The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism: on Welfare & Poverty

Tea Party: Support earned entitlements, but oppose unearned handouts

But Tea Partiers are not opposed to all kinds of regulation or big tax-supported spending. We find them to be updated versions of long-standing populist conservative ideas. At the grass roots, Tea Partiers want government to get out of the way of business. Yet at the same time, virtually all want government to police immigrants. And the numerous social conservatives in Tea Party ranks want authorities to enforce their conception of traditional moral norms. More telling still, almost all Tea Partiers favor generous social benefits for Americans who "earn" them; yet in an era of rising federal deficits, they are very concerned about being stuck with the tax tab to pay for "unearned" entitlements handed out to unworthy categories of people.