<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Tea Party movement is an American conservative movement within the Republican Party . Members of the movement have called for a reduction of the national debt of the United States and federal budget deficit by reducing government spending, and for lower taxes . The movement opposes government - sponsored universal healthcare and has been described as a mixture of libertarian, populist, and conservative activism . It has sponsored multiple protests and supported various political candidates since 2009 . According to the American Enterprise Institute, various polls in 2013 estimate that slightly over 10 percent of Americans identify as part of the movement . </P> <P> The movement began following Barack Obama's first presidential inauguration (in January 2009) when his administration announced plans to give financial aid to bankrupt homeowners . A major force behind it was Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a conservative political advocacy group founded by businessmen and political activist David H. Koch . It is unclear exactly how much money is donated to AFP by David and his brother Charles Koch . Following a February 19, 2009 call by CNBC reporter Rick Santelli on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for a "tea party," over fifty conservative activists agreed by conference call to coalesce against Obama's agenda and scheduled series of protests, including the 2009 Taxpayer March on Washington . Supporters of the movement subsequently have had a major impact on the internal politics of the Republican Party . Although the Tea Party is not a party in the classic sense of the word, some research suggests that members of the Tea Party Caucus vote like a significantly farther right third party in Congress . </P> <P> The movement's name refers to the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773, a watershed event in the launch of the American Revolution . The 1773 event demonstrated against taxation by the British government without political representation for the American colonists, and references to the Boston Tea Party and even costumes from the 1770s era are commonly heard and seen in the Tea Party movement . </P>

Who formed the base of the tea party political movement