Not only do Tea Party supporters inspire rousing speeches and convince career politicians to take more conservative stands, they apparently convince at least some politicians to stick to the promises made on the campaign trail last fall. At least that?s the impression one gets from this item from TIME?s Mark Halperin:
What role are Tea Partyers and deficit hawks playing? House Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders have already shown that they underestimated the appetite for cuts among conservative new members and have accepted tens of billions of dollars in added proposed savings to placate them. More cuts are promised for later this year.
