As the first ever National Tea Party Convention draws closer, those who are unable or unwilling to afford the $560 cover charge are crying foul.
The swank soiree, intended to bring "the Tea Party Movement leaders together from around the nation for the purpose of networking and supporting the movement's multiple organizations' principal goals," will presumably include mapping out their path going forward in the 2010 election cycle. The for-profit event is a clear example of the unbridled free-markets that teabaggers clamor for. When there’s money to be made from the average American (no to mention sponsors who’ve been reported to have paid as much as $50,000 for inclusion in the event) how can teabaggers complain just because they’re not willing to pony up the equivalent of a month’s rent or the price of a small used car to attend?
When questioned about the steep price, event sponsors floated the idea that local area Tea Party groups could get together and sponsor their best and brightest to attend. But, honestly, isn’t that Democratic redistribution, collecting money from all members for the benefit of only one member? What teabagger could participate in such a socialist approach? Instead, it appears the leadership of the Tea Party will be as the free-markets (and the GOP) have always intended it to be. The Tea Party leadership of the many will vested squarely with those who have the money to buy it.