves."
-The Yomiuri Shimbun/Asia News Network
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The Fast Fix: Can Speaker John Boehner sell Tea Party on debt-ceiling deal?
House Speaker John Boehner finds himself in a tricky position as the deadline to raise the debt ceiling approaches.
House Speaker John Boehner and the tea party movement have been on something of a political honeymoon for the first six months of this year.
But, the coming fight over whether or not to raise the debt ceiling -- essentially raising the limit the country can borrow -- has the potential to break up that happy marriage.
Tea party aligned Republicans have insisted that without major cuts to federal spending and an overhaul of the tax system they simply won't vote to raise the debt ceiling.
And there is a growing movement in Congress -- led by Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey -- that insists that there's no real chance that the country would default on our debts. Toomey has said it's "irresponsible for the administration to even implicitly threaten the possibility of a default."
Boehner, for his part, has tried to strike a hard line on the debt ceiling debate, arguing that there will need to be trillions of dollars in cuts for Republicans to consider a "yes" vote on raising the country's borrowing limit.
But, as the August deadline draws closer, Boehner will come under considerable pressure from the White House and the establishment wing of his party to compromise for the good of the country.
And any sort of deal will not sit well with a tea party who believes that compromise amounts to capitulation.
So far, Boehner has proven skillful at keeping the party establishment and the tea party living together under one roof. But the debt limit fight will test his match-making skills like no other issue he's yet faced.
----
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Saturday, June 4, 2011
Tough week for Tea Party ends with fizzling rally
The Columbia Tea Party went from Donald Trump to jilted chump after the celebrity businessman canceled his appearance at Thursday’s State House rally, and state legislators approved tax breaks and spending that the group opposed.
Trump’s decision to not enter the GOP presidential race left local Tea Party leaders stewing about the way they had been treated. But about 30 people were on hand Thursday to thank Gov. Nikki Haley, lawmakers and activists for their work to require more on-the-record Legislative votes.
It was all part of a tough week for the state’s Tea Party movement.
On Wednesday, the S.C. House reversed course and approved a controversial sales tax break for online retailer Amazon. Thursday, the S.C. Senate voted down a proposal that would have rebated any better-than-expected state tax collections to income tax filers.
Columbia Tea Party chairman Allen Olson expected as many as 2,000 would have attended Thursday’s rally had Trump been there. But The Donald, a favorite of many who attended the group’s Tax Day rally with U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., elected to not run and dropped the rally from his schedule.
“It was a kick in the gut, but it gives you a chance to regroup,” said Olson. “He’s a businessman. He showed his worth.”
Olson said the legislative losses will motivate Tea Party members, adding they will turn their focus now on a bill to cap punitive damages in lawsuits and other legislative issues.
Other Tea Party activists agreed.
Haley told the meeting she was forming the Governor’s Tea Party Coalition to be run from her office. The group will be made up of volunteers who will work with Haley on issues, advocacy and grass-roots organizing, spokesman Rob Godfrey said.
Philip Stanley came to Thursday’s rally from Asheville, N.C., in hopes of seeing Trump but said he was pleased to learn Haley would headline the event instead.
Stanley said he respected Trump for directly questioning President Barack Obama about his birth certificate without fear of being labeled with “the R word” for racist. (Obama subsequently produced his long-form birth certificate, and Stanley said Thursday that he did not dispute the president’s U.S. citizenship.)
“I never thought he was serious,” Stanley said of Trump. “He’s a promoter. ... Then, I heard Nikki Haley was here. That’s almost as good.”
Tea Party Sets the Agenda, and Legislators Fall in Line
As a result, the Tea Party’s objectives have been the top priorities of lawmakers. And in case the politicians lost sight of those goals, the Legislature’s new Tea Party Caucus has been a constant reminder.
“It’s been a huge success,” said Senator Dan Patrick, Republican of Houston and chairman of the Tea Party Caucus of Texas.
A month before the legislative session began, Mr. Patrick declared the Tea Party “the most important political movement of our lifetime” and announced the formation of the caucus with 48 fellow Republican legislators. The lawmakers would take cues from an advisory board of citizen Tea Party members and ensure that the message they sent at the ballot box was translated into legislation.
The caucus agenda included balancing the budget without increasing taxes, securing the border and ending illegal immigration, asserting state sovereignty and requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls.
Just days after the session started, Mr. Perry declared voter ID an emergency issue, putting it on the fast track for approval. Over the objections of Democrats who had successfully fought the requirement in previous years, the bill sailed through both chambers and onto Mr. Perry’s desk.
The House created a special “state sovereignty” committee that approved a slew of resolutions urging Congress to stay out of Texas’ business when it comes to issues like health care and the environment. One resolution — another emergency item declared by Mr. Perry — called for amending the United States Constitution to require a balanced federal budget. On Friday, the Senate, following the lead of the House, approved the resolution and sent it to Mr. Perry.
