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The Maine Republican Party is an affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Maine . It was founded in Strong, Maine , on August 7, 1854. The party currently does not control the governor's office or either chamber of the Maine Legislature , nor either of Maine's two U.S. House . The only federal elected office that the party controls is one of Maine's two U.S. Senate seats, currently held by Susan Collins .

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127-596: The Republican Party formed in Maine in 1854 due to Prohibition and the abolitionist movement . Hannibal Hamlin left the Democratic Party because of the slavery issue and helped form the Republican Party. He was the state's first Republican governor. In 1860, he became the first Republican vice president after Abraham Lincoln won the presidency. From the 1860s until 1900, James G. Blaine rose as

254-649: A conference call attended by around 50 conservative activists. Supporters of the movement subsequently had a major impact on the internal politics of the Republican Party . While the Tea Party was not a political party in the strict sense, research published in 2016 suggests that members of the Tea Party Caucus voted like a right-wing third party in Congress. A major force behind the movement

381-530: A " sin tax " would raise public awareness about the harmful effects of alcohol. The whiskey tax was repealed after Thomas Jefferson 's Democratic-Republican Party , which opposed the Federalist Party of Alexander Hamilton , came to power in 1800. Benjamin Rush , one of the foremost physicians of the late 18th century, believed in moderation rather than prohibition. In his treatise, "The Inquiry into

508-533: A Sound Economy split into FreedomWorks , for 501c4 advocacy activity, and the Americans for Prosperity Foundation. Dick Armey stayed as chairman of FreedomWorks, while David Koch stayed as Chairman of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation. The two organizations would become key players in the Tea Party movement from 2009 onward. Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks were "probably the leading partners" in

635-460: A Tea Party website was designed and published by the CSE at web address www.usteaparty.com , and stated "our US Tea Party is a national event, hosted continuously online and open to all Americans who feel our taxes are too high and the tax code is too complicated." The site did not take off at the time. In 2003, Dick Armey became the chairman of CSE after retiring from Congress. In 2004, Citizens for

762-586: A breeding ground for political corruption . Most economists during the early 20th century were in favor of the enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition). Simon Patten , one of the leading advocates for prohibition, predicted that prohibition would eventually happen in the United States for competitive and evolutionary reasons. Yale economics professor Irving Fisher , who was a dry, wrote extensively about prohibition, including

889-511: A censure of Chairman Charlie Webster for his handling of the controversy. On January 12, 2019, the Maine Republican Party unanimously elected Waterville Mayor Nick Isgro as the party's vice chair. Isgro's election came less than a year after his controversial tweet telling Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg to "eat it" prompted nationwide attention and an effort to recall him as mayor. Ultimately, Isgro prevailed in

1016-558: A constitutional amendment was passed for the purpose of repealing another. The overall effects of Prohibition on society are disputed and hard to pin down. Some research indicates that alcohol consumption declined substantially due to Prohibition, while other research indicates that Prohibition did not reduce alcohol consumption in the long term. Americans who wanted to continue drinking alcohol found loopholes in Prohibition laws or used illegal methods to obtain alcohol, resulting in

1143-556: A contentious topic in America since the colonial period . On March 26, 1636, the legislature of New Somersetshire met at what is now Saco, Maine , and adopted a law limiting the sale of "strong liquor or wyne", although carving out exceptions for "lodger[s]" and allowing serving to "laborers on working days for one hower at dinner." In May 1657, the General Court of Massachusetts made the sale of strong liquor "whether known by

1270-440: A decade, other temperance groups had formed in eight states, some of them being statewide organizations. The words of Rush and other early temperance reformers served to dichotomize the use of alcohol for men and women. While men enjoyed drinking and often considered it vital to their health, women who began to embrace the ideology of "true motherhood" refrained from the consumption of alcohol. Middle-class women, who were considered

1397-650: A dominant Republican figure. He was the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, a U.S. Senator, and Secretary of State for three Republican administrations. He ran for president in 1884 but lost to Grover Cleveland . In the late 1800s, Thomas B. Reed served in the House of Representatives for three terms. He started many reforms and was sometimes referred to as "Czar Reed". "Reed's Rules of Order" are still used in Maine Legislatures. Except for rare lapses,

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1524-536: A dry sentiment leading to prohibition. Frances Willard , the second president of the WCTU, held that the aims of the organization were to create a "union of women from all denominations, for the purpose of educating the young, forming a better public sentiment, reforming the drinking classes, transforming by the power of Divine grace those who are enslaved by alcohol, and removing the dram-shop from our streets by law". While still denied universal voting privileges, women in

1651-525: A negative effect on the economy by eliminating jobs dedicated to the then-fifth largest industry in the United States. Support for Prohibition diminished steadily throughout its duration, including among former supporters of Prohibition. On November 18, 1918, prior to ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment, the U.S. Congress passed the temporary Wartime Prohibition Act, which banned the sale of alcoholic beverages having an alcohol content of greater than 1.28%. This act, which had been intended to save grain for

1778-506: A paper that made an economic case for prohibition. Fisher is credited with supplying the criteria against which future prohibitions, such as against marijuana , could be measured, in terms of crime, health, and productivity. For example, " Blue Monday " referred to the hangover workers experienced after a weekend of binge drinking , resulting in Mondays being a wasted productive day. But new research has discredited Fisher's research, which

1905-473: A practice known as " astroturfing ". Other observers see the organization as having its grassroots element "amplified by the right-wing media", supported by elite funding. The Tea Party movement is not a national political party; polls show that most Tea Partiers consider themselves to be Republicans and the movement's supporters have tended to endorse Republican candidates. Commentators, including Gallup editor-in-chief Frank Newport, have suggested that

