Tea Party Opposes Own Fundraiser

The New York Times reports

SURPRISE, Ariz. — When conservative Republicans pushed a bill through the Arizona Legislature creating a “Don’t Tread on Me” license plate design that would be used to raise money for Tea Party groups in the state, opposition was expected from Democrats, liberals and other assorted antagonists.

The surprise was that the biggest opposition has come from Tea Party members themselves, who say their renegade, grass-roots movement was built on suspicion of government, and they are not too keen to start playing financial footsie with the enemy.

“No, I won’t buy one,” said Jim Wise, a Tea Party activist from this community northwest of Phoenix, who wrote to lawmakers in a failed effort to nix the plates. “I realize the people behind this had the best of intentions, but it goes against what we stand for, which is limited government.”

There has been a movement in state capitals across the country to commemorate the Tea Party on the backs of cars, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The group has tallied at least 10 other states considering such plates this year, three of which — Virginia, Texas and Mississippi — have joined Arizona in endorsing them. But opposition has been most heated in Arizona, and mostly from Tea Party backers.

Even before Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill creating the plates last week, Arizona had dozens of specialty license plates, including those honoring organ donors, discouraging abortion, lamenting child abuse, promoting the spaying and neutering of pets, and urging people to follow the golden rule.

“In Arizona, we let people express themselves on their plates as long as it’s legal,” said John Kavanagh, a Republican representative who supported the Tea Party plates. “And to discriminate against one group over the other would not be right."