Every Little Girl Loves A Tea Party

What a wonderful occasion for a mother and daughter or even a granddaughter and grandmother to enjoy!

An afternoon tea- just as if Mrs. Costen were living there today. 

Visit her dressing room to accessorize your wardrobe.

Gene Simmons Predicts 'Major Change' In Midtern Elections

Gene Simmons has never been one to shy away from voicing his political opinions and the KISS frontman tells Pop Tarts he is anticipating some serious power shifts to take place as a result of the midterm elections in November.

"There is going to be major change. The American public is very, very angry. I believed in this administration, and I voted for President Obama, I also voted for President Clinton, and I also voted for President Bush,” Simmons said this week at the launch of Activision’s “Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock” in Los Angeles. “I will vote my conscience, and I'll be damned if anybody is going to point a finger at me and say ‘vote along party lines.’ America is like me – sometimes they vote this way, sometimes they vote that way."

But when it comes to certain issues, Simmons isn’t afraid to admit his allegiances aren’t exactly in keeping with Hollywood’s stereotypes.

"I am fiscally and in terms of foreign policy, very conservative. Like everybody, we want to pay less taxes not more,” he continued.

And on that note, Simmons is taking the Tea Party movement very seriously.

“You have to take any movement that expresses the will of the public seriously. You can't point to any direction and say ‘this is nonsense’ because the people who are involved in any movement, are doing it because they believe,” he explained. “Who am I to say that what they're doing is right or wrong? At the end of the day, no matter what anyone believes in, no matter what side of the aisle you’re on, you have the opportunity to vote, and express your feelings.”

So what’s Simmons’ message to those in power? Zip the lip and just do the work.

“I resent the fact that the Democrats are making fun of the Tea Party, and likewise, I don't like the Republicans making fun of Democrats. Basically, shut up; don't tell me what's wrong with the other party. Tell me what you're going to do for me, then I'll let you know who I'm going to vote for,” he told us. “This is why America is like me – sometimes Republicans get in, sometimes Democrats get in. As soon as one messes up, we throw them out. Watch what's going to happen this election."

And in a different form of competition, Simmons admitted that he has been approached about being a contestant for an upcoming season of the ABC hit “Dancing With the Stars”, and that he is entertaining the possibility.

Stay tuned.
www.foxnews.com

Steele Says Tea Party Won't Hurt GOP In Key Va. Races

RICHMOND, Va. — Independent conservatives running with tea party backing in key Virginia House races won't be spoilers for GOP challengers to freshmen Democratic congressmen, the Republican National Committee chairman said Wednesday.

Candidates on the party's right championed by tea party groups beat establishment Republicans in New Hampshire and Delaware primaries Tuesday. A day later, Michael Steele dismissed suggestions that tea party-backed candidates in the 2nd and 5th Congressional Districts would dilute support for GOP nominees.

"Our folks don't need to run around being scared or afraid of the tea party," Steele told reporters before a rally with Chuck Smith, a longshot Republican challenger to nine-term Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va.

"A lot of these folks were card-carrying Republicans four or five years ago who felt that the party had walked away" from core principles including the Contract With America, Steele said.

The contract was a series of conservative reforms proposed in 1994 during a midterm election two years into Democrat Bill Clinton's presidency when Republicans gained control of the House and Senate.

But in the two House races Republicans are targeting in Virginia, there are tea party candidates on the ballot alongside the Democratic and Republican nominees.

Kenny Golden, a longtime Republican activist, is competing with Republican Scott Rigell to unseat Rep. Glenn Nye, a moderate Democrat, in the Hampton Roads 2nd District.

In central and Southside Virginia's 5th District, Jeff Clark, a poorly funded tea party favorite, is vying with state Sen. Robert Hurt to deny Democratic Rep. Tom Perriello a second term.

Asked if the tea party candidates could split the Republican and conservative vote, Steele shot back, "We don't know that."

"We'll see what happens. Everybody's got to state their case with the American people, the people in the various districts in the state," Steele said. "We don't get to pick and choose who represents the American people. Guess what? They do."

Democrats control six of Virginia's 11 U.S. House seats. The GOP took aim at Perriello and Nye from the moment they ousted Republican incumbents in the 2008 Democratic landslide led by Barack Obama, the first Democrat to carry Virginia in a presidential race since 1964.

Steele and Smith addressed about 100 people in a renovated art deco movie theater in a middle-class Richmond suburb.

www.usatoday.net