2032-712: A proposed Repeal Amendment , which would enable a two-thirds majority of the states to repeal federal laws, and a Balanced Budget Amendment , to limit deficit spending. The Tea Party has sought to avoid placing emphasis on traditional conservative social issues. National Tea Party organizations, such as the Tea Party Patriots and FreedomWorks , have expressed concern that engaging in social issues would be divisive. Instead, they have sought to have activists focus their efforts away from social issues and focus on economic and limited government issues. Still, many groups like Glenn Beck 's 9/12 Tea Parties, TeaParty.org,

2159-547: A protest at the Colorado Capitol, also promoted by Malkin. Carender held a second protest on February 27, 2009, reporting "We more than doubled our attendance at this one." On February 18, 2009, the one-month old Obama administration announced the Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan , an economic recovery plan to help home owners avoid foreclosure by refinancing mortgages in the wake of

2286-571: A reduction of the national debt and federal budget deficit through decreased government spending . The movement supported small-government principles and opposed the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), President Obama's signature health care legislation. The Tea Party movement has been described as both a popular constitutional movement and as an " astroturf movement " purporting to be spontaneous and grassroots, but created by hidden elite interests. The movement

2413-473: A right" but "a service" that can be addressed only by using "market based solutions". Indeed, the platform says, "The principles upon which the Republican Party was founded, to which we as Citizens seek return, and to which we demand our elected representatives abide, are summarized as follows: During the 2012 Maine caucuses , the Maine Republican Party received heavy criticism for mistakes and omissions in voter tallies. The Waldo County GOP Committee called for

2540-515: A unique combination of the two. Reliance on the Constitution is selective and inconsistent. Adherents cite it, yet do so more as a cultural reference rather than out of commitment to the text, which they seek to alter. Two constitutional amendments have been targeted by some in the movement for full or partial repeal: the 16th that allows an income tax, and the 17th that requires popular election of senators . There has also been support for

2667-554: A watershed event in the American Revolution , with some movement adherents using Revolutionary era costumes. The Tea Party movement was popularly launched following a February 19, 2009, call by CNBC reporter Rick Santelli on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for a "tea party". On February 20, 2009, The Nationwide Tea Party Coalition also helped launch the Tea Party movement via

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2794-513: A website calling for protests against Obama. Overnight, websites such as "ChicagoTeaParty.com" (registered in August 2008 by Chicagoan Zack Christenson, radio producer for conservative talk show host Milt Rosenberg ) were live within 12 hours. By the next day, guests on Fox News had already begun to mention this new "Tea Party". As reported by The Huffington Post , a Facebook page was developed on February 20 calling for Tea Party protests across

2921-520: A year throughout the 1920s, and Prohibition Commissioner John F. Kramer even cited one doctor who wrote 475 prescriptions for whiskey in one day. It wasn't tough for people to write—and fill—counterfeit subscriptions at pharmacies, either. Naturally, bootleggers bought prescription forms from crooked doctors and mounted widespread scams. In 1931, 400 pharmacists and 1,000 doctors were caught in a scam where doctors sold signed prescription forms to bootleggers. Just 12 doctors and 13 pharmacists were indicted, and

3048-465: Is an attempt to put structure and formality around it, or to co-opt it by Washington, D.C., it's going to take away from the free-flowing nature of the true Tea Party movement. The name "Tea Party" is a reference to the Boston Tea Party , a protest in 1773 by colonists who objected to British taxation without representation, and demonstrated by dumping British tea taken from docked ships into

3175-594: Is as much chance of repealing the Eighteenth Amendment as there is for a humming-bird to fly to the planet Mars with the Washington Monument tied to its tail." At the same time, songs emerged decrying the act. After Edward, Prince of Wales , returned to the United Kingdom following his tour of Canada in 1919, he recounted to his father, King George V , a ditty he had heard at a border town: Four and twenty Yankees, feeling very dry, Went across

3302-413: Is not stopping drinking by putting poison in alcohol ... [Y]et it continues its poisoning processes, heedless of the fact that people determined to drink are daily absorbing that poison. Knowing this to be true, the United States government must be charged with the moral responsibility for the deaths that poisoned liquor causes, although it cannot be held legally responsible." Another lethal substance that

3429-491: Is not the Tea Party's founder, or its culturally resonant figure, he has become the "intellectual godfather" of the movement since many now agree with his long-held beliefs. Journalist Jane Mayer has said that the Koch brothers were essential in funding and strengthening the movement, through groups such as Americans for Prosperity . In 2013, a study published in the journal Tobacco Control concluded that organizations within

3556-560: The 2012 elections . It has also mobilized locally against the United Nations Agenda 21 . They have protested the IRS for controversial treatment of groups with "tea party" in their names. They have formed Super PACs to support candidates sympathetic to their goals and have opposed what they call the "Republican establishment" candidates. The Tea Party does not have a single uniform agenda. The decentralized character of

3683-637: The Anti-Saloon League superseding the Prohibition Party and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union as the most influential advocate of prohibition, after these latter two groups expanded their efforts to support other social reform issues, such as women's suffrage , onto their prohibition platform. Prohibition was an important force in state and local politics from the 1840s through the 1930s. Numerous historical studies demonstrated that

3810-621: The Binghamton Tea Party, to protest obesity taxes proposed by New York Governor David Paterson and call for fiscal responsibility on the part of the government. The protestors emptied bottles of soda into the Susquehanna River , and several of them wore Native American headdresses, similar to the band of 18th century colonists who dumped tea in Boston Harbor to express outrage about British taxes. Some of

3937-742: The Boston Tea Party 's 234th anniversary, but that others, including Republicans, took over and changed some of the movement's core beliefs. Writing for Slate.com , Dave Weigel has argued in concurrence that, in his view, the "first modern Tea Party events occurred in December 2007, long before Barack Obama took office, and they were organized by supporters of Rep. Ron Paul," with the movement expanding and gaining prominence in 2009. ( Barack Obama took office in January 2009.) Journalist Joshua Green has stated in The Atlantic that while Ron Paul

