Area tea-partiers' patience is thinning over the pace of change in Washington.
Virginia tea-party activists say they sent leaders to Washington with a clear message to right the nation's fiscal ship and want to see bolder action, faster.
That frustration boiled over recently when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-7th, opposed an amendment that would have made deeper cuts than the $61 billion that the House passed. It triggered a blistering reaction from leaders of the Virginia Tea Party Patriot Federation.
"We are extremely disappointed in Eric Cantor, but not surprised," Mark K. Lloyd, chairman of the federation, said in a news release. "The will of the American people was pretty clear in November — cut, cut, cut spending. Apparently, Eric Cantor's 'conversion' to fiscal restraint was only temporary."
The tea-party activists also called out Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-10th, for voting against the amendment.
"Anger and dissatisfaction with both representatives is very high in the Virginia Tea Party movement."
The amendment, which failed, would have made a 5.5 percent across-the-board cut for non-security discretionary spending.
"It's hard for us to understand why there's a vote against any amendment. We want to see a yes vote on all cuts," said Susan Lascolette, a Goochland County resident with the Richmond Tea Party. "To us, it seems like a no-brainer. Why would you not vote for that?"
Lascolette said the House leadership, including Cantor, is on the right track, but "we want to poke them and keep them moving."
Cantor press secretary Megan Whittemore said the majority leader has been working to change the culture in Washington to get the fiscal house in order and create jobs.
"In the current debate over the continuing resolution, the House passed the single largest spending cut in modern history, significantly larger than those passed by then-Speaker (Newt) Gingrich and the '95 Republican majority," she said.
"In the coming weeks, we will present a budget that includes even more cuts and will address insolvent entitlement programs which are the largest drivers of our debt. There is a lot of work to be done and Republicans will continue to lead the effort to cut government spending, but we will need Democrats to join us so these House-passed measures can become law."
The Senate rejected the House's bid to cut $61 billion from the budget that ends Sept. 30, triggering negotiations.
There's a broader concern though, said Jamie Radtke, a Virginia tea-party activist who is running for U.S. Senate, about whether the House leadership has "the stomach to make the real cuts that need to be made."
She said people want to see structural reform and that the House GOP has an opportunity to present and execute a strong vision.
"Why not take the principled stance … let's show what true limited constitutional government looks like," she said. "This is a prime opportunity for the leadership in the House to put down a plan that people can see, a vision for America that people can grab and say this is how we turn it around."
omeola@timesdispatch.com
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