This morning, Grover Norquist spoke at the first ever U.S. Senate Tea Party Caucus meeting. Three GOP senators headlined the meeting today; Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah). Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) also attended, and plans to join the caucus.
Other speakers included Amy Kremer, a founder of the movement and head of the Tea Party Express; Tim Phillips, President of Americans for Prosperity; Matt Kibbe, President of FreedomWorks, and Jamie Radtke, Virginia Tea Party Patriot Federation Chair.
Norquist explained that the tea party movement has arisen partly in reaction to Obama’s presidency. Obama is a “friend of the government” and his policies reflect the interest of an ever growing and increasingly overbearing government. The tea partiers wish simply to be left alone.
“It’s not going to be a caucus run by politicians” said Sen. DeMint as reported by The Hill, “Remind them we’re listening — we didn’t just get elected and forget about them”.
The discussion was focused on plans to slash the federal budget. Last year, the Center for Fiscal Accountability released the Cost of Government Day report. In 2010 the day fell on August 19th, meaning the average worker must toil 231 days out of the year to meet all costs imposed by government, which amounts to 63.41 percent of national income. A great concern for the future of America loomed in the room as speakers expressed their heartfelt obligation to bring fiscal order so the next generation can experience the American Dream.