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4064-793: The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , ratified on January 16, 1919. Prohibition ended with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment , which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 5, 1933. Led by Pietistic Protestants , prohibitionists first attempted to end the trade in alcoholic drinks during the 19th century. They aimed to heal what they saw as an ill society beset by alcohol-related problems such as alcoholism , family violence , and saloon -based political corruption . Many communities introduced alcohol bans in

4191-620: The Great Recession . The next day, CNBC business news editor Rick Santelli criticized the Plan in a live broadcast from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange . He said that those plans were "promoting bad behavior" by "subsidizing losers' mortgages". He suggested holding a tea party for traders to gather and dump the derivatives in the Chicago River on July 1. "President Obama, are you listening?" he asked. A number of

4318-591: The Latter-day Saints . These religious groups identified saloons as politically corrupt and drinking as a personal sin. Other active organizations included the Women's Church Federation, the Women's Temperance Crusade, and the Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction. They were opposed by the wets, primarily liturgical Protestants ( Episcopalians and German Lutherans) and Catholics , who denounced

4445-485: The South , enacted prohibition legislation, as did individual counties within a state. Court cases also debated the subject of prohibition. While some cases ruled in opposition, the general tendency was toward support. In Mugler v. Kansas (1887), Justice Harlan commented: "We cannot shut out of view the fact, within the knowledge of all, that the public health, the public morals, and the public safety, may be endangered by

4572-563: The Tea Party Congressional Caucus ; however, since July 16, 2012, the caucus has been defunct. An article in Politico reported that many Tea Party activists were skeptical of the caucus, seeing it as an effort by the Republican Party to hijack the movement. Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz refused to join the caucus, saying Structure and formality are the exact opposite of what the Tea Party is, and if there

4699-692: The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), stimulus programs such as Barack Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act), cap and trade environmental regulations, health care reform such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, also known simply as the Affordable Care Act or " Obamacare ") and perceived attacks by

4826-707: The U.S. minimum wage . Historian and writer Walter Russell Mead analyzes the foreign policy views of the Tea Party movement in a 2011 essay published in Foreign Affairs . Mead says that Jacksonian populists, such as the Tea Party, combine a belief in American exceptionalism and its role in the world with skepticism of American's "ability to create a liberal world order". When necessary, they favor " total war " and unconditional surrender over "limited wars for limited goals". Mead identifies two main trends, one personified by former Texas Congressman Ron Paul and

4953-581: The Volstead Act , to enforce the Eighteenth Amendment when it went into effect in 1920. Prohibition began on January 17, 1920, when the Volstead Act went into effect. A total of 1,520 Federal Prohibition agents (police) were tasked with enforcement. Supporters of the Amendment soon became confident that it would not be repealed. One of its creators, Senator Morris Sheppard , joked that "there

5080-603: The presidential election of 1916 , the Democratic incumbent, Woodrow Wilson , and the Republican candidate, Charles Evans Hughes , ignored the prohibition issue, as did both parties' political platforms. Democrats and Republicans had strong wet and dry factions, and the election was expected to be close, with neither candidate wanting to alienate any part of his political base. When the 65th Congress convened in March 1917,

5207-463: The temperance movement . The dry crusade was revived by the national Prohibition Party , founded in 1869, and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), founded in 1874. The WCTU advocated the prohibition of alcohol as a method for preventing, through education, abuse from alcoholic husbands. WCTU members believed that if their organization could reach children with its message, it could create

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5334-449: The 1990s and before. In 1984, David H. Koch and Charles G. Koch of Koch Industries founded Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), a conservative political group whose self-described mission was "to fight for less government, lower taxes, and less regulation." Congressman Ron Paul was appointed as the first chairman of the organization. The CSE lobbied for policies favorable to corporations, particularly tobacco companies. In 2002,

5461-653: The ATS had reached 1.5 million members, with women constituting 35% to 60% of its chapters. The Prohibition movement, also known as the dry crusade, continued in the 1840s, spearheaded by pietistic religious denominations, especially the Methodists . The late 19th century saw the temperance movement broaden its focus from abstinence to include all behavior and institutions related to alcohol consumption. Preachers such as Reverend Mark A. Matthews linked liquor-dispensing saloons with political corruption. Some successes for

5588-573: The Constitution were championed by dry crusaders to help their cause. One was granted in the Sixteenth Amendment (1913), which replaced alcohol taxes that funded the federal government with a federal income tax. The other was women's suffrage, which was granted after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920; since women tended to support prohibition, temperance organizations tended to support women's suffrage. In

5715-604: The Effects of Ardent Spirits upon the Human Body and Mind" (1784), Rush argued that the excessive use of alcohol was injurious to physical and psychological health, labeling drunkenness as a disease. Apparently influenced by Rush's widely discussed belief, about 200 farmers in a Connecticut community formed a temperance association in 1789. Similar associations were formed in Virginia in 1800 and New York in 1808. Within

5842-560: The Iowa Tea Party and Delaware Patriot Organizations do act on social issues such as abortion, gun control, prayer in schools , and illegal immigration. One attempt at forming a list of what Tea Partiers wanted Congress to do resulted in the Contract from America . It was a legislative agenda created by conservative activist Ryan Hecker with the assistance of Dick Armey of FreedomWorks. Armey had co-written with Newt Gingrich

5969-631: The Maine House of Representatives in 2012, and the Maine Senate in 2018. Control of the Senate determines who is first in line to be governor in the event of a vacancy, as Maine has no office of lieutenant governor. The Maine Republican Party caused a stir during its 2010 convention when the party, which has been moderate since the 1950s, passed a constitutionally conservative platform supported by " Tea Party " activists. The new platform calls for

