FreedomWorks Behind Tax Day Tea Party Protests

by John Stauber — April 14, 2009 - 7:53am

Who makes up the Tea Party movement? The Tax Day Tea Party protest movement is not as spontaneous as its organizers would like you to think. Chris Good writes, "Here is the organizational landscape of the April 15 tea party movement, in a nutshell: three national-level conservative groups, all with slightly different agendas, are guiding it. All are quick to tell you that the movement is a bottom-up affair and that its grassroots cred is real. They are: FreedomWorks, the conservative action group led by Dick Armey; dontGO, a tech savvy free-market action group that sprung out of last August's oil-drilling debate in the House of Representatives; and Americans for Prosperity, an issue advocacy/activist group based on free market principles. Conservative bloggers, talk show hosts, and other media figures have attached themselves to the movement in peripheral capacities. Armey will appear at a major rally in Atlanta, FreedomWorks said. All three groups vehemently deny that the movement is a product of AstroTurfing -- fake grassroots activism organized from the top down -- as some on the left have claimed."

Main Source:

Atlantic.com, April 13, 2009

Comments

grassroots

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 9, 2010 - 11:21am.

Your problem is obvious, the tea parties are effective and this bothers you. I'm an over the road truck driver and organized two events with the help of two of my children. I know you don't like hearing this but it's the truth, I understand that's something you just don't know about. People like myself however do understand how you follow George Soros and his cronies. We are grassroots leaders not followers.

lol what an imbecile.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on June 27, 2010 - 9:36am.

lol what an imbecile.

Two wrongs make a right?

Submitted by focus (not verified) on April 17, 2009 - 8:11am.

The argument about Bush putting us in a deficit cannot be defended. But, how does the logic behind saying "you only have problem with deficits now that Obama is in office!" make it right? If people on both sides of the political spectrum would see the common ground (gov't over spending = bad for future of country) then you wouldn't be sniping at each other. This simple piece of logic is repeated by Obama and his administration - but people don't see right through it. The tea parties are a good thing regardless of who's behind it. A lot of people showed up because the ISSUE (not the politics) struck a chord.

not my tea party

Submitted by melintexas (not verified) on April 14, 2009 - 12:30pm.

You are incorrect about this not being a grassroots movement. I have no affiliation with any party, yet I have helped organize my towns tea party. This movement is real and our voice will be heard! You and others can ridicule, laugh at, and attempt to discredit us all you want. We will stand firm in our right to protest against over taxation, overspending by government, and the intrusion of government into our lives. Please respect my right to voice my opinion.

It's OK

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 26, 2009 - 11:22pm.

I've fallen for BS, before, too. It's OK, just try not to let it happen again.

I don't think you get it...

Submitted by alex1 (not verified) on April 17, 2009 - 9:55am.

We respect your right to voice your opinion. But I also have the right to say that your opinion is stupid. That's the beauty of freedom of speech.

Where were you 8 years ago?

Submitted by Tomas04 (not verified) on April 15, 2009 - 11:49am.

We got 8 years of GOP rule and the deficit doubled. And we are in a deep recession because of it.

Bush Deficit

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 3, 2011 - 2:44pm.

Atta Boy!!!!!

Really?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 16, 2009 - 4:52pm.

The deficit doubled the past 8 years because of the war, which has nothing to do with the recession, or "CRISIS" as our uber-positive president likes to call it every time the teleprompter says to. Liberals love to spend and increase the size of government, raising your taxes to pay for it all. Tell me sir how much the deficit is going to increase with the current administration? You might be surprised.

Deficit

Submitted by fluidoz (not verified) on April 6, 2010 - 10:56am.

You're only partially correct... The deficit more than doubled under Bush due to: 1. Bush's 2001 unfunded tax cut (1.8 trillion) 2. Bush's 2003 unfunded tax cut (700 billion) 3. The Iraq War, also unfunded and off-budget (800 billion and counting) 4. Medicare Part D, unfunded (600 billion) So big tax cuts primarily for the wealthiest in our society, combined witht the largest unfinded expansion of entitlements in 4 decades, combined with 2 unfunded wars... and there you are. Huge spending and a global war on terror with no sacrifice back home except "go shopping"!