“They’re a very vocal and important constituency,” Mark Miner, the governor’s spokesman, said of the Tea Party.
Legislators came into the session facing a shortfall of up to $27 billion in the state’s 2012-13 budget. Mr. Perry and Republican lawmakers made it clear that gap would be closed without new taxes and without using the state’s Rainy Day Fund. “That was a call heard loud and clear at the ballot box,” said Representative Van Taylor, Republican of Plano.
In March, the Tea Party Advisory Committee issued a 14-point budget-cutting plan that included a state hiring freeze, suspending financing for parks and arts and historical sites, and cutting pay for state employees. When Republican budget writers in the Senate proposed dipping into the Rainy Day Fund, the group stepped in, calling on lawmakers. The plan was quickly shelved, and deeper cuts were made.
The Tea Party also found common cause with well-heeled conservative advocacy organizations like the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Empower Texans, which push strict conservative orthodoxy on budget cutting.
“There’s a real coalition of external forces here that really put moderates in the Legislature — never mind the Democrats — in a real bind,” said Jim Henson, who directs the Texas Politics Project in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin.
Without the Tea Party, Mr. Patrick said, he was certain lawmakers would have raided the Rainy Day Fund as they did in 2003 and in 2005 — under the governor’s leadership. “Pressure from the outside gave us the wind at our backs that we needed to prevail,” he said.
One issue on the Tea Party agenda that has not met with success, so far, is a call for stricter immigration enforcement. A measure that would abolish so-called sanctuary cities — where local governments prevent police from enforcing immigration laws — has been plagued with troubles. Still, the only part of the state’s budget to escape major cuts has been border security.
Democrats in the Legislature, pushed almost to the point of irrelevancy, have been reduced to using parliamentary maneuvers and complaining about the deeply conservative agenda enacted around them.
Representative Jessica Farrar of Houston, leader of the House Democrats, predicted the budget cutting would create a “fiscal disaster” that even conservative activists would not like. “What happened here actually will erode the Tea Party,” Ms. Farrar said.
Friday, June 3, 2011
COOPER TEA COMPANY AND THIRD STREET CHAI ANNOUNCE MERGER
05.19.2011– BOULDER, COLO. –Two of Boulder, Colorado’s leading specialty tea companies announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement to merge. Cooper Tea Company (Cooper Tea) and Third Street Chai (Third Street) will join forces under the name “DrinkWorks” going forward.
DrinkWorks will be a leader in branded organic and conventional beverage concentrates. The merger will enable both companies to leverage relevant brand and positioning strengths, forming a larger foundation for growth for each within their respective markets.
Cooper Tea and Third Street will offer a combined product portfolio that will serve both the natural/organic and conventional grocery markets, as well as restaurants, coffee shops and other foodservice operations. Both companies will operate independently under the “DrinkWorks” banner.
Cooper Tea crafts premium organic and conventional iced tea and tea-related beverages including B.W. Cooper’s Iced Brew Tea-brand products. Additionally, Cooper Tea brings its global sourcing relationships and national foodservice network to DrinkWorks. Third Street Chai brings its own proprietary brew process and production facility, which brew organic and Fair Trade chai teas, yerba mate and lemonade beverage concentrates under the Third Street and Pixie Mate brands. Third Street also brings a strong reputation for sustainable business practices and a solid market footing in the natural grocery marketplace.
In Summer 2010, the companies jointly launched a co-branded line of iced tea concentrates, which was the most successful new specialty item in two Whole Foods Market regions. The partnership clearly presented the strong synergies of both companies, and its success led to the eventual merger.
“This is an exciting move that positions us to offer innovative new products,” said Chairman and CEO of Cooper Tea, Barry W. Cooper. “Both companies are involved in the natural and organic iced tea concentrate business. With the consumer desire for greater convenience and the societal push to reduce packaging, it’s a good place to be.
Cooper continued: “We are in the same business, but currently have no overlap in distribution and sales channels. This merger will open up significant growth opportunities. We are poised to be a leadership force for specialty, artisan-crafted natural and organic tea concentrates, which are also innovative and earth-friendly. Our entire product portfolio is ‘better for you – and better for the planet’. It’s definitely a winning combination.”
John Simmons, President of Third Street, concurred: “Our partnership is well aligned and straightforward - we’re both passionate about crafting the finest beverages with an ethical business model.