6096-621: The Republicans dominated Maine politics until 1954, when young progressives from the Democratic Party gained strength. Margaret Chase Smith was the first American woman elected to serve in both houses of Congress (elected to the House of Representatives in 1940 and the Senate in 1948). In 1964, she was placed in the nomination for presidency at the Republican National Convention. On August 19, 2013,

6223-482: The Senate" and was ratified by 46 out of 48 states. Enabling legislation, known as the Volstead Act , set down the rules for enforcing the federal ban and defined the types of alcoholic beverages that were prohibited. But not all alcohol was banned; for example, religious use of wine was permitted. Private ownership and consumption of alcohol were not made illegal under federal law, but local laws were stricter in many areas, some states banning possession outright. By

6350-778: The Senate, three Tea Party backed Republicans, Jim DeMint , Mike Lee and Michael Crapo , voted to limit foreign aid to Libya, Pakistan and Egypt. Tea Partiers in both houses of Congress have shown willingness to cut foreign aid. Most leading figures within the Tea Party both within and outside Congress opposed military intervention in Syria. The Tea Party movement is composed of a loose affiliation of national and local groups that determine their own platforms and agendas without central leadership. The Tea Party movement has both been cited as an example of grassroots political activity and has also been described as an example of corporate-funded activity made to appear as spontaneous community action,

6477-488: The September 2009 Taxpayer March on Washington, also known as the "9/12 Tea Party", according to The Guardian . Fox News Channel commentator Juan Williams has said that the Tea Party movement emerged from the "ashes" of Ron Paul 's 2008 presidential primary campaign. Indeed, Ron Paul has stated that its origin was on December 16, 2007, when supporters held a 24-hour record breaking, " moneybomb " fundraising event on

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6604-575: The Tea Party is an extension of this political strategy "to promote corporate profit at the expense of the public good." Former governor of Alaska and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin , keynoting a Tea Party Tax Day protest at the state capital in Madison, Wisconsin on April 15, 2011, reflected on the origins of the Tea Party movement and credited President Barack Obama, saying "And speaking of President Obama, I think we ought to pay tribute to him today at this Tax Day Tea Party because really he's

6731-408: The Tea Party, with its lack of formal structure or hierarchy, allows each autonomous group to set its own priorities and goals. Goals may conflict, and priorities will often differ between groups. Many Tea Party organizers see this as a strength rather than a weakness, as decentralization has helped to immunize the Tea Party against co-opting by outside entities and corruption from within. Even though

6858-676: The U.S. border with Canada, was notoriously difficult to control, especially rum-running in Windsor , Canada. When the U.S. government complained to the British that American law was being undermined by officials in Nassau , Bahamas , the head of the British Colonial Office refused to intervene. Winston Churchill believed that Prohibition was "an affront to the whole history of mankind". Three federal agencies were assigned

6985-420: The WCTU followed Frances Willard's "Do Everything" doctrine and used temperance as a method of entering into politics and furthering other progressive issues such as prison reform and labor laws . In 1881 Kansas became the first state to outlaw alcoholic beverages in its Constitution . Arrested over 30 times and fined and jailed on multiple occasions, prohibition activist Carrie Nation attempted to enforce

7112-505: The White House. After the Eighteenth Amendment became law, bootlegging became widespread. In the first six months of 1920, the federal government opened 7,291 cases for Volstead Act violations. In the first complete fiscal year of 1921, the number of cases violating the Volstead Act jumped to 29,114 violations and would rise dramatically over the next thirteen years. Grape juice was not restricted by Prohibition, even though if it

7239-486: The additives from the alcohol to make it drinkable. As a response, the Treasury Department required manufacturers to add more deadly poisons, including the particularly deadly combination referred to (incorrectly) as "methyl alcohol": 4 parts methanol , 2.25 parts pyridine base, and 0.5 parts benzene per 100 parts ethyl alcohol. New York City medical examiners prominently opposed these policies because of

7366-512: The border to get a drink of rye. When the rye was opened, the Yanks began to sing, "God bless America, but God save the King!" Prohibition became highly controversial among medical professionals because alcohol was widely prescribed by the era's physicians for therapeutic purposes. Congress held hearings on the medicinal value of beer in 1921. Subsequently, physicians across the country lobbied for

7493-571: The consumption of alcohol. Many people stockpiled wines and liquors for their personal use in the latter part of 1919 before sales of alcoholic beverages became illegal in January 1920. Since alcohol was legal in neighboring countries, distilleries and breweries in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean flourished as their products were either consumed by visiting Americans or smuggled into the United States illegally. The Detroit River , which forms part of

7620-434: The country. A "Nationwide Chicago Tea Party" protest was coordinated across more than 40 different cities for February 27, 2009, establishing the first national modern Tea Party protest. The movement has been supported nationally by at least 12 prominent individuals and their associated organizations. Fox News called many of the protests in 2009 "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties" which it promoted on air and sent speakers to. This

7747-507: The country. Before the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect in January 1920, many of the upper classes stockpiled alcohol for legal home consumption after Prohibition began. They bought the inventories of liquor retailers and wholesalers, emptying out their warehouses, saloons, and club storerooms. President Woodrow Wilson moved his own supply of alcoholic beverages to his Washington residence after his term of office ended. His successor, Warren G. Harding , relocated his own large supply into

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7874-413: The danger to human life. As many as 10,000 people died from drinking denatured alcohol before Prohibition ended. New York City medical examiner Charles Norris believed the government took responsibility for murder when they knew the poison was not deterring consumption and they continued to poison industrial alcohol (which would be used in drinking alcohol) anyway. Norris remarked: "The government knows it

8001-518: The day before President Barack Obama signed the stimulus bill into law. Carender said she did it without support from outside groups or city officials. "I just got fed up and planned it." Carender said 120 people participated. "Which is amazing for the bluest of blue cities I live in, and on only four days notice! This was due to me spending the entire four days calling and emailing every person, think tank, policy center, university professors (that were sympathetic), etc. in town, and not stopping until

