Fed up with the economic stimulus, bailouts and big spending in general, conservatives have latched onto an unlikely occasion - "tea parties" - to express their outrage.
Last week conservatives in Carson City, Nev., tried to add some edge to their tea party, urging participants to come in war paint and headbands with feathers, evocative of the Boston Tea Party. Hundreds showed up in Cape Coral, Fla., for a similar party there.
And on Thursday evening, the tea-bag revolt hit Scottsdale when more than 250 members of the Republican Professionals, a networking group, converged on the W Hotel in Scottsdale to protest public spending.