How Obama referred to Tea Party protesters as 'tea-baggers' in handwritten letter to Texas teacher complaining about health care law

Responding to an angry constituent’s letter about the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama allegedly used a sexually charged derogatory term referring to members of the Tea Party movement.

Thomas Ritter, a fifth-grade school teacher from Irving, Texas, has sent the president a note criticizing Obamacare – the controversial law offering health care to the uninsured, which has become the butt of jokes following a disastrous launch last month.

'This bill has caused such a ­divisive, derisive and toxic environment... The reality is that any citizen that disagrees with your ­administration is targeted and ridiculed,' the Texas man wrote to the commander-in-chief.



Personal touch: This handwritten note on official White House stationary was sent to Texas school teacher Thomas Ritter in response to his letter to President Obama Defending Obamacare: Mr Obama supposedly stated that while the health care law was is not the smart 'political thing,' it will be the right thing for the country

Ritter went on, saying that he had been hesitant to write to the president for fear of 'retribution,' according to the New York Post's Page Six.

'I watched you make fun of tea baggers and your press secretary make fun of Ms. [Sarah] Palin which was especially beneath the dignity of the White House,' the teacher fumed. 'Do the right thing not the political thing. Suggest a bill that Americans can support.'

Man of letters: Mr Obama, pictured signing bills in the Oval Office Wednesday, allegedly penned the note to respond to Mr Ritter's accusations

To his surprise, the 49-year-old teacher got a reply written on official White House stationary in which Mr Obama supposedly stated that while the health care law was 'certainly not the smart "political thing," it will be the right thing for the country.

The president also took umbrage with Ritter's claim that his administration has been cracking down on Republicans and conservatives.

‘I... appreciate your concern about the toxic political environment right now. I do have to challenge you, though, on the notion that any citizen that disagrees with me has been “targeted and ridiculed” or that I have “made fun” of tea-baggers,’ Obama allegedly wrote.

‘Tea-bagging’ commonly refers to a lewd sexual act. Since the rise of the Tea Party movement, which vehemently opposes big government and Obamacare, critics on the left have been using the controversial term to poke fun at the right-wing protesters.



It is important to point out that Mr Ritter used the term 'tea baggers' first when referring to Tea Party activists in his letter to the president.



Risque turn of phrase: Since the rise of the Tea Party movement, critics on the left have been using the controversial term 'tea-baggers' to poke fun at right-wing protesters

Thomas Ritter has since put the letter up for auction on the site Momentsintime.com, where it is currently listed at a reserve price of $12,500.