8128-482: The day came." Contacted by Carender, Steve Beren promoted the event on his blog four days before the protest and agreed to be a speaker at the rally. Carender also contacted conservative author and Fox News Channel contributor Michelle Malkin , and asked her to publicize the rally on her blog, which Malkin did the day before the event. The following day, the Colorado branch of Americans for Prosperity held

8255-484: The dries outnumbered the wets by 140 to 64 in the Democratic Party and 138 to 62 among Republicans. With America's declaration of war against Germany in April, German Americans , a major force against prohibition, were sidelined and their protests subsequently ignored. In addition, a new justification for prohibition arose: prohibiting the production of alcoholic beverages would allow more resources—especially grain that would otherwise be used to make alcohol—to be devoted to

8382-402: The elimination of the United States Department of Education and the Federal Reserve System , the rejection of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child , a freeze and prohibition on stimulus spending, and the prosecution of perpetrators of the " global warming myth". It also demands a "return to the principles of Austrian Economics ", and the assertion that healthcare is "not

8509-405: The emergence of black markets and crime syndicates dedicated to distributing alcohol. By contrast, rates of liver cirrhosis , alcoholic psychosis , and infant mortality declined during Prohibition. Because of the lack of uniform national statistics gathered about crime prior to 1930, it is difficult to draw conclusions about Prohibition's effect on crime at the national level. Prohibition had

8636-454: The federal government lacked resources to enforce it. Prohibition was successful in reducing the amount of liquor consumed, cirrhosis death rates, admissions to state mental hospitals for alcoholic psychosis, arrests for public drunkenness, and rates of absenteeism. While many state that Prohibition stimulated the proliferation of rampant underground, organized, and widespread criminal activity , Kenneth D. Rose and Georges-Franck Pinard make

8763-402: The federal government on their 1st, 2nd, 4th and 10th Amendment rights. Tea Party groups have also voiced support for right to work legislation as well as tighter border security, and opposed amnesty for illegal immigrants. On the federal health care reform law, they began to work at the state level to nullify the law, after the Republican Party lost seats in Congress and the Presidency in

8890-518: The few bootleggers ever to tell his story, Cassiday wrote five front-page articles for The Washington Post , in which he estimated that 80% of congressmen and senators drank. The Democrats in the North were mostly wets, and in the 1932 election , they made major gains. The wets argued that Prohibition was not stopping crime, and was actually causing the creation of large-scale, well-funded, and well-armed criminal syndicates. As Prohibition became increasingly unpopular, especially in urban areas, its repeal

9017-416: The first Tea Party in February 2009, although the term "Tea Party" was not used. Other articles, written by Chris Good of The Atlantic and NPR 's Martin Kaste, credit Carender as "one of the first" Tea Party organizers and state that she "organized some of the earliest Tea Party-style protests". Carender first organized what she called a "Porkulus Protest" in Seattle on Presidents Day , February 16,

9144-474: The floor traders around him cheered on his proposal, to the amusement of the hosts in the studio. Santelli's "rant" became a viral video after being featured on the Drudge Report . Beth McGrath of The New Yorker and Kate Zernike of The New York Times report that this where the Tea Party movement was first inspired to coalesce under the collective banner of "Tea Party". Santelli's remarks "set

9271-439: The fuse to the modern anti-Obama Tea Party movement," according to journalist Lee Fang . About 10 hours after Santelli's remarks, reTeaParty.com was bought to coordinate Tea Parties scheduled for Independence Day and, as of March 4, was reported to be receiving 11,000 visitors a day. Within hours, the conservative political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity registered the domain name "TaxDayTeaParty.com", and launched

9398-525: The general use of intoxicating drinks; nor the fact established by statistics accessible to every one, that the idleness, disorder, pauperism and crime existing in the country, are, in some degree...traceable to this evil." In support of prohibition, Crowley v. Christensen (1890), remarked: "The statistics of every state show a greater amount of crime and misery attributable to the use of ardent spirits obtained at these retail liquor saloons than to any other source." The proliferation of neighborhood saloons in

9525-481: The groups participating in the movement have a wide range of different goals, the Tea Party places its view of the Constitution at the center of its reform agenda. It urges the return of government as intended by some of the Founding Fathers . It also seeks to teach its view of the Constitution and other founding documents. Scholars have described its interpretation variously as originalist , popular, or

9652-638: The harbor. The event was one of the first in a series that led to the United States Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution that gave birth to American independence. Some commentators have referred to the Tea in "Tea Party" as the backronym "Taxed Enough Already", though this did not appear until months after the first nationwide protests. References to the Boston Tea Party were part of Tax Day protests held in

9779-476: The idea that the government should define morality. Even in the wet stronghold of New York City there was an active prohibition movement, led by Norwegian church groups and African-American labor activists who believed that prohibition would benefit workers, especially African Americans. Tea merchants and soda fountain manufacturers generally supported prohibition, believing a ban on alcohol would increase sales of their products. A particularly effective operator on

9906-617: The inspiration for why we're here today. That's right. The Tea Party Movement wouldn't exist without Barack Obama." Charles Homans of The New York Times said that the Tea Party arose in response to the "unpopularity of the George W. Bush administration", which caused "a moment of crisis for the Republican Party." On January 24, 2009, Trevor Leach, chairman of the Young Americans for Liberty in New York State, organized

10033-535: The late 1920s, a new opposition to Prohibition emerged nationwide. The opposition attacked the policy, claiming that it lowered tax revenue at a critical time before and during the Great Depression and imposed "rural" Protestant religious values on "urban" America. The Twenty-first Amendment ended Prohibition, though it continued in some states. To date, this is the only time in American history in which

10160-475: The late 19th and early 20th centuries, and enforcement of these new prohibition laws became a topic of debate. Prohibition supporters, called "drys", presented it as a battle for public morals and health. The movement was taken up by progressives in the Prohibition , Democratic , and Republican parties, and gained a national grassroots base through the Woman's Christian Temperance Union . After 1900, it