“We’re both nimble and innovative in responding to changing market demands and we operate from a place of fairness and integrity. We will increase efficiencies within the back-end business platforms as well as in research and development. We plan to fully utilize Third Street’s organic manufacturing facilities and leverage Cooper’s relationship with tea suppliers worldwide. Our plan is to enable both Cooper Tea and Third Street to stay unique and remain true to their respective brand profile and positioning. Both brands have loyal fans; we don’t intend to change what’s clearly working.”
Simmons will be joining the Cooper Tea board of directors as part of the merger, and will remain President of Third Street.
Both Cooper and Simmons will be in the Cooper Tea booth (#1644) at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, from 10:30 am - 2:30 pm on May 21-23, 2011.
ABOUT COOPER TEA
Based in Louisville, Colorado, in Boulder County, the Cooper Tea Company is known for its premium B.W. Cooper’s Iced Brew Tea concentrates, which are served in over 10,000 restaurants and other food service outlets across the country. In 2010, the company launched the first USDA-certified organic Bag-in-Box (BIB) tea concentrate. CEO Cooper is author of the award-winning book, ”Silver Spoons, Mad Baboons and Other Tales of Tea.” Visit www.CooperTea.com.
ABOUT THIRD STREET
Third Street, a Boulder, Colorado-based company, developed the first organic and Fair Trade chai concentrates in 2001 and has been microbrewing for the retail and specialty coffee markets ever since. In 2010, the company introduced organic lemonade and partnered with Cooper Tea in a successful launch of co-branded iced tea concentrates in summer, 2010. A leader in sustainable business practices, Third Street’s brewing facility is 100% wind-powered and they compost 100% of their ingredients with local organic farmers in Boulder County. Visit www.thirdstreetchai.com.
Tea Party favorite Herman Cain launching White House bid
ATLANTA — If there is an early crowd favorite in the Republican race for president, it may be Herman Cain.
The businessman, author, talk radio show host and tea party darling knows how to wow a conservative gathering. Now the 65-year-old Cain will try to see if he can use that grass-roots enthusiasm to turn a long-shot presidential campaign into a credible bid.
He plans to announce his candidacy at a rally in Atlanta on Saturday, an announcement that’s hardly a secret.
Cain has been crisscrossing the country for months now, his intentions abundantly clear.
So are his views, espoused for years on his radio show and in speeches. He supports a strong national defense, opposes abortion, backs replacing the federal income tax with a national sales tax and favors a return to the gold standard.
He’s never held elected office, having lost a three-way Republican U.S. Senate primary bid in Georgia in 2004 with a quarter of the vote. His “Hermanator” political action committee has taken in just over $16,000 so far this year.
Cain says he’s running “a bottoms-up, outside-the-box campaign.” And supporters say he taps into the tea party-fueled desire for plain-speaking citizen candidates.
“I just love him,” gushed Laura Miller, a self-described “Cainiac” from Jessup, Ga. “What he says makes so much sense.”
Born in Memphis, Tenn., and raised in Atlanta, Cain is the son of a chauffeur and a maid. He attended historically black Morehouse College, earned a master’s degree from Purdue University and worked as a mathematician for the Navy before beginning to scale the corporate ladder. He worked at Coca-Cola, Pillsbury and Burger King before taking the helm of the failing Godfather’s Pizza franchise, which he rescued by shuttering hundreds of restaurants.
He burst onto the political stage when he sparred with President Bill Clinton over the Democrat’s health care reform plan at a 1994 town hall meeting.
“On behalf of all of those business owners that are in a situation similar to mine,” asked Cain, “my question is, quite simply, if I’m forced to do this, what will I tell those people whose jobs I will have to eliminate?”
Republican Jack Kemp described Cain as having “the voice of Othello, the looks of a football player, the English of Oxfordian quality and the courage of a lion.”
In 2006, Cain was diagnosed with liver and colon cancer. He says he’s been cancer-free since 2007 and credits the nation’s health care system with keeping him alive. He says it’s one reason he’s so passionately opposed to the federal health care law championed by President Barack Obama.
At a speech last week in Macon, Ga., Cain gave a glimpse of the rationale for his candidacy, arguing that the American dream is under attack from runaway debt, a stagnant economy and a Democratic administration forcing a legislative agenda citizens don’t want.
___
Online:
Herman Cain: http://www.hermancain.com
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Special report: Stuck between the Tea Party and a hard place
DAYTON, Ohio (Reuters) – This John Boehner was not the John Boehner that Tea Party leaders in the room thought they knew.
Compared to the Boehner who talked tough on spending ahead of last November's elections, the one who showed up at Club 55, just off Interstate 75 in Troy in southwestern Ohio, struck them as timid.
The private April 25 meeting was convened by the Speaker of the House of Representatives at the request of Tea Party leaders, who were seething over recent Republican compromises, most notably on the 2011 budget.
One of the 25 or so leaders, all from Boehner's district, asked him if Republicans would raise America's $14.3 trillion debt limit.
