Boston Tea Party (US Political Party)
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The Boston Tea Party is an American libertarian political party founded on July 4, 2006.
The party was created[1] in reaction to factional disputes within the Libertarian Party over the content of that party's platform and bylaws. After the substantial victory of a "reform" faction at the LP's 2006 national convention in Portland, Oregon, the new party commenced operations and recruited more than 200 members in its first month.[2]
The Boston Tea Party is the first political party to adopt the World's Smallest Political Platform, as codified in its bylaws.[3]
At its organizational convention, held August 19-21, 2006, the party elected a permanent national committee, adopted a political program for the 2006 election cycle, and overwhelmingly rejected a resolution calling for the dissolution of the party and its re-entry into the Libertarian Party as an internal caucus.[4] The event may have been the first political party convention held entirely on the Internet.[citation needed]
The chair of the Boston Tea Party is Tom Blanton of Virginia. Other officers include vice-chair Chris Moore, also of Virginia, and secretary Michelle Luetge of Texas. These officers, plus four members elected at-large, comprise the party's national committee.
The party's political program, which under the bylaws will expire at its 2008 convention in favor of a newly adopted one, calls for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, repeal of the USA PATRIOT ACT, an end to the federal war on marijuana and hemp, repeal of the "REAL ID" national identification law, and "bottom up" cuts to the federal income tax and Social Security taxes.[5]
Because it came into existence late in the 2006 election cycle, the party does not expect to run candidates in that cycle. It may run candidates for local non-partisan office in 2007, and its bylaws call for the nomination of a presidential slate in 2008.
