Dick Armey: Tea Parties are the leader of the conservative movement

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R) said Wednesday that the grassroots Tea Party movement is the new voice conservative America.

In an op-ed in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Armey said these Tea Parties are more the leader of the right than Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh.

“Frustrated Americans began taking their grievances to the streets and the tea party movement was born,” Armey wrote. “Just as the original Boston Tea Party was a grass-roots rebellion against overbearing government, tea party participants are reacting to government that has grown too large.”

Armey has been credited with at least partially fueling the movement, which he made reference to in the op-ed. Armey wrote that conservative Americans are tired of big spending and these Tea Parties are an indication of how widespread that feeling is.

“The tea partiers want to see the cash spigot turned off,” he wrote. “With no central organizer of the events, it is impossible to tell how many tea parties will be held, but it is clear hundreds of tea parties are planned with tens of thousands of participants. Groups like my own FreedomWorks are serving as a resource for these activists as this grass-roots revolt has proved a turning point in the conservative movement. Small government activists are taking a page from the president