According to half a dozen attendees interviewed by Reuters, the most powerful Republican in Washington said "yes."
"And we're going to have to raise it again in the future," he added. With the mass retirement of America's Baby Boomers, he explained, it would take 20 years to balance the U.S. budget and 30 years after that to erase the nation's huge fiscal deficit.
That answer incensed many of the Tea Party activists, for whom raising the debt limit is anathema.
"You could have knocked me out of my chair," said Denise Robertson, a computer programer who belongs to the Preble County Liberty Group. "Fifty years?"
She said "my fantasy now" is someone will challenge Boehner in the 2012 Republican primaries. "If we could find someone good to run against him, I'd campaign for them every day," Robertson said.
"I am sick of the tears," she added, a sarcastic reference to Boehner's famous propensity to cry. "I want results."
Fed up with "broken promises," some Tea Party activists have already moved beyond the fantasy stage and aim to "primary" Republicans who have let them down -- that is, challenge them in primaries. Some talk of long-shot attempts to unseat leaders like House Majority Whip Eric Cantor.
Led by Boehner, Republicans in Congress are at odds with Democrats and the White House over how to raise the limit on how much debt the United States can afford. President Barack Obama's administration warns of global financial chaos if lawmakers do not increase the current cap of $14.3 trillion.
Boehner, in a May 9 speech in New York, did insist that any increase to the debt limit include "cuts in trillions." But conservatives expect the Republicans will not uphold his demand.
If the Republicans lose the debt limit battle, more Tea Party groups say they will aggressively seek candidates to challenge establishment figures in the 2012 primaries.
"At this point, all of them are potential targets," said Dawn Wildman, president of the SoCal Tax Revolt Coalition, who lives in San Diego. "All the way up to Boehner."
FAILURE AN OPTION?
Born in the days after Obama took office in early 2009 in a wave of conservative anger at corporate bailouts and hefty government spending to stem the Great Recession, the Tea Party movement has come a long way in just two years.
After failing to halt the passage of Obama's health reform bill, Tea Partiers staffed phone banks, knocked on doors to get out the vote and played a major role in gaining 63 seats for the Republicans in the 2010 elections.
The biggest midterm election year swing since 1938 delivered a large House majority for the Republicans and made gains in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Flush with victory, Tea Partiers dived headfirst into local and state politics in 2011 -- the results of which are expected to affect the state and national elections of 2012.
Their primary foe is still America's progressive left -- it is a given in Ohio, for instance, that the top target for 2012 is Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown.
But now more than ever before the full force of their ire is directed at the Republican Party establishment.
Dozens of interviews with Tea Party activists across the country paint a picture of a conservative movement whose members gave the Republican Party in Washington a chance to prove it was serious about fiscal responsibility after years of running up deficits under Obama's predecessor George W. Bush.
And many Republican politicians promised to uphold the Tea Party's central tenets -- constitutionally limited government, lower taxes and the free markets.
"They certainly talked the talk before the election," said Tim Dake of the Wisconsin Grandsons of Liberty. "They told us what they knew we wanted to hear and sought us out."
After the election, not so much. "All of a sudden they stopped taking our calls and were no longer interested in what we had to say," Dake said.
Hoping for meaningful change, they watched as either the same people -- Boehner and Cantor -- or party loyalists took up leadership positions in the House.
Then came the first real battle of the new Congress that mattered to the Tea Party -- cutting spending in the 2011 budget. Instead of $100 billion in cuts the Republicans promised in their "Pledge to America" unveiled last September, Republicans and Democrats agreed on $38 billion.
When the Congressional Budget Office said the real spending reduction was $352 million that set many Tea Partiers boiling.
"They volunteered that damn promise of $100 billion, we didn't ask for it," said Randy Keller of the Bowling Green Southern Kentucky Tea Party. "They seem to think that we can't handle simple math. We in the Tea Party are so angry we can't stand it."
Not raising America's debt ceiling has now taken on even greater importance for Tea Party groups.
The April 25 meeting with Boehner and inside accounts of others between House Republicans and Tea Partiers in their districts hint at a party trying to manage expectations ahead of the real debt limit debate. The trouble is while compromise is a trademark of Washington politics, to many Tea Partiers it is a dirty word.
According to Ned Ryun, head of American Majority, which provides training for conservative activists, the Republicans' problem is they mistook their November victory as a sign the Tea Party backed them because its members are conservatives.
"The Republican establishment suffers from a weird belief that somehow the Tea Party will fall in line because it is an adjunct of the Republican Party," he said. "But the Tea Party is not and never will be an arm of the Republican Party."
That leaves Boehner stuck between the Tea Party and a hard place. If he pushes too hard on cuts, that will rattle the Republican Party's powerful Wall Street wing, potentially roiling the markets and unsettling the broader electorate.