10287-466: The legitimate liquor business. Some crime syndicates moved their efforts into expanding their protection rackets to cover legal liquor sales and other business areas. Doctors were able to prescribe medicinal alcohol for their patients. After just six months of prohibition, over 15,000 doctors and 57,000 pharmacists received licenses to prescribe or sell medicinal alcohol. According to Gastro Obscura , Physicians wrote an estimated 11 million prescriptions

10414-481: The major health-care reform law from 2009 to 2014 has, according to the Kansas City Star , focused on pushing for Congressional victories so that a repeal measure would pass both houses and that President Obama's veto could be overridden. Some conservative public officials and commentators such as columnist Ramesh Ponnuru have criticized these views as completely unrealistic with the chances of overriding

10541-422: The moral authorities of their households, consequently rejected the drinking of alcohol, which they believed to be a threat to the home. In 1830, on average, Americans consumed 1.7 bottles of hard liquor per week, three times the amount consumed in 2010. The American Temperance Society (ATS), formed in 1826, helped initiate the first temperance movement and served as a foundation for many later groups. By 1835

10668-420: The movement he would need more public approval, and fast. This was the start of his policy called 'Wheelerism' where he used the media to make it seem like the general public was "in on" on a specific issue. Wheeler became known as the "dry boss" because of his influence and power. Prohibition represented a conflict between urban and rural values emerging in the United States. Given the mass influx of migrants to

10795-529: The movement is not a new political group but simply a re-branding of traditional Republican candidates and policies. An October 2010 Washington Post canvass of local Tea Party organizers found 87% saying "dissatisfaction with mainstream Republican Party leaders" was "an important factor in the support the group has received so far". Tea Party activists have expressed support for Republican politicians Sarah Palin , Dick Armey , Michele Bachmann , Marco Rubio , and Ted Cruz . In July 2010, Bachmann formed

10922-540: The movement were achieved in the 1850s, including the Maine law , adopted in 1851, which banned the manufacture and sale of liquor. Before its repeal in 1856, 12 states followed the example set by Maine in total prohibition. The temperance movement lost strength and was marginalized during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Following the war, social moralists turned to other issues, such as Mormon polygamy and

11049-477: The movement were connected with non-profit organizations that the tobacco industry and other corporate interests worked with and provided funding for, including the group Citizens for a Sound Economy . Al Gore cited the study and said that the connections between "market fundamentalists", the tobacco industry and the Tea Party could be traced to a 1971 memo from tobacco lawyer Lewis F. Powell, Jr. who advocated more political power for corporations. Gore said that

11176-484: The name of rum, whisky, wine, brandy, etc." to the Native Americans illegal. In general, informal social controls in the home and community helped maintain the expectation that the abuse of alcohol was unacceptable: "Drunkenness was condemned and punished, but only as an abuse of a God-given gift. Drink itself was not looked upon as culpable, any more than food deserved blame for the sin of gluttony . Excess

11303-711: The ones charged faced a one-time $ 50 fine. Selling alcohol through drugstores became so much of a lucrative open secret that it is name-checked in works such as The Great Gatsby. Historians speculate that Charles R. Walgreen , of Walgreens fame, expanded from 20 stores to a staggering 525 during the 1920s thanks to medicinal alcohol sales." Once Prohibition came into effect, the majority of U.S. citizens obeyed it. Tea Party movement Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other The Tea Party movement

11430-591: The opposite claim that there was no increase in crime during the Prohibition era and that such claims are "rooted in the impressionistic rather than the factual." The highest homicide rate in the United States in the first half of the 20th century occurred during the years of prohibition, decreasing immediately after prohibition ended. By 1925, there were anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasy clubs in New York City alone. Wet opposition talked of personal liberty, new tax revenues from legal beer and liquor, and

11557-705: The other by former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin . "Paulites" have a Jeffersonian approach that seeks, if possible, to avoid foreign military involvement. "Palinites", while seeking to avoid being drawn into unnecessary conflicts, favor a more aggressive response to maintaining America's primacy in international relations. Mead says that both groups share a distaste for "liberal internationalism". Some Tea Party-affiliated Republicans, such as Michele Bachmann , Jeff Duncan , Connie Mack IV , Jeff Flake , Tim Scott , Joe Walsh , Allen West , and Jason Chaffetz , voted for progressive Congressman Dennis Kucinich 's resolution to withdraw U.S. military personnel from Libya . In

11684-535: The other three major statewide offices, the Attorney General , Secretary of State , and State Treasurer , are selected by the Legislature. As Republicans have not held a majority of total seats in the Legislature since 2012, they have been unable to select these officials on their own. They did help to elect independent Treasurer Terry Hayes , a former Democrat, in 2014. Republicans last controlled

11811-501: The political forces involved were ethnoreligious. Prohibition was supported by the dries, primarily pietistic Protestant denominations that included Methodists , Northern Baptists , Southern Baptists , New School Presbyterians , Disciples of Christ , Congregationalists , Quakers , and Scandinavian Lutherans , but also included the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America and, to a certain extent,

11938-453: The political front was Wayne Wheeler of the Anti-Saloon League , who made Prohibition a wedge issue and succeeded in getting many pro-prohibition candidates elected. Coming from Ohio, his deep resentment for alcohol started at a young age. He was injured on a farm by a worker who had been drunk. This event transformed Wheeler. Starting low in the ranks, he quickly moved up due to his deep-rooted hatred of alcohol. He later realized to further

12065-402: The post-Civil War era became a phenomenon of an increasingly industrialized, urban workforce. Workingmen's bars were popular social gathering places from the workplace and home life. The brewing industry was actively involved in establishing saloons as a lucrative consumer base in their business chain. Saloons were more often than not linked to a specific brewery, where the saloonkeeper's operation

