&gt; That is what I love about the Tea Party (not their politics but that they decided to do something about what they felt). In just under 10 years they have become a strong voice in national politics. Many of their members were brought into office by people just like you, passionate about what is wrong (in their opinion) with the way things are done.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.huffingtonpost.com&#x2F;brendan-demelle&#x2F;study-confirms-tea-party-_b_2663125.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.huffingtonpost.com&#x2F;brendan-demelle&#x2F;study-confirms...</a><p>&gt; A new academic study confirms that front groups with longstanding ties to the tobacco industry and the billionaire Koch brothers planned the formation of the Tea Party movement more than a decade before it exploded onto the U.S. political scene.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dailykos.com&#x2F;story&#x2F;2013&#x2F;02&#x2F;25&#x2F;1189761&#x2F;-Big-Tobacco-Had-Nothing-to-Do-With-Tea-Party-Formation" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dailykos.com&#x2F;story&#x2F;2013&#x2F;02&#x2F;25&#x2F;1189761&#x2F;-Big-Tobacc...</a><p>&gt; That a tea party themed PR campaign was proposed by Burson Marsteller back in 1992 is somewhat interesting, but certainly not surprising.  And it in no way proves an operative connection between anyone.<p>&gt; The other big find of the study is that the PR group Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), which back then, did work for big tobacco, split off and became Americans for Prosperity and Freedomworks, which is now behind the Tea Party. But the fact is, CSE wasn&#x27;t just funded by big tobacco. Like all these groups, they were funded by a whole host of big, right wing corporations. Here&#x27;s just a partial list of CSE&#x27;s corporate clients&#x2F;supporters:<p>&gt; The Tea Party idea may have been the brainchild of right wing corporate PR groups. But it was only possible with the help of the corporate television media. And not just Fox. Whoever pulled the trigger on Operation Tea Party has powerful friends. If Occupy Wall Street had had such friends, we&#x27;d probably be living in a different country by now.<p>One argues it was the brainchild of a PR group, the other argues the first group is wrong but powered by Right Wing Media.<p>Either way, the Tea Party but was astroturfed into existence by rich people.<p>&quot;I&quot; do not have access to billionaires who back my interests.<p>The problem is not getting elected but rather how the elections are structured. Pretending otherwise is simply perpetuating the system.