Tea Party Caucus

The Tea Party Caucus (TPC) is a congressional caucus of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. The now largely inactive Caucus is chaired by Rep. Tim Huelskamp (KS), and was founded and first chaired by Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in July 2010. Though the primary functions of the Caucus have varied from year to year, it is dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility, including significant cuts in non-defense spending, adherence to the movement's interpretation of the Constitution, and advocated socially conservative legislation, supported the right to keep and bear arms, and promoted limited government.

The idea of a Tea Party Caucus originated from Rand Paul (KY) when he was campaigning for the U.S. Senate in 2010. The Caucus was approved as an official congressional member organization by the House Administration Committee on July 19, 2010, and held its first meeting and public event, a press conference on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, on July 21. A similar informal Caucus was formed in the Senate by four Senators on January 27, 2011.

Caucus

A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The term originated in the United States, but has spread to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Nepal. As the use of the term has been expanded, the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.

Origin of the term

The origin of the word caucus is debated, but it is generally agreed that it first came into use in the British colonies of North America.

A February 1763 entry in the diary of John Adams of Braintree, Massachusetts, is one of the earliest appearances of Caucas, already with its modern connotations of a "smoke-filled room" where candidates for public election are pre-selected in private:

An article in Great Leaders and National Issues of 1896 surveying famous presidential campaigns of the past, begins with an unsourced popular etymology of the origin of the caucus:

The presidential nominating convention is a modern institution. In the early days of the Republic a very different method was pursued in order to place the candidates for the highest office in the land before the people.

Tea party

A tea party is a formal, ritualized gathering for the small meal called afternoon tea.

Formal tea parties are often characterized by the use of prestige utensils, such as porcelain, bone china or silver. The table is made to look its prettiest, with cloth napkins and matching cups and plates. In addition to tea, larger parties may provide punch, or in cold weather, hot chocolate. The tea is accompanied by a variety of foods that are easy to manage while in a sitting room: thin sandwiches, such as cucumber or tomato, cake slices, buns or rolls, cookies, biscuits and scones are all common.

History

Formal teas

The afternoon tea party was a feature of great houses in the Victorian and Edwardian ages in the United Kingdom and the Gilded Age in the United States, as well as in all continental Europe (France, Germany, and above all in the Russian Empire). The formal tea party still survives as a special event, as in the debutante teas of some affluent American communities.

In the older version, servants stayed outside the room until needed. Writing in 1922, Emily Post asserted that servants were never to enter the room unless rung for, to bring in fresh water and dishes or to remove used dishes. This was partly due to the rigidity of social convention at the time, but it also reflected the intimate nature of the afternoon tea. Proving the truth of 18th-century author Henry Fielding's quip that "love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea", the custom of banning servants from the drawing room during tea shows the hostess's desire to encourage free conversation among her guests. Most of the formalities of that age have disappeared, particularly since World War II, when economic changes made household servants a rarity, but afternoon tea can still provide a good opportunity for intimate conversation and a refreshing light meal.

Tea Party

A tea party is a formal and ritualized gathering for afternoon tea.

Tea party or Tea Party may also refer to:

Politics

Entertainment

See also

Tea Party protests

The Tea Party protests were a series of protests throughout the United States that began in early 2009. The protests were part of the larger political Tea Party movement.

Among other events, protests were held on:

Most Tea Party activities have since been focused on opposing efforts of the Obama Administration, and on recruiting, nominating, and supporting candidates for state and national elections. The name "Tea Party" is a reference to the Boston Tea Party, whose principal aim was to protest taxation without representation. Tea Party protests evoked images, slogans and themes from the American Revolution, such as tri-corner hats and yellow Gadsden "Don't Tread on Me" flags. The letters T-E-A have been used by some protesters to form the backronym "Taxed Enough Already".