How did the ideas expressed by the Tea Party gain traction?
WEBB: Much like the very first Tea Party, there was a seminal moment when a bunch of men put on some Indian garb and said let’s go toss tea into Boston Harbor. For this tea party there was a seminal moment when Rick Santelli went off on the Chicago Exchange and people caught on to it. That moment took hold. ESSENCE.com: And that “moment” never occurred during other administrations? WEBB: People are looking for the answer. It just didn’t happen. We had spending under Bush that was bad, certainly. Bush doubled spending, Obama tripled what Bush doubled. One of the things that pissed off the American people was the hubris of politicians who didn’t read the bills. When you’re buying off [Louisiana Senator] Mary Landrieu with $300 million and [Nebraska Senator] Ben Nelson with up to $500 million … If your policies are so good and you have the majority, you should be able to pass these bills. As a matter of fact if all the Democrats are on board with all these policies there would be sweepi
