WASHINGTON — Conservative Americans lost some of their protesting steam in 2011, following their dominance of the past few years. But activist groups still made it to the nation's capital during the debate over the summer about whether to raise the debt ceiling, wearing their signature tricorn hats to boot. As political chaos ensued, members of Congress elected by the fiscally conservative Tea Party held a firm line, channeling the message shown here: "Don't raise the ceiling. Lower the spending." The ceiling was eventually raised, but with promises of drastic spending cuts.