What Is Freedom Works' Problem?

I wasn't going to get into this. But as Michelle Malkin lays out her concerns with Dick Armey today, I may as well put my most recent issue on the record. There's a No Reconciliation ad over on the right sidebar that comes from Freedom Works. They were active in pushing yesterday's DC event. I linked their page on it several times. Yet, the day before yesterday at the Press Club event Michelle mentions, Armey predicted Democrats would pass Obama Care. Armey is the most visible face of Freedom Works.

GOP's Dick Armey Predicts Democrats Will Probably Pass Health Care

What Armey did stinks. And it stinks like inside the beltway political crap. I've no idea what an organization's agenda really is when it's running ads and promotions for a protest, collecting contact information for it, then going on record predicting defeat before said event has even taken place. It was pretty gotdamned insulting, especially considering so many people are out here everyday putting so much into this stuff - and without the presumably six figure pay-out Armey enjoys for apparently talking the talk but not walking the walk.

Freedom Works has a problem. I'm not going to go on about it. But they had better fix it, whatever it is. As things stand, I'm not real interested in pushing their crap going forward. What Armey did sucked, big time. It was a slap in the face of every genuine activist out here and it came at a critical time.

He may well be a great guy. But I don't much like being played for a fool and I'm not going to tolerate it because maybe someone's a nice guy. Freedom Works ain't working for me right now. And I'll leave it at that. You can make what you want of Michelle's issues with them.

Comments

[Elmo]

There's always at least one dickhead in every army.

[USMC]

Dana Loesche called Dick out awhile back on the Savage show. She's right the guy sucks. Dump his ass, he's an infiltrator.

[Lisa Graas]

Unfortunately, this isn't the only problem Freedom Works has, but they aren't the only ones out there with problems. Frankly, I think the top down machine from the (ostensibly) Tea Party side is no better than the top down machine politics in parties.

[Philip McDaniel]

Dick has always been an opportunist. That is the most polite thing that can be said about him but I refrain from using the expression that used to be made about his 'sucking the chrome off a bumper'

[Gary Ogletree]

Armey is Beltway GOP. Leaching on the integrity of the Tea Party.

[Warren Bonesteel]

This is exactly why there was so much talk of division among the various groups of T.E.A. parties. Some T.EW.A. groups knew what Freedom Works represented while others wanted to rub elbows with the big timers. The political message was, essentially, 'Dump the incumbents, whatever their party!'

Freedom Works and Dick Armey are a great example of how the Republicans and conservatives have attempted to 'hijack' an anti-government populist movement. The big clue was when the talking points went out saying, don't vote for the Democrat and don't vote third party, vote Republican!'

(Plus, Freedom Works is pretty limp when it comes to enforcement against illegal immigration, which is a job killer for Americans ...and illegal aliens use up one helluva lot of our tax money in both direct and indirect costs, yearly adding hundreds of billions to the budget woes.)

[John]

Armey's always had a bit of a Newt Gingrich problem, in saying or doing the wrong thing from time to time. And he didn't endear himself to the voters of North Texas when he left Congress and tried to grease the wheels for his son to inherit his seat, so he's always been someone who you'd at the very least put on the "Trust, but verify" list when it comes to his reform plans.

[Live Free Or Die]

And he/they will use that contact information from that 'No Reconciliation'Petition, in the future, to bang the drum for donations to Establishment GOPers/NRCC/NRSC. Beltway GOPers don't care whether DeathCare gets passed, they just want back in power. New blood is needed in Congress on both sides of the aisle. We see what the Dems stand for at the moment; but a Grand New Party is needed, not the 'Grand' Old Party.

[OUTRAGED PATRIOT]

And the INVASION continues... http://www.BorderInvasionPics.com

[All Fed Up]

Refunds for contributions ought to forthcoming from Dick Armey. That money was given to fight, not announce -- or predict -- defeat. Give it back so contributors can give it to other spokesfolks, and even directly to candidates, who will fight.

There's plenty of real fighters out there. Losers whine about why and when they think they're going to lose; winners never give up. And they sure don't go out and predict they'll lose. It sounds a lot like Obama announcing a charge and a retreat in the same breath.

