Tea Party movement

"I see a lot of parallels between my candidacy and the Tea Party. I would not have been elected had there not been a tremendous amount of dissatisfaction and discouragement and disgust with what was going on in Washington."

"The Tea Party, for example. It’s an incredible thing: some old ladies got together and are now hammering at Obama from all sides."

"The challenge, I think, for the tea party movement is to identify specifically, what would you do? It's not enough just to say, "Get control of spending." I think it's important for you to say, you know, "I'm willing to cut veterans' benefits," or, "I'm willing to cut Medicare or Social Security benefits," or, "I'm willing to see these taxes go up.""

"This is America. How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor's mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can't pay their bills?"

"People ask me if I'm the father of the Tea Party movement. I was the spark [...] that started it. If being the lightning rod that started the Tea Party is what's written on my tombstone, I'll be very happy."