The Cashroots Conspiracy Behind FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity [1]
Submitted by John Stauber [2] on
The Guardian notes [3] the cashroots [4] behind right-wing Astroturf [5]: "When Obama [6] beat Hillary Clinton [7] in the Democratic primaries, FreedomWorks [8] studied how he did it and then copied him. ... A plethora of groups have jumped on board, with exotic names such as Tea Party Patriots [9], Grassfire [10], Conservatives for Patients' Rights [11], 60 Plus [12], all loosely working together, with FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity [13] probably the leading partners. ... FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity are sister groups who came from the same parent body -- a campaign called Citizens for a Sound Economy [14], which split in two in 2004. It was set up by one of America's richest men, David Koch [15], an oil tycoon who has funded rightwing causes for decades. FreedomWorks receives funding from the tobacco conglomerate Philip Morris [16], as well as from Richard Scaife [17], another business tycoon, who for years helped fund dirt-digging investigations into Bill Clinton [18]. Local branches of Americans for Prosperity have also received tobacco money; the group has opposed smoke-free workplace laws and cigarette taxes. ... ExxonMobil [19] was a sponsor of Citizens for Sound Economy, and both FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity have campaigned vigorously against Obama's plans to reduce CO2 emissions through a cap and trade [20] scheme, working closely with the American Petroleum Institute [21]. 'This is the same old, same old,' says John Stauber [22] of the Center for Media and Democracy [23], which investigates corporate lobbying. 'Yes there are some new names and new causes, but these anti-government front groups [24] have been around for a long time.'" See who else is in the Tea Party Movement [25].