[Jack R]

AH... How soon we forget . Remember just a few short years ago when repubs had the house,the senate,and the presidency. AND WHAT DID THEY DO???? Spend ,spend ,spend .No child left behind,RX for free program,TSA,Immigration amnesty,Farm subsudies,airline bailouts.If we win back power many of these fools will still be there!!!Just sayin. So think about that,if we win back power we will have plenty of ASS kicking to do,just to keep these lazy,weak,cowardly guys in line.Just sayin

[Joan of Argghh!]

Treat 'em all like the Health Care bill. Dump 'em and start over. You could put them all in a sack and hit it with a stick and not hit the wrong politician.

It's not about a 3rd Party, it's about a true 2nd Party.

[SteveP]

FreedomWorks is an attempt by the GOP to coopt the tea party movement. I won't contribute a penny to them or participate in anything they're involved with.
Armey, like Gingrich, is a pied piper.

[Charlie Martin]

Oh, Dan, for Gods' sakes get a grip. First of all, you may read that as defeatism, I read it as saying "it's do or die time." Second, if we've gotten to the point where we're accusing Dick Armey of being a RINO and too squishy, then we might as well give up; neither you, nor the other True Republican, is going to get elected with your two votes.

[All Fed Up]

It helps seeing this Armey statement in context if it were transposed to some huge sporting event. The Super Bowl maybe, or perhaps the BCS Championship game.

Think of it as time running out in the fourth quarter, and Coach Armey calls a timeout to huddle on the sidelines with his offense for some last words before they go back out on the field. They're behind by less than a touchdown, and there's time for one play. The coach does not look into his players' eyes and tell them they're going to win the game. Nor does he stop at just telling them they're going to lose, bad as that would be.

Nope. Coach Armey is wired into the public address speakers for the entire stadium -- speaking out to the world-wide broadcast of the biggest game of all their lives -- and that's when he tells the team and everyone else that they are going to lose.

That would get any other coach fired, if not worse. And he for sure would not be getting a bonus for the season -- which would likely be his final season with that team anyway. Unless, of course, Coach Armey is just playing a real crafty trick and plans some miracle Hail Mary while the other team rolls around laughing at him. Well? The clock's running.

[someguy]

You got rolled kid, by yet another RINO.

How's that feel when they stick it right up your ass?

What's their problem? They don't got a problem.

You got the problem, dude.

You're running their ads. You're promoting their events for 'em. They're abusing you not even bothering to go to the trouble of making it look good.

The Republican Party has been infiltrated.

Time to exterminate it.

[Random Dude]

Um, you're obviously not very well-versed with practical politics.

The strategy Armey employed is called "minimizing expectations." You can't get a flood of calls and support from constituents to their elected representatives if they think healthcare is dead. If something is on the line, you can.

With rhetoric like yours, you might gain the righteous rage of pajama wearing, keyboard-smashing bloggers, but Armey knows what he's doing and this is a fairly desperate situation.

[ThomasPD]

I'm confused. What did Armey do wrong, exactly?

[Frank voice]

Armey is a disappointment.

The Republican Party is a total disappointment. Note how no one defended Jim Bunning when he tried to stop spending when there was no money left to spend. And we wonder why we're in an ever-deepening hole.

While you're at it, what's with Norm Ornstein at the American Enterprise Institute? He is supposed to be the main voice of a free-enterprise think tank, and yet almost every time he is quoted, he takes the lazy inside-the-Beltway position of anti-free enterprise, anti-fiscal responsibility.

I don't believe in conspiracy theories, so explain this some other way.

And more: How about Newt Gingrich taking Freddie Mac hush money while it was setting us up for economic collapse? Barney Frank pushed us over the edge, but why didn't Gingrich warn us?

We don't need a new party. We need a new government.

[Jeffersonian]

Few politicians have disappointed me more than Dick Armey. He used to say and do all the right things, then he turned into just another Beltway insider whose main gripe with the Leviathan State was that he wasn't running it. When I saw he was with FreedomWorks, I took heart that he had come back into the fold, but alas, it seems we're stuck with the Evil Dick Armey still.

[Warren Bonesteel]

Let's see, here... Follow the money...