12192-406: The previous Contract with America released by the Republican Party during the 1994 midterm elections. One thousand agenda ideas that had been submitted were narrowed down to twenty-one non-social issues. Participants then voted in an online campaign in which they were asked to select their favorite policy planks. The results were released as a ten-point Tea Party platform. The Contract from America

12319-629: The protests were partially in response to several federal laws: the Bush administration's Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 , and the Obama administration's economic stimulus package the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and healthcare reform legislation . New York Times journalist Kate Zernike reported that leaders within the Tea Party credit Seattle blogger and conservative activist Keli Carender with organizing

12446-574: The recall election, retaining his position as mayor by a margin of 91 votes. Prohibition in the United States The Prohibition era was the period from 1920 to 1933 when the United States prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages . The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, and Prohibition was formally introduced nationwide under

12573-612: The recently passed State budget. The Maine Republican Party controls no statewide state-level offices after the 2018 midterm elections . It holds a minority in the Maine Senate and the Maine House of Representatives . It also holds one of the state's U.S. Senate seats, but neither of the state's U.S. House seats. Republicans have controlled Maine's Class II seat since 1979 . Republicans controlled both of Maine's senate seats between 1997—the election of Collins—and 2013, with

12700-480: The repeal of Prohibition as it applied to medicinal liquors. From 1921 to 1930, doctors earned about $ 40 million for whiskey prescriptions. While the manufacture, importation, sale, and transport of alcohol was illegal in the United States, Section 29 of the Volstead Act allowed wine and cider to be made from fruit at home, but not beer. Up to 200 gallons of wine and cider per year could be made, and some vineyards grew grapes for home use. The Act did not prohibit

12827-564: The resignation of seven members of the State Committee, viewed as libertarian and conservative, was announced along with their unenrollment from the Party. Those who resigned cited numerous grievances with the Party at both the state and national levels, including Party rule changes, support from Congressional Republicans of National Security Agency surveillance programs, and the failure of Legislative Republicans to block tax increases in

12954-516: The retirement of Olympia Snowe . Snowe was replaced in the senate by independent Angus King , who caucus with the Democrats. Both of Maine's congressional districts have been held by Democrats since 2018 . The last Republican to represent Maine in the House of Representatives was Bruce Poliquin . First elected in 2014 , Poliquin was subsequently defeated in his bid for a third term in 2018 by Democratic challenger Jared Golden . Poliquin sought

13081-692: The scourge of organized crime. On March 22, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Cullen–Harrison Act , legalizing beer with an alcohol content of 3.2% (by weight) and wine of a similarly low alcohol content. On December 5, ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment. However, United States federal law still prohibits the manufacture of distilled spirits without meeting numerous licensing requirements that make it impractical to produce spirits for personal use. Consumption of alcoholic beverages has been

13208-427: The seat again in 2022 , but lost. Maine has not elected a GOP Governor since 2014 , when Paul LePage was re-elected as governor. In 2018, term limits prevented LePage from seeking a third consecutive term. Businessman Shawn Moody ran as the Republican nominee in the 2018 election and was subsequently defeated by Democratic challenger Janet Mills . LePage ran for governor again in 2022 , but lost. The holders of

13335-525: The state's ban on alcohol consumption. She walked into saloons, scolding customers, and used her hatchet to destroy bottles of liquor. Nation recruited ladies into the Carrie Nation Prohibition Group, which she also led. While Nation's vigilante techniques were rare, other activists enforced the dry cause by entering saloons, singing, praying, and urging saloonkeepers to stop selling alcohol. Other dry states , especially those in

13462-460: The steps that should be avoided to prevent the juice from fermenting into wine. Some drugstores sold "medical wine" with around a 22% alcohol content. In order to justify the sale, the wine was given a medicinal taste. Home-distilled hard liquor was called bathtub gin in northern cities, and moonshine in rural areas of Virginia , Kentucky , North Carolina , South Carolina , Georgia , West Virginia and Tennessee . Making drinkable hard liquor

13589-498: The task of enforcing the Volstead Act: the U.S. Coast Guard Office of Law Enforcement, the U.S. Treasury 's IRS Bureau of Prohibition, and the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Prohibition. As early as 1925, journalist H. L. Mencken believed that Prohibition was not working. Historian David Oshinsky , summarizing the work of Daniel Okrent , wrote that "Prohibition worked best when directed at its primary target:

13716-408: The tea party moniker". The Tea Party movement focuses on a significant reduction in the size and scope of the government. The movement advocates a national economy operating without government oversight. Movement goals include limiting the size of the federal government, reducing government spending, lowering the national debt and opposing tax increases. To this end, Tea Party groups have protested

13843-483: The terms of the amendment, the country went dry one year later, on January 17, 1920. On October 28, 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act , the popular name for the National Prohibition Act, over President Woodrow Wilson 's veto . The act established the legal definition of intoxicating liquors as well as penalties for producing them. Although the Volstead Act prohibited the sale of alcohol,

13970-430: The underground liquor market, by loading their stocks with ingredients for liquors, including Bénédictine , vermouth , scotch mash, and even ethyl alcohol ; anyone could purchase these ingredients legally. In October 1930, just two weeks before the congressional midterm elections, bootlegger George Cassiday —"the man in the green hat"—came forward and told members of Congress how he had bootlegged for ten years. One of

14097-433: The urban centers of the United States, many individuals within the prohibition movement associated the crime and morally corrupt behavior of American cities with their large, immigrant populations. Saloons frequented by immigrants in these cities were often frequented by politicians who wanted to obtain the immigrants' votes in exchange for favors such as job offers, legal assistance, and food baskets. Thus, saloons were seen as

