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Blackburn: TEA Parties rallying women

by Mark Silva

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee and the first woman elected to Congress in her district, also serves as chairwoman of the songwriter's caucus. There is a growing choir of discontent with Washington among the public, she says.

Blackburn was among the Republican congressional leaders at the TEA Party tax protest outside the Capitol recently. She was asked today, at a conference in the shadow of the Capitol, if she is concerned about "the tone'' of the proteststhe suggestion, for instance, that House Republican Leader John Boehner has made that the health-care legislation is the greatest threat to American freedom that Americans have seen for some time.

"You know what is so interesting about the TEA Party movement?'' Blackburn asked. "The amazing thing to me about the TEA Parties is, when you look out across the crowd, the crowd is predominantly female... It's amazing, the number of women attending these events, and women are speaking out as never before... They are looking at what is happening with the cost of health care, they are truly concerned about the strong arm of government reaching into their lives and into their pocketbooks.''

But is the health-care bill, as some have called it, tyranny?

"Let me tell you why it is a clearly defined threat, because this is a bill that will change the way health care in this country works,'' she said at the Bloomberg Washington Summit at the Newseum this afternoon. "There's a lot of worry....''

Readers of the Swamp might recall Blackburn as the Republican who warmed up the crowd for the acceptance speech of Republican presidential candidate John McCain at the 2008 GOP convention in St. Paul (pictured there, above, in a photo by Alex Wong / Getty Images.)

"We are the gun totin', God fearin,' flag wavin' Americans who are excited to see two crack shots on the ticket with the status quo in their sights,'' Blackburn told the crowd in Minnesota. ""We don't need to elect someone to install an ATM machine on Pennsylvania Avenue that debits your liberty to fund wasteful programs.''

"I think many would appreciate seeing a much more civil tone here in Washington,'' she said today, at a far less emotional forum than the convention or TEA Parties.

"People are very concerned that we are compromising our freedom because we are accruing so much debt... and we don't have the desire, or the political will, to stop this spending,'' Blackburn said today. "Most Americans are just tired of the rhetoric that seems to swirl around itself,'' Blackburn said today. "The expectations of the American public have not been managed or fulfilled.''

Asked about a potential restoration of Republican control of the House, the Republican from Tennessee said:

"It is going to be important that we lay out an orderly process... The American people want to see jobs-growth. What they want is for leaders to define how they're going to do this... ''

What happens if Republicans take back the House? How much of the agenda becomes a question of dismantling what's been donesuch as health care, or the economic stimulus?

"What the American people want to see is, No. 1, not so many penalties and punishments being put in place,'' she said.

One of the keys to jobs-growth is examining the tax code, and making sure that the tax cuts of 2001 and '03 don't expire, she said. "Looking at taxes and regulation, that is one thing that unites all Republicans.''

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