But backing down will also hurt him. "After accusations he didn't do enough in the budget battle, Boehner has to have something real to take back to conservatives or he's in trouble," said James McCormick, a professor of political science at Iowa State University. "He's boxed in between two components of the Republican Party. Obama knows that and is not under the same pressure."
If the Republicans falter, the search for establishment targets will kick into a higher gear -- with freshmen, or those elected in 2010 seen as the easiest to unseat as they are new.
"The Tea Party will almost certainly primary those they want to get rid of," said Larry Sabato, a politics professor at the University of Virginia. "They are not out to rebuild the Republican Party. They are out to take over the Republican Party and make it more like the Tea Party."
"If it takes some Republican defeats along the way to make that happen, then that is what they'll do," he added.
'SCREW UP A FREE LUNCH IN A SOUP KITCHEN'
When night fell on election day last November 2, Tea Partiers across the country were flat out exhausted.
Most activists in the amorphous movement are unpaid. Many have full-time jobs as well as volunteering for the cause.
In the run-up to the election an army of volunteers learned the mechanics of electioneering: from manning phone banks to knocking on doors to get people to the polls.
Ana Puig of the Kitchen Table Patriots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, says her group staffed a "Liberty Headquarters" 12 hours a day for four months, made 36,000 phone calls, knocked on 20,000 doors and handed out 5,000 yard signs, helping to elect conservative Pat Toomey to the U.S. Senate.
"The Republicans would not have been able to achieve those results by itself," said Puig. "We reached the folks the Republican Party could not."
This is the real power of the Tea Party in its raw form: the ability to get voters to the polls.
Tea Party activists in many states describe with contempt an "atrophied" Republican Party machine that in some places they have taken over or ignored entirely.
"The Ohio state Republican Party would screw up a free lunch in a soup kitchen," said Ralph King of the Cleveland Tea Party, a sentiment echoed elsewhere, though less colorfully.
After the election, Tea Party groups in many states immersed themselves in local and state politics -- a task made easier by massive Tea Party-infused gains for Republicans at the state level.
Groups in states like Wisconsin, Indiana, New Hampshire and Ohio have pushed "right to work" bills to take on the unions.
Others have backed voter identification bills, under consideration now in 25 states, which conservatives say would prevent voter fraud. Democrats say these bills would lower the turnout for minority, low-income and elderly voters. In Texas, Tea Parties have pushed hard for cuts to the state budget.
Social conservatives have used new Republican majorities in state houses to pass some bills targeting abortions. Others are pushing gun rights legislation.
And in many states Tea Party groups have pushed back against Obama's healthcare reform -- dubbed "Obamacare." In Ohio activists are nearing the 386,000 signatures needed for a statewide ballot in November challenging the mandate that individuals obtain health insurance.
"We needed time to breathe," said Chris Littleton, head of the Ohio Liberty Council, who said he is happy control of Washington is divided in the short term because it has allowed Tea Party groups in Ohio "to build up infrastructure."
"By not having a federal agenda flying at us, we have been able to focus more on local and state politics in 2011," he said, "before we go back to federal politics in 2012."
There has been some media attention devoted recently to the fact that attendance at Tea Party rallies, the hallmark of the early days of the movement, has dwindled.
But Tea Partiers say they are too busy learning how the political system works -- prior to 2009 most had little or no political experience -- and that rallies produce few results.
"Rallies get people off the couch," Wisconsin Grandsons of Liberty's Dake said. "But the return on investment from all the work and money that you have to put into them is not very high. What we've found is that people want to have an impact, even if it is just at the local level."
Though the anger may burn with a lower intensity than the white-hot rage of the early days, it still burns -- and the Tea Party is trying to put that to good use.
"You can't sustain that kind of anger for long, it drains you," said Jim Lefler of the Southwest Michigan Tea Party. "We've learned to channel our anger to get results."
'OUR WAR NOW IS WITH THE REPUBLICANS'
Irrespective of their immersion on local politics, however, the Tea Party movement has maintained its laser focus on the national political scene.
Despite their fervent opposition to Obama's health reform, few appear impressed by the symbolic vote in January in the House to repeal the law -- it never stood a chance in the Democratic-controlled Senate, let alone reached Obama's desk.
"That vote was just so Republicans could go home and campaign by saying they voted to repeal Obamacare," said Paul Keith, chairman of the Bowling Green Southern Kentucky Tea Party. "That vote was meaningless, it was crap."
"The things that matter to us are what the Republicans control. Where if they don't cooperate, there is no deal."
The fiscal 2011 budget was one such thing. In their "Pledge to America" the party promised spending cuts of $100 billion "in the first year alone and putting us on a path to begin paying down the debt, balancing the budget, and ending the spending spree in Washington."
