
Americans Just Don't Understand the Tea Party, Especially the GOP Establishment Pols
Grassroots rebellions against Beltway spending binges

"Many, if not most of those attending Tea Party gatherings were owners of small businesses, homemakers, blue collar workers, college students, retirees and veterans who were uniting for a common purpose: To oppose big government, bailouts and increased taxes, Livingston added. "In the after The national Tea Party organizations sprang up out of those grassroots protests when it became obvious the movement was taking off, the national Tea Party organizations began to spring up. "While they share some ideas with the local groups-or at least claim to-they have little else in common with them. For instance, both Club for Growth and Freedom Works long ago promised to sit out the immigration battle. Yet Cantor's pro-amnesty stance is one of the main factors in his defeat. Local Tea Party groups-and most conservatives and rank and file Republicans-staunchly oppose amnesty."The national Tea party organizations have some members of the GOP establishment and they are typically a little more conservative than the grassroots and they are beholden to crony corporations for funding-hence their decision to sit out the immigration debate being pushed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Also, the national media were premature in announcing the demise of the Tea Party last month after some of the candidates they backed lost their elections. They just don't accept that the Tea Party is only an idea; it is not a political party. The GOP establishment would do well to figure that out sooner rather than later. Bob Livingston completes his assessment of Tea Party saying "rumors of its impending demise are exaggerated; the GOP, a party of mercantilism since its inception, has been gradually moving left for more than 100 years. It's going to take more than seven years to move it far enough right to make it a party of the Constitution.
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Gerald A. “Jerry” McConnell, 92, of Hampton, died Sunday, February 19, 2017, at the Merrimack Valley Hospice House in Haverhill, Mass., surrounded by his loved ones. He was born May 27, 1924 in Altoona, Pa., the fifth son of the late John E. and Grace (Fletcher) McConnell.
Jerry served ten years with the US Marine Corps and participated in the landing against Japanese Army on Guadalcanal and another ten years with the US Air Force. After moving to Hampton in 1957 he started his community activities serving in many capacities.
He shared 72 years of marriage with his wife Betty P. (Hamilton) McConnell. In addition to his wife, family members include nieces and nephews.
McConnell’s e-book about Guadalcanal, “Our Survival was Open to the Gravest Doubts”
