Tea Partyers May Punish 'Defectors' for Their Votes

Most tea party groups apparently oppose House Speaker John Boehner’s debt/deficit plan. And their opposition is strong enough that they want to punish tea partying members of the House who defected to support the speaker’s proposal, The Hill reports.

Tea party leaders announced Thursday that they are targeting four freshmen Republicans — James Lankford of Oklahoma, Allen West of Florida, Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, and Bill Flores of Texas.

The quartet received strong tea party backing in their 2010 campaigns, which now may be withdrawn.

Tea Party Express, Tea Party Nation, Tea Party Founding Fathers, and United West said their members can’t accept votes in favor of Boehner’s blueprint.

United West calls the wayward foursome “tea party defectors.”