Not only did Tea Party members around the country note which Republicans voted for the 2011 budget -- especially those who ran as fiscal conservatives last year -- they are also aware of the 59 Republicans who voted against it.
Tea Party members in Ohio, for instance, know three House Republicans held the Tea Party line -- Jim Jordan, Steve Chabot and Jean Schmidt -- while nine did not, including Boehner.
For some Tea Party groups the budget was too much. So they want to target RINOs -- Republicans In Name Only, a pejorative term conservatives use for moderate Republicans.
"There isn't any urgency among the establishment Republicans," said Phillip Dennis of the Dallas Tea Party. "They just don't get that we elected them not because we love them, but only because they weren't Democrats."
"Our war now is with the Republican Party," he added. "We need to send home a whole boatload of RINOs."
So far the only high-profile attempt to "primary" a moderate Republican in 2012 is Indiana, where conservative state treasurer Richard Mourdock is challenging Senator Dick Lugar, who has steadfastly refused to change his views.
But others are mentioned as possible. Utah Senator Orrin Hatch is one, though no challenger has yet come forward. Tea Party groups in a number of states are eyeing potential candidates for House races, but say their searches are still in the early stages.
Perhaps the highest-profile member of the House whom Tea Partiers hope to unseat is Eric Cantor. Karen Hurd of the Virginia Tea Party Alliance is working on a two-pronged strategy to challenge him. The House Majority leader is considered conservative by many, but Hurd says he is a RINO.
Hurd is compiling an "information campaign" highlighting his record, including voting for the unpopular 2008 bank bailout. If the campaign gains traction, Hurd wants to find a challenger, though she acknowledges that is a tall order. Cantor's is a safe seat and he can raise a lot of money.
"Right now Cantor is impregnable, but if we can make him vulnerable then he can be primaried," Hurd said. "A few years ago challenging Cantor was inconceivable. The big change now is that while it's a huge challenge, it's not impossible."
Others, like Dake of the Wisconsin Grandsons of Liberty, are waiting to see how their Republicans vote in the near future. The more they stray from the fiscal conservative line, the more likely they will be challenged.
"It's still early in the year," he said. "We'll give them a couple more votes before we decide."
'NOT ONE HAND WENT UP'
Tea Party leaders who attended the April 25 meeting with John Boehner -- a member of his office confirmed much of the account given by those who spoke to Reuters -- recall he put on a nice spread: quiche, fruit, some "nice cheese" and such.
But the assembled leaders found his answers on raising the debt limit unpalatable.
Ron Musilli, 62, a native of Troy, recalls asking Boehner what leverage points the Republicans planned to focus on in debt limit talks with the White House and Senate Democrats.
"We haven't figured that out yet," he recalls Boehner replied.
Musilli says that was "a little disconcerting. My kids will be retiring in 50 years, so I like to see a plan to reduce the deficit before then."
When someone asked what happened to the bold-talking John Boehner of October 2012, the Speaker became frustrated and responded with a question: "Would you have the United States default on its obligations?"
For many, the short answer is yes.
Gene Clem, a spokesman for the Michigan Tea Party Alliance, says at a meeting of 120 activists from 12 Michigan counties at the end of April he asked who wanted to raise the debt limit.
"Not one hand went up," he said. "Not one."
Others want the Republicans to force the Democrats to agree to major cuts before they raise the debt limit. Boehner and other Republicans have talked tough in recent days about slashing spending. Now the onus is on them to deliver.
The University of Virginia's Sabato said the Republicans' predicament is they cannot do enough to please a movement that wants drastic cuts and dislikes compromise.
"The Tea Party wants to take it (the debt limit debate) to the brink," he said. "The Republicans won't go there because they know the price will be too high for them."
The Republicans' corporate wing would prefer a mix of gradual spending cuts and tax increases, which conflicts with the Tea Party's ideals of both lower taxes and spending.
Matt Kibbe, CEO of FreedomWorks, which has provided logistical support for some Tea Party groups, said corporate support for the banking sector bailout, the stimulus package and even for healthcare reform had been unpopular with Tea Party activists.
That has created what Kibbe called "a growing divide" between the Tea Party and corporate America.
'NOT QUALIFIED TO BE DOG CATCHER'
Tea Party groups learned some tough lessons in the 2010 election. First, they often split the vote between them when going up against establishment figures.
Hoping to avoid the same mistakes, the Michigan Tea Party Alliance, a coalition of Tea Party groups across the state, is working out guidelines to agree on one challenger per seat.
The other main drawback in 2010 was that Tea Party neophytes often chose candidates whose track records or background made them unelectable.
