Tea Party turmoil erupts as volunteers quit

The national Tea Party convention scheduled to take place in Nashville next month — featuring Sarah Palin as its keynote speaker — fell into turmoil last week. ea Party Nation, the locally based group organizing the sold-out event, got its first taste of trouble Tuesday when a key volunteer announced he and others had quit the group. They claimed the event's $549 ticket price was designed to make a profit off the popularity of the grass-roots campaign. By week's end, the national media were putting intense pressure on founder Judson Phillips after Tea Party Nation announced that only five, right-leaning media outlets would be allowed access to the event. NBC News reported Friday, and The Tennessean confirmed, that Phillips, a Franklin attorney, had filed for Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy in 1999 and faced three federal tax liens since 2004 totaling more than $22,000. Phillips said in an interview with The Tennessean that Tea Party Nation had been set up as a for-profit company but denied allegations of profiteering. Phillips said he founded Tea Party Nation as a for-profit company mainly for philosophical reasons. The for-profit corporation lets him avoid disclosure requirements that might have forced him to reveal the identity of donors, who then could be subjected to harassment for their views, Phillips said...read more