Tea Party Patriots

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Citizens for Self-Governance leader Mark Meckler said a number of GOP 2016 presidential candidates back a balanced-budget constitutional amendment. (Associated Press)

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"Our attitude is if state legislators won't stand against Washington, D.C., then they need to be replaced by somebody who will," Mark Meckler, president of Citizens for Self-Governance and a leader of the state convention movement, told The Washington Times in an interview this week. (Associated Press)

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"The ruling elite in the House, and their shell-game with our money, aren't fooling us," says Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, perhaps displaying a snippet of the ongoing "internal dissent" in the GOP. (Associated Press)

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Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Tea Party Patriots National founders and coordinators Mark Meckler (left) and Jenny Beth Martin take part in a news conference Sept. 21, 2010, at the National Press Club in Washington to announce that the organization received a major donation. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin pauses while organizing the start of an Election Day demonstration on the lawn of the Capitol in Washington on Nov. 2, 2010. (Associated Press)

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Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, “is saying you’re not compromising your principles — you’re getting yourselves a step closer to our principles by working with the tea party” to help elect Mitt Romney, says Jenny Beth Martin. (Associated Press)