Where does Freedom Works get most of it's money? Who are those people and corporations? What other things are those corporations and people involved with? Who else are they funding and why?

Who sits on the board of directors? What are their backgrounds?

Remember that Armey was the HMFIC in the House when the Contract with America 'failed.' iow, politicians made promises they didn't even attempt to keep, let alone bother with trying to keep.

What did Armey say when Democrats questioned the Republican spending on pork in 1995?

"To the victors go the spoils."

Sound familiar?

[SM]

Armey was also a member of the "Bush Lied Us Into A War!" gang. He's a farce, and so is any movement he heads.

[SM]

"if we've gotten to the point where we're accusing Dick Armey of being a RINO and too squishy, then we might as well give up"

That makes no sense. Armey is in fact a RINO, an open borders advocate, a "big government libertarian", and a kook. He has never occupied any "True Republican" ground.

But since you, Charles Martin, are also a True Believer in open borders and big government libertarianism, you're not the best person to be commenting on Armey.

[Al Reasin]

Dick Armey's an inside the beltway guy anyway, as far I am concerned. We need to surround the Capitol and shut it down. We are not seeing a democratic process, but one which as more in common with Hitler's take over of government than rule by the people. Too strong, well this is how freedom is taken away from the people as they cry, "but it can't happen here." Well it is happening right in front of us and shorty the People will no longer be sovereign and instead will become the servants of government. When you give up freedom for a promise of security, you will have neither.

[Jim Ryan]

Dick Armey.... Wait, isn't that Boy George's fan club?

[dave]

supposedly- glenn beck said a similar thing today.

[M. Simon]

I'm keeping my eye on the Tea Party Express.

Look at who is behind it.

But hey. It is still a free country. I'm ready to support who ever marches with me as long as we are marching in the same direction.

Otherwise. Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine.

[Pink Pig]

It's not at all clear to me that it's Armey who has the problem. I don't object to you and Malkin promoting social conservatism, but that doesn't entitle you to claim that the obvious strong support for fiscal conservatism is actually support for social conservatism (or for that matter the Republican party). The Republicans will lose in November unless they begin to respect and understand the tea partiers -- to date, they have merely tried to coopt them.

Sometimes I think that the Democrats learned more from Reagan than the Republicans did.

[Dan Riehl]

"you and Malkin promoting social conservatism"

Huh? I'm not a social conservative. Doh! For me, this is about a generation of GOP and Conservative leadership grown too old, jaded and cynical to lead and their need to step back and make way for the future, now, not tomorrow, after it's too late. They're now at a point where they put a grip on power above principle. And such leadership will only result in an increasingly progressive GOP and bigger Gov in the end.

[Becky]

hmmm. Interesting. Idaho's Crapo also was on the local news show yesterday and made a statement that implied Obama care would pass. I believe he may have been on the wrong side of the amnesty bill as well. Wonder how many others went on the local radio shows to pronounce Obama care would pass in the last few days to give it an air of inevitability. Would be good insight if there were a way to measure how many of these types got on their local stations and did the same.

[Al in St. Lou]

Dick Armey doesn't want ObamaCare to pass, but he recognizes that it's practically impossible to stop the Dems from passing anything they want in the House. It's that simple. Stopping ObamaCare would mean that the system really works and constituents' opinions actually matter, but stopping it is only possible if the Dems care about what the voters want. I'm not convinced that Dick Armey is wrong.

[SM]

>>"the obvious strong support for fiscal conservatism"

The "obvious strong support for fiscal conservatism" strikes me as neither obvious nor strong. At a certain point, when Americans keep electing one socialist gpolitician after another, you have to wonder if its not because they are rather left-wing in their poltical beliefs.

The libertarians have been the segment of the GOP which has done most to foster bigger government.

[Surfer]

DAN, VERY DISTURBING -- Check out the Freedomworks website, and you will find that every other sentence is peppered with "worker." Reminds of Pelosi's (St. Joseph) statement the other day and the Workers' Party (commies). Also note THERE IS AN UPRAISED FIST LOGO displayed next to the comments on his website!!

[Cal]

What's HILARIOUS is that Freedom Works is still running that "No Reconciliation" ad even though the reconciliation vote has ALREADY HAPPENED.