With bestselling author Amity Shlaes are Jerry Klein of Wallingford and Fran Shusman of Rydal at an Independence Hall Tea Party event in April 2013.
The Independence Hall Tea Party has changed its name to The Independence Hall Foundation and ended its affiliated political action committee (PAC), according to the organizations founders Teri and Don Adams.
“Over the last five years, our Association, like the broader Tea Party movement in regions across the country, has made a difference. We woke up many Americans to an ever-expansive and intrusive federal government,” Ms. Adams said. “While we obviously agree with the core principles of the Tea Party as clearly enunciated during those early 2009 Tax Day Tea Parties–a free enterprise economy based on lower taxes, smaller government, and less regulation–we would like to expand our efforts to include non-traditional tea party issues such as Religious Liberty, Sanctity of Life, Culture and the Arts, Educational Savings Accounts, Foreign Affairs, and Defense.
“In short, we wish to pursue a larger, more mainstream conservative agenda-while respecting the mission of the broader Tea Party movement.
“We wish to reach out, in the coming years, to those individuals and groups who do not automatically share our beliefs and ideals, under the banner of a non-profit group we began last September-the Independence Hall Foundation.”
Below is the statement they made yesterday, July25, at a press event announcing the change:
In early February, 2009, Rick Santelli delivered a passionate speech on CNN which led to the founding of the modern day Tea Party.
Out of those inspirational words sprang The Independence Hall Tea Party Association-the oldest and largest Tea Party group in the tri-state region and one whose primary focus was the Philadelphia media market-the fourth largest in the United States.
The Association has been meeting on historic Independence Mall ever since our first Tea Party in late February, 2009. After a modest showing of one hundred participants at that Tea Party, we were able to attract nearly 2000 participants to our April 18thTax Week Tea Party a few months later.
Since that time, the Association has had many successes-including the sending of 14 buses to the 912 DC Rally in 2009 and 28 buses to the Glenn Beck’s Restoring America Rally in DC a year later. No other group in the nation sent as many folks to either event.
Over the years, we have put on countless rallies, press conferences, and educational events touching on so many relevant issues. Our speakers have included Governor Mitt Romney, Ambassador John Bolton, Bill Kristol, Herman Cain, Amity Shlaes, John Fund, Andrew Breitbart, and local favorites Dom Giordano, Herb Denenberg, and Joey Vento, to name a few.
We also hosted a much noted event called UNITEA, which was an expression of our desire to reach out to the minority community.
In addition, for all five years, we have held annual tax month events, July 4th
Celebrations, and Christmas Tea Parties which re-enacted the original Philadelphia Tea Party of December 27, 1773.
Immediately following the 2010 elections, the Association began lobbying for a Voter ID bill sponsored by Pennsylvania State Representatives Daryl Metcalfe and Steven Barrar. The bill was eventually signed into law by Governor Tom Corbett.
In 2011, we responded to Occupy Philadelphia/Occupy Wall Street by organizing, on Face Book, an informal group known as Liberate Philadelphia/Liberate America. That group initiated a Black Friday Buycott in response to Occupy’s call for a Black Friday Boycott. Black Friday sales were up that year.
In 2012, we began releasing an annual Congressional Scorecard-and last year, we were the first in the nation to call for a Special Prosecutor to investigate the IRS Scandal.
During our tenure, we have received an abundance of international, national, and regional press as members of our Association have appeared on Television programs broadcast in China, Europe, and the Middle East as well as appearing in interviews on CNN, FOX, NBC and, of course, our terrific local stations.
Association members and/or events have been featured in countless newspapers and blogs from the LA Times to the Philadelphia Inquirer/ Daily News.
There have also been numerous national and local radio interviews with personalities such as Lou Doubs, Steve Marlzberg and, of course, our own favorite, WPHT’s Dom Giordano.
For five-plus years, our Association has labored on behalf of conservative Tea Party causes, especially the repeal of ObamaCare.
While we have usually agreed with most Tea Party objectives, we have not always agreed on Tea Party tactics-especially those espoused by national groups-proving, despite its portrayal as such in the media, that the Tea Party was not monolithic.
And just like the original Tea Party of the 18th Century, our organization envisioned the modern Tea Party as a protest movement-not necessarily a permanent social/political movement or party-but one which could lead to peaceful revolutionary changes in government.
