Richmond Tea Party wants its money back.

Cartoon by Foden.

One aspect of the Tea party rallies that has been largely ignored by the press and government in their vitriolic response to their existence is the fact that the organization is orderly and law abiding while protesting against government intrusion and spending. Despite being portrayed as dangerous, racist, radicals, and anything else that comes to mind, they have not been involved in violence and tend to leave areas cleaner than when they went there.

The Occupy movement, which has the approval of the Administration from the top down, seems to be the opposite. Rowdy, confrontational, and without clear purpose other than being against capitalism, they have generally disregarded all rules.

Here is a comparison between the performances of the two groups.

Now the Richmond Tea Party has had enough of being disadvantaged by rules that the other side is allowed to flout. It has asked for the money paid in fees and charges for their rallies to be refunded:

The Richmond tea party is demanding a refund of about $10,000 from the city, claiming it unfairly charged them for rallies while allowing the Occupy protesters to use the same space for several weeks for free.

The political organization is sending the city an invoice for the charges incurred for three rallies held in Kanawha Plaza over the past three years. The Occupy protesters have been camped in the plaza since Oct. 15.

Richmond Tea Party spokeswoman Colleen Owens says it's not fair that her group had to pay fees for permits, portable toilets, police presence and emergency personnel. The group also had to purchase a $1 million insurance policy.

Tea party groups across the nation have raised similar concerns since the protests spread from New York earlier this month.

They make a good point here, however with the Occupy movement having the approval and encouragement of the President and his lackeys, it is likely that they will find that some protesters are more equal than others in the eyes of the law.