The Tea Party first surfaced in the form of a series of protests, focused, according to organizers, on wasteful government spending, and excessive taxes and regulation. Of course, these are long recognized planks of traditional American political conservatism, so many observers characterize the Tea Party as a conservative movement, one that's pushing the Republican party further to the political right. (Republican primary election victories by Tea Party-supported candidates further underscore this perception).

Some, like columnist Paul Krugman, have called the Tea Party an "AstroTurf" movement (as in fake grass roots) orchestrated by ultra-conservative political operatives and stoked by conservative media like Fox News. Others – including Tea Partiers themselves -characterize it as a genuine, populist, grass-roots movement. But if that's true, and the Tea Party is truly against wasteful government spending, why didn't it surface until after the Obama administration took office? Where was it during the years of increased government spending to support overseas wars during the Bush Administration? And if wasteful spending and excessive taxes and regulation are what the Tea Party is against, just what does it stand for? Is it morphing into a political party? Is it really just the far right plank of the GOP?

We'll seek answers to those and other questions from the leadership of the Independence Hall Tea Party. We'll also explore the Tea Party's place in American political populist movements.

Guests:

Teri Adams, President, Independence Hall Tea Party Association

Sean Carpenter, Vice President, Independence Hall Tea Party Political Action Committee

Dr. Stephen K. Medvic, Department Chair, Associate Professor of Government, Franklin and Marshall College

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