FreedomWorks Hard for the Money

Speaking as the co-chair of FreedomWorks on CNBC last December, Dick Armey "spoke glowingly of 'Rx Outreach,' a national mail order program for low-income people that had just been launched by Express Scripts." FreedomWorks was "working with Express Scripts' public relations firm," Fleishman-Hillard, at the time, and "issued a press release praising Rx Outreach" the following week. Now, "Express Scripts says it plans to donate money to Armey's group." As a result, some are questioning "FreedomWorks' tax-exempt status because it appears that the group was a 'mouthpiece' for hire." The incident "highlights the often ambiguous role that some Washington think tanks and nonprofit groups play in political advocacy and their often-undisclosed connections to those who would benefit."