Tea Party Leaders Urge GOP to Keep DADT and Defund Planned Parenthood

Last week we noted that the gay conservative group GOProud had teamed up with a handful of Tea Party leaders to urge Republicans in Congress to ignore the social issues that make up the foundation of the Religious Right's agenda. 

That effort, not surprisingly, did not go over too well with Religious Right groups ... and now dozens of Tea Party leaders have released their own letter to the GOP saying that those who signed GOProud's letter do not represent the movement and calling on Congress to take on social issues like fighting efforts to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell and defunding Planned Parenthood:

Tea Party Nation founder and CEO Judson Phillips plans to set the GOP congressional leadership straight about the tea party's legislative demands, after a handful of Tea Party Patriots and a homosexual activist group, GOProud, released an open letter last Monday urging Republicans to ignore social issues.

This coming Monday, Phillips plans to release an open letter of his own urging the GOP to address several fiscal matters and at least three social issues, including the preservation of the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy banning open homosexuals in the military.

"There is a battle going on for the heart and soul of the tea-party movement," Phillips told WND. "GOProud has its own agenda. It wants to create credibility for itself by leveraging the tea-party movement, but GOProud has never been a part of the tea-party movement."

Phillips is also taking aim at abortion.

"The abortion industry is a multibillion dollar industry. Why are they getting funding from the government? Cut that off!" said Phililips.