Wingnuts

The Tea Act of 1773

It's worth mentioning this again. The British law that eventually precipitated the Boston Tea Party was the Tea Act of 1773. One of the many inconsistencies of the wingnut tea bagging revolution is the unfortunate fact that the Tea Act was basically a corporate tax cut. How do we know for sure? Here's the long form title of the act:

An act to allow a drawback of the duties of customs on the exportation of tea to any of his Majesty's colonies or plantations in America; to increase the deposit on bohea tea to be sold at the East India Company's sales; and to empower the commissioners of the treasury to grant licences to the East India Company to export tea duty-free

Consequently, the East India Company could export tea to the American colonies tax free, thus severely undercutting independent merchants.

So the wingnut tea parties are emulating a protest against a corporate tax cut while also "going Galt" which is a protest against a corporate tax hike.

Smart!

Adding... I think the Sons of Liberty, who boycotted corporate tea, would be flummoxed by the notion of the wingnuts tea baggers purchasing thousands of corporate tea bags.