For better or worse, the tea party movement has made a difference

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5 years later, here's how the tea party changed politics
By Tom Cohen, February 28, 2014

Five years ago, not many people knew of Ted Cruz or sequestration or had seen a tricorne hat.
Today, all are familiar in the political arena because of the tea party movement that emerged in 2009.

For better or worse, the coming together of frustrated conservatives fearing American ruin due to rising debt has altered the national discussion to raise the profile of people and policies previously relegated to the right-wing fringe.

Republicans fear tea party challengers in primaries. Democrats complain about the tea party caucus. The fiscal conversation focuses on reducing deficits and even reforming entitlement programs that make up the social safety net.

Here's a kind of "greatest hits of the tea party, volume one":

1) Protesting patriots
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2) Obamacare fury
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3) Republican control of the House
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4) Democratic control of the Senate
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5) Ted Cruz and Michele Bachmann
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6) New vocabulary
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7) Poor John [Boehner]
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8) IRS targeting
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