For the last few weeks, Valley Tea Party activists have been taking to the streets and making their stance clear: no more debt. So Monday, local Tea Party leaders said they did not support the deal approved by the house. "In our viewpoint, it's a total compromise on our core value of fiscal responsibility. It kicks the can down the road. It doesn't enforce budget cuts that are acceptable to us," said Steve Brandau, the Head Coordinator for the Central Valley Tea Party.
Still, Tea Party members say their values did have an influence on the debt debate. They said without the Tea Party, Republicans would have caved in long ago and the deal would have been far worse. Even though they don't agree with the plan, they claim they've shown America the Tea Party is here to stay. "If the Tea Party had won, this bill would have been defeated. However, it does show the Tea Party does have a growing voice. The Tea Party is bigger and more organized than it's ever been," said Serafin Quintanar, an activist with the Central Valley Tea Party.
ABC 30 Political Analyst Tony Capozzi says the Tea Party's 'no budge' stance did have an impact on the debt debate. He said that's something they'll try to use to their advantage during the next election. "There were a lot of them elected and they stuck to their guns. They weren't going to compromise; they were going to stick by what they campaigned on. Well, that didn't bode well for the leadership back in Washington, and they didn't bode well for the entire country. But it did help them for the reelection coming up next year," said Capozzi.
But Capozzi said that same sentiment could also backfire, because no one is happy about how Congress handled the debt debacle. Despite any party's influence, none are really proclaiming victory. "I don't think there are any winners in this situation. It was an embarrassment for both parties and for the President of the United States, to have this goes on for so long," said Capozzi.