Tea parties bring in big bucks

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- The tea-party movement, drawing in conservative activists across the United States, has also lured fundraisers, some of them for-profit companies.

Our Country Deserves Better PAC-TeaPartyExpress.org, a group in California, reported raising $585,000, more than twice its goal of $250,000. It spent $235,000, mostly paid to PAC officials, a consulting firm and activists who rode its Tea Party Express from San Diego to Orlando, Politico reported.

Another group, Tea Party Nation, is charging $560 for a three-day conservative convention in Nashville in February, and the fee does not include lodging. The keynote speaker is to be former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who reportedly is being paid a six-figure fee.

Judson Phillips, president of Tea Party Nation, said the group plans to set up a non-profit arm to funnel money to conservatives.

"If this were a perfect world, we wouldn't charge anybody, but to put on an event like this, there are expenses that have to be covered," he said.