Tea Party movement evaporates in Will County [View all]

[Drale]

Steve Balich said the Will County Tea Party movement he helped organize is disbanding in name, but not spirit, after gains by Democrats in the Nov. 6 election.

“We’re actually terminating it and calling ourselves ‘fiscal Republicans,’” Balich said of the local Tea Party, which took off in 2008 and sprouted branches in Joliet, Plainfield, New Lenox and Homer Township-Lockport.

Balich, of Homer Glen, blamed the movement’s demise on the media, which he said demonized the national Tea Party over social issues.

“People think of it as bad, but our message was just about fiscal conservatism,” he said.

http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/news/16436770-418/tea-party-movement-evaporates-in-will-county.html