From Tea Party to party of Big Government

Washington

AFTER the administration of then-president Barack Obama announced in early 2009 its plans to bail out certain home mortgage holders, CNBC reporter Rick Santelli blasted the bailouts on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and called for the creation of a new "tea party".

Mr Santelli was referring to the 1773 Boston Tea Party during which American colonists protested against taxation by the British government without political representation for the Americans, and his televised battle cry touched some political nerves and helped launched the Tea Party Movement.