14224-417: The war effort, was passed ten days after the armistice ending World War I was signed, on November 21, 1918. The Wartime Prohibition Act took effect June 30, 1919, with July 1 becoming known as the "Thirsty First". The U.S. Senate proposed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 18, 1917. Upon being approved by a 36th state on January 16, 1919, the amendment was ratified as a part of the Constitution. By

14351-547: The war effort. While wartime prohibition was a spark for the movement, World War I ended before nationwide Prohibition was enacted. A resolution calling for a Constitutional amendment to accomplish nationwide Prohibition was introduced in Congress and passed by both houses in December 1917. By January 16, 1919, the Amendment had been ratified by 36 of the 48 states, making it law. Eventually, only two states— Connecticut and Rhode Island —opted out of ratifying it. On October 28, 1919, Congress passed enabling legislation, known as

14478-443: The working-class poor." Historian Lizabeth Cohen writes: "A rich family could have a cellar-full of liquor and get by, it seemed, but if a poor family had one bottle of home-brew, there would be trouble." Working-class people were inflamed by the fact that their employers could dip into a private cache while they, the employees, could not. Within a week after Prohibition went into effect, small portable stills were on sale throughout

14605-428: Was Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a conservative political advocacy group founded by businessman and political activist David Koch . By 2016, Politico wrote that the Tea Party movement had died; however, it also said that this was in part because some of its ideas had been absorbed by the mainstream Republican Party. CNBC reported in 2019 that the conservative wing of the Republican Party "has basically shed

14732-480: Was a personal indiscretion." When informal controls failed, there were legal options. Shortly after the United States obtained independence, the Whiskey Rebellion took place in western Pennsylvania in protest of government-imposed taxes on whiskey . Although the taxes were primarily levied to help pay down the newly formed national debt , it also received support from some social reformers, who hoped

14859-510: Was allowed to sit for sixty days it would ferment and turn to wine with a twelve percent alcohol content. Many people took advantage of this as grape juice output quadrupled during the Prohibition era. To prevent bootleggers from using industrial ethyl alcohol to produce illegal beverages, the federal government ordered the denaturation of industrial alcohols , meaning they must include additives to make them unpalatable or poisonous. In response, bootleggers hired chemists who successfully removed

14986-418: Was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. The movement formed in opposition to the policies of Democratic President Barack Obama and was a major factor in the 2010 wave election in which Republicans gained 63 House seats and took control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Participants in the movement called for lower taxes and for

15113-558: Was based on uncontrolled experiments; regardless, his $ 6 billion figure for the annual gains of Prohibition to the United States continues to be cited. In a backlash to the emerging reality of a changing American demographic, many prohibitionists subscribed to the doctrine of nativism , in which they endorsed the notion that the success of America was a result of its white Anglo-Saxon ancestry. This belief fostered distrust of immigrant communities that fostered saloons and incorporated drinking in their popular culture. Two other amendments to

15240-499: Was composed of a mixture of libertarian , right-wing populist , and conservative activism. It sponsored multiple protests and supported various political candidates since 2009. According to the American Enterprise Institute , various polls in 2013 estimated that slightly over 10% of Americans identified as part of the movement. The movement took its name from the December 1773 Boston Tea Party ,

15367-495: Was coordinated by the Anti-Saloon League . Opposition from the beer industry mobilized "wet" supporters from the wealthy Catholic and German Lutheran communities, but the influence of these groups receded from 1917 following the entry of the U.S. into the First World War against Germany. The Eighteenth Amendment passed in 1919 "with a 68 percent supermajority in the House of Representatives and 76 percent support in

15494-463: Was eagerly anticipated. Wets had the organization and the initiative. They pushed the argument that states and localities needed the tax money. President Herbert Hoover proposed a new constitutional amendment that was vague on particulars and satisfied neither side. Franklin Roosevelt's Democratic platform promised repeal of the 18th Amendment. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, many bootleggers and suppliers with wet sympathies simply moved into

15621-643: Was easier than homebrewing good beer. Since selling privately distilled alcohol was illegal and bypassed government taxation, law enforcement officers relentlessly pursued manufacturers. In response, bootleggers modified their cars and trucks by enhancing the engines and suspensions to make faster vehicles that would improve their chances of outrunning and escaping agents of the Bureau of Prohibition , commonly called "revenue agents" or "revenuers". These cars became known as "moonshine runners" or " 'shine runners". Shops with wet sympathies were also known to participate in

15748-490: Was financed by a brewer and contractually obligated to sell the brewer's product to the exclusion of competing brands. A saloon's business model often included the offer of a free lunch , where the bill of fare commonly consisted of heavily salted food meant to induce thirst and the purchase of drink. During the Progressive Era (1890–1920), hostility toward saloons and their political influence became widespread, with

15875-483: Was met with some support within the Republican Party, but it was not broadly embraced by GOP leadership, which released its own ' Pledge to America '. In the aftermath of the 2012 American elections , some Tea Party activists have taken up more traditionally populist ideological viewpoints on issues that are distinct from general conservative views. Examples are various Tea Party demonstrators sometimes coming out in favor of U.S. immigration reform as well as for raising

16002-549: Was often substituted for alcohol was for the Sterno , a denatured form of ethyl alcohol adulterated with methanol and a jelling agent, commonly known as "canned heat". Forcing the substance through a makeshift filter, such as a handkerchief, created a rough liquor substitute; however, the result was poisonous, though not often lethal. Making alcohol at home was common among some families with wet sympathies during Prohibition. Stores sold grape concentrate with warning labels that listed

16129-594: Was to include then-host Glenn Beck, though Fox came to discourage him from attending later events. Opposition to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) has been consistent within the Tea Party movement. The scheme has often been referred to as 'Obamacare' by critics, but was soon adopted as well by many of its advocates, including President Obama. This has been an aspect of an overall anti-government message throughout Tea Party rhetoric that includes opposition to gun control measures and to federal spending increases. Activism by Tea Party people against

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