Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill who wrote (543604)	1/13/2010 5:28:21 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575740

Tea Party Convention Loses Sponsor Following ‘Whistleblower’ Blog Post By Kleinheider Posted on January 13, 2010 at 10:37 am The former webmaster of Tea Party Nation, the group sponsoring next month’s National Tea Party convention at Opryland, has written a “whistleblower’s” account of his experience working with the group while it was in its embryonic stages. And what he reveals apparently has led a key tea party leader to remove his group from the sponsor list. In a post on his personal blog, In Media Res, Kevin Smith, an owner of the web design company HearSAY, writes that Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips took advantage of his volunteer computer experience in the creation of Tea Party Nation’s web architecture and profited from the enterprise. Smith writes that his “zeal for the movement” meant he delivered Phillips’ web services at a heavily discounted rate at the expense of his own business. He believed that he was working for an nonprofit effort that would only supply founder Phillips with a little extra income to replace income he was losing while working for the movement instead of practicing law, he writes. Smith reports being shocked when Phillips filed to create Tea Party Nation as a for-profit corporation. Disgusted with Phillips’ decision to continue taking donations for the for-profit company, Smith ultimately resigned. Others appear to be taking umbrage as well. Eric Odom, the leader of key tea party group American Liberty Alliance, has posted a letter on his site announcing that his group will not be participating in the event as announced based on how the Tea Party Nation group operates. “To be clear, the for-profit model has its place in the movement … but these groups should always have boards and oversight, and should never, ever process donations through personal PayPal accounts,” Odom writes. “The American Liberty Alliance will pass on being involved with the Nashville event, and we’ll ask to be removed from the sponsors’ list.” Meanwhile, Smith says that after he left the group, Phillips threatened to call the TBI and other authorities, saying Smith was responsible for crashing the Tea Party Nation website, a charge Smith denies. Smith writes that every single one of the members from the tea party planning group followed him out the door after he resigned. He says he’s no longer active with any tea party groups even the one that was formed after the split with Tea Party Nation. Smith says he has nothing to gain from coming forward other than to stop the “cancer” that threatens to destroy the spirit of the tea party movement. “It’s become clear to me that Judson and his for-profit Tea Party Nation Corporation are at the forefront of the GOP’s process of hijacking the tea party movement. What began as cries for true liberty and a public showing of frustration with the big government policies of both Democrats and Republicans has now been co-opted by mainstream Republican demagogues determined to use this as their 2010 election platform.”