Sunshine patriots need not apply....

It’s useful to take stock. Just four years ago, there was little debate about unchecked federal spending, and it looked like cap and trade was going to be implemented as part of Barack Obama’s “hope and change” plan to diminish this nation. And until a spontaneous citizens’ movement called the tea party started gaining ground, Democrats controlled the House and had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. The tea party forced old-line Republican legislators to change, helped win the House of Representatives and put the Senate within reach of conservatives.