We the current movement for what it was at its core-a grass roots movement dedicated to waking up average Americans to an out-of-control federal government that is fast becoming far too centralized-and far too intrusive in our everyday lives.
There was a certain purity of heart as we organized as volunteers-not looking for personal financial gain or celebrity-but looking to make America a freer and better place to live.
Our mission was daunting-to stop the Obama Administration from “remaking America” into a government dependency that more closely resembled a European socialist state than a successful US meritocracy.
As we stand here today, we can honestly say that our Association, like the broader Tea Party movement in regions across the country, has made a difference. We did wake up many Americans to an ever-expansive and intrusive federal government.
More Americans seem to be aware of our nation’s alarming $(17.6) trillion national debt and the scandals involving renegade bureaucracies, within the federal government, such as the Internal Revenue Service, the National Security Agency, and the Veterans Administration. We have successfully challenged a congressional spending habit simply known as “pork.”
Because of these successes, the Independence Hall Tea Party Board of Directors feels that we should take matters to the next level.
While we obviously agree with the core principles of the Tea Party as clearly enunciated during those early 2009 Tax Day Tea Parties-a free enterprise economy based on lower taxes, smaller government, and less regulation-we would like to expand our efforts to include non-traditional tea party issues such as Religious Liberty, Sanctity of Life, Culture and the Arts, Educational Savings Accounts, Foreign Affairs, and Defense.
In short, we wish to pursue a larger, more mainstream conservative agenda-while respecting the mission of the broader Tea Party movement.
We wish to reach out, in the coming years, to those individuals and groups who do not automatically share our beliefs and ideals, under the banner of a non-profit group we began last September-the Independence Hall Foundation.
In the future, we wish to be referred to as The Independence Hall Foundation-a conservative educational organization dedicated to promoting the principles enshrined in our founding documents-the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
As for the Independence Hall Tea Party PAC, we also have an important announcement. Here to discuss the success of the PAC is PAC Vice President Bill Green.
The Independence Hall Tea Party PAC, a federal PAC established in February 2010 for the purpose of electing Congressional candidates in the tri-state region, has had a very good run over the last 4+ years.
Since our inception, we have won over 80% of our contested primary races. We have raised a modest $40,000-giving more than half of that money to candidates and spending most of the remaining funds on independent expenditures advocating on behalf of various campaigns. None of that money was used for salaries or perks.
In 2010, our banner year, we helped defeat Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House by endorsing, during primary season, the following Republicans whose November victories flipped seats from D to R-Mike Fitzpatrick, Lou Barletta, Pat Meehan, and Jon Runyan. As well, we supported Pat Toomey who is currently the only Republican Senator from the tri-state region.
Two of our proudest endorsements came in 2012 when we announced our support of Mitt Romney for President before the Iowa Caucus and Tom Smith of Pennsylvania for US Senate– also during primary season.
In the case of Romney, we were the first and only Tea Party PAC in the nation to endorse him.
In the case of Tom Smith, we helped to defeat the Republican establishment choice of Steve Welch-the first time that has been accomplished in a modern statewide PA Republican race.
While Mitt Romney did not win the Presidency, he did cut into President Obama’s margin of victory versus John McCain. As well, Tom Smith performed 10% points better than Senator Rick Santorum did against Bob Casey in 2006.
This year, our PAC endorsed the Republican primary winner, Tom MacArthur, over Steve Lonegan in the New Jersey 3rd Congressional District race. We also supported Dave Larsen over incumbent Congressman Leonard Lance in a much closer than expected Republican primary in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District.
On the national level, the Independence Hall Tea Party PAC endorsed Mitch McConnell over Matt Bevin in the May Kentucky Primary. We did so because our 2014 goal was to “Keep the House/Win the Senate” and winning the McConnell/Grimes race is key to winning the Senate.
We strongly believe that regional Center/Right congressional candidates are now well-positioned to win competitive General Election races this November.
As a result, the PAC Board of Delegates feels that we have accomplished as much as we could possibly have hoped to accomplish as a regional federal Tea Party PAC, and, for that reason, we have decided to cease with PAC activities in order to focus all of our energies on the Independence Hall Foundation.
Independence Hall Tea Party Changes Name
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