Pressure in the Teapot

The tea party movement is successful because it’s against everything. It gets problematic when one asks what it’s for.

It’s easy to be against something. But it makes implementing your own ideas that much more difficult. This cast-iron political principle is now being felt by the tea party movement — that catchall for those dissatisfied with government and taxation. Many tea party-backed candidates were voted into local, state and federal office last November and are now getting familiar with the troubles of day-to-day politics.

The dividing line within the arch-conservative movement is drawn between the social conservatives, for whom traditional values and morals are the focus, and the Libertarian wing that seeks to limit the power of government as much as possible. The differences become visible in various policy areas.

No School Vouchers

In Pennsylvania, for example, Republican Tom Corbett was elected governor with tea party backing. Now, his first proposed legislation has divided the two factions over an education reform question. The law proposes that needy families be given vouchers to enable their children to attend better schools. But not everyone in the tea party movement supports such a proposal. Opponents argue that vouchers constitute government involvement in a private matter. The state, they say, should not be involved in redistributing the wealth by taking money from one citizen and giving it to another.

Financing the NATO Operation in Libya

Neither are tea partiers always on the same page in foreign policy. When the de-funding of the Libyan mission came to a vote in the House of Representatives, 27 of the 59 tea party-backed representatives voted not to cut the funds; among them was Michele Bachmann, who said she voted against cutting the funds because the bill didn’t cut enough.

Electoral Anguish: Bachmann vs. Palin

Bachmann — a prominent figure in the tea party movement — announced last week that she would seek the nomination of the Republican Party to run for the presidency. Bachmann is an Iowa native, is considered a devout Christian and promises to repeal health care reform if she makes it to the White House. Her candidacy means the chances for another grande dame of the tea party — namely, Sarah Palin — are lessened.

Palin, who ran for the vice presidency in 2008 at John McCain’s side, has been popping up across the country for weeks with the Tea Party Express. She’s considered a candidate, although she has made no formal announcement to that effect thus far, but there are indications that she may be close to doing so. On Tuesday, a biographical film about Palin premiered. It’s title: “The Undefeated.”

The film depicts Palin as a strong-willed Alaskan governor who fought tirelessly for the people. Palin is said to not have had any involvement in the film’s production, but she did attend the premiere in Pella, Iowa. That, according to The Atlantic magazine, didn’t delight all the town’s residents.