Possibly the prime example of that was Christine O'Donnell, who beat a moderate candidate in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat in Delaware, but whose campaign foundered in part over embarrassing revelations of dabbling in witchcraft. Some establishment Republicans claim poor Tea Party choices cost them the Senate.
"Let's face it, we had people who were solidly unqualified for dog catcher, let alone the office they were running for," said SoCal Tax Revolt Coalition's Wildman.
"The other thing we are learning now is what happens when naive people get into high office," she added of some of the freshmen the Tea Party helped elect.
"So we are learning how to vet candidates properly."
While being a complete outsider was seen as a plus last year, Tea Party groups are now looking for conservative candidates with a track record and name recognition.
Some in the movement have run or plan to run for office at the local level. But they will not be ready for primetime until they have worked their way up the political ladder, which is some years off at best.
"The biggest challenge we are facing is finding people to run," said Ken Emanuelson of the Dallas Tea Party. "We need an experienced person with a political track record. It may take several cycles to get the right people in place."
But even an unsuccessful run can be bad news for an establishment candidate, forcing them to spend time and vast sums of money, plus move further to the right to win the primary. In short, incumbents fear primary challenges.
"I get a lot of feedback from people locally and from around the country and it's pretty clear the Republicans do not want us to influence the primaries in 2012," said Jane Aitken of the New Hampshire Tea Party Coalition. "They hate us, but they are terrified of us too."
"But whether the Republicans want us to or not, we are going to influence the primaries next year."
American Majority's Ryun says he expects a few high-profile Republicans may be beaten in primaries next year.
But the Tea Party is expected to find easier targets among the freshmen of 2010. After two years their name recognition will not be that high and many of them are in marginal seats.
Even if challenges for high-profile establishment figures prove unsuccessful, they will get the attention of others.
"It would send a message to all other Republicans," the University of Virginia's Sabato said. "If it could happen to someone as powerful as, say, Eric Cantor, it could certainly happen to you."
WINNING THE PARTY'S SOUL
How that plays out in the general election is an open question. While the Tea Party will have an out-sized impact on Republican primaries, its success in November 2012 will depend on how acceptable its candidates are to the broader electorate.
The fierce battles going on at the state level over collective bargaining rights or spending cuts are also a factor to watch, as, thanks in part to the Tea Party, those fights are further to the right than the debate in Washington.
"There is very little doubt in my mind that establishment Republicans are very worried," said James Henson, a politics professor at the University of Texas. "They are having to watch their right flank and may end up leveraged in the middle."
"A lot of people are thinking in the abstract that cutting taxes and spending is good," he added. "But the question is what challenges the reality poses for the Republicans."
Henson also says "divisions the Tea Party has created within the Republican Party have already complicated the party's presidential race," as some candidates will wait until the battle for the party's soul has been decided.
That leaves what almost every Tea Party activist interviewed described essentially as a lackluster field.
Conservative New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's name was the only one mentioned consistently with any excitement in informal polling for this article, even though he says he will not run. Another candidate who has raised some interest is Herman Cain, a political outsider and former pizza chain CEO.
Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann has courted the Tea Party actively, but her name was barely mentioned.
In one small survey of 68 Tea Party leaders in Ohio conducted in April by the Ohio Liberty Council, in which respondents were asked who they wanted for president, Christie won with 15 votes. Bachmann got four votes, level with real estate tycoon Donald Trump, who said on Monday he would not run.
At the back of the pack, alongside former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and Barack Obama, was former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney with zero votes. In general polls, Romney currently leads the Republican pack, but the health reform he passed in office -- dubbed "Romneycare" -- is despised by conservatives for its similarities to Obama's health reform.
"Romneycare is the kiss of death for his campaign," said Christen Varley of the Greater Boston Tea Party.
Just how bad is the divide between the Tea Party and the Republican establishment? "Could the Tea Party harm the Republicans?" said Stuart Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report. "If it pushes too hard then it could fracture the Republican Party."
For some people on the ground like Colleen Conley of the Rhode Island Tea Party, a bit of party fracturing might not be a bad idea.
"If the Republicans can't come through on their promises," she said, "maybe the party needs to be blown up."
(Additional reporting by David Morgan, Corrie MacLaggan and James B. Kelleher; Editing by Jim Impoco and Claudia Parsons)
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Seniors hold afternoon tea in honor of the royals
An afternoon tea party to mark the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Southwest Focal Point Senior Center in Pembroke Pines attracted local “royals” dressed in fancy garb and ready to celebrate.
Gigi Levy, dubbed The Duchess by friends for having lived for a time in England, turned out in a short brimmed yellow hat and white gloves. Originally of Paris, Levy told tales of strolling through London streets in front of Buckingham Place.
Camille Lewis, who once donned the Pembroke Pines’ Lady Pembroke crown, graciously served friends an exquisite array of delightful English fair.
“I was there, you know, at the cathedral once,” said Lewis pointing at the wedding scene on a television in the dining area turned tea room.
And Marie Shotland, the Queen Mother of the Nifty Over Fifty Red Hat Club, laughed with ladies in waiting (aka fellow club members) decked in red and purple feathered hats.
Suzi Felix, activity director of the center, said 63 women and one man participated.
“We couldn’t be at the wedding but we can surely honor the day in style right here,” Felix said.
The room, painted in an English garden mural, featured tables topped with fine linen, dainty porcelain tea sets and baskets of English teas,. watercress with cucumber and egg salad finger sandwiches, melon wrapped in prosciutto and raspberry scones with Devonshire cream satisfied appetites.
All the while, the television tuned to Channel 2 played a loop of the royal nuptials.
Florence Pavone, of the Hollywood Antiques and Collectibles Club , wore a replica of Catherine’s sapphire and diamond engagement ring that belonged to Prince William’s mother Princess Diana. Pavone said she began celebrating at 4 a.m. by watching the wedding happen on television in real time.
“We love everything, everything Victorian and royal,” Pavone said.
Christian Schnider, dressed in a kilt from his highland Scottish heritage, said he showed to support his “lady” Nancy Schnider, who is a fan of English royalty, Great Britain’s wedding of the decade, and to “enjoy the charming company of all these fine ladies.”
With pinkies raised for each cup of steamy tea, participants watched the wedding and chatted fondly of the newlyweds.
“It’s wonderful how the whole world already loves them,” Camille Lewis said.
Tea party leaders celebrate a session with limited victories
By Michael C. Bender, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
In Print: Saturday, May 21, 2011
TALLAHASSEE — Tea party leaders are cheering one of the most conservative legislative sessions in recent history, even if it was only a fraction of what they wanted.
They claim significant victories on the budget, pension reform and health care, but most of their proposals failed to pass the Republican-controlled House and Senate.
Organizers in the conservative movement parrot Gov. Rick Scott when asked to summarize the session, saying progress was made and more will be accomplished next year.
But while some tea party leaders talk about learning the give and take of the legislative process, others already have identified Republicans to target in the 2012 elections.
Tom Gaitens, state director for Florida FreedomWorks, said he plans to recruit primary opponents to run against Republican Sens. Jack Latvala of St. Petersburg, Jim Norman of Tampa and Thad Altman of Melbourne.
But Gaitens gives other Republicans a pass. He said the Florida Alliance, a coalition of 130 tea party groups that settled on a legislative agenda for this year, no longer plans to grade lawmakers.
"When you try to rate a politician, the legislative process gets in the way," Gaitens said. "Sometimes there's a bill that he or she needs to support. We're very aware of this."
Clyde Fabretti, a co-founder of the West Orlando Tea Party, talked about a "maturation process" for the fledging tea party movement.
"We're pragmatic enough to understand that not every single issue was going to be a success," he said. "I'm pleased with what we got done, and there will be another session next year."
The tea party movement won a major victory on the state budget, which includes no significant tax or fee increases.
Teachers, law enforcement and other state workers will have to contribute to their pensions for the first time in decades.
A pair of state constitutional amendments taking aim at state spending and the federal health insurance laws are on the November 2012 statewide ballot.
But Republican leaders failed to pass 20 other bills and resolutions on the tea party's agenda.
Some of the proposals that failed included:
‧ A bill prohibiting Florida courts from relying on Muslim Sharia law or legal codes from other nations when making decisions (SB 1294, HB 1273).
‧ A resolution calling on Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution so that federal laws can be overturned if two-thirds of state legislatures agree (SCR 1558).
‧ A repeal of the Florida Climate Protection Act, which authorizes the state to create a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emission (SB 762).
But tea party leaders have been most vocal about the Legislature's failure to approve tougher immigration standards. They wanted lawmakers to:
‧ Force Florida businesses to use a federal database, known as E-Verify, to check their employees' citizenship (SB 518, HB 691).
‧ Let law enforcement check the citizenship of citizens when there is "reasonable suspicion" (SB 136, HB 237).
‧ Expedite the deportation process by creating new agreements between the state and federal government (SB 304, HB 205).
None of the bills passed.
Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, had more bills on the tea party's agenda than any other lawmaker, including the E-Verify proposal.
Hays said he will tell tea party members he is proud of the Legislature's work this year. Hays is scheduled to speak to several tea party groups this summer.
"It's a matter of trying to turn a battleship at sea," Hays said. "You can't maneuver a battleship the way you do a Jet Ski."
Michael C. Bender can be reached at mbender@sptimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @MichaelCBender.
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