Free Republic

I received this from my automatic email from Dick Armey: "Representatives and Senators need to hear from you not only on the phone, and via email and traditional mail – but in their own backyards. A district office visit doesn’t take long, and is a very important step that shows you are serious about preserving our freedoms. Many folks are having trouble getting through to their Congressmen on the phone – some offices are no longer answering, other lines are jammed. If they won’t listen when we call, then you need to show up on their doorsteps!"

The Second American Revolution by: Allie Winegar Duzett, October 08, 2009 “This is the real second American Revolution,” Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal announced to the applauding audience at the Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Defending the American Dream Summit on October 3, 2009. Moore began by addressing the economic troubles America faces today. “It was really very depressing to me to see that we now have an unemployment rate that’s just below ten percent, the highest it’s been in twenty-six years,” Moore said. “It is one of the great tragedies of the past fifty years that we have...

The fracture of the Tea Party and 9/12 protest groups has begun, with some protesters following Republican Dick Armey into partisan activism and others chasing jet trails after anyone from Glenn Beck to John Birch. In North Texas alone, three different political factions are selling "Tea Party Training" or "Tea Party Boot Camp," where for $25 wannabe activists can learn everything from Armey economics to conspiracy theories taught by a "birther." So far, it’s been tough to tell who’s on which Republican or Libertarian team in the Tea Party protests. Actor Stephen Baldwin, a speaker at Armey’s Sept. 12 Washington...

This is Dick Armey of Freedomworks. Retired Congressman Dick Armey is the top national organizer for the 9/12 Marches coming this month in Washington, DC. FOX News host Glenn Beck set the 9/12 movement in motion. Please let us know how you feel about Dick Armey's positions on illegal immigration.

The Washington DC Tea Party appears to be a big success, but it’s not for lack of trying among the movement’s more lunatic opponents. Yesterday, the DC Metro police evacuated the offices of Freedomworks after several threats, including a bomb-threat phone call that police considered credible enough to investigate: Tens of thousands of anti-big government activists are expected in Washington on Saturday as part of a “March on Washington” being organized by FreedomWorks, a conservative group headed by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas. A FreedomWorks staffer told ABC News that the organization’s offices at 601 Pennsylvania Avenue were...

Here is video from Hannity last night where Sean Hannity talked with the organizers of the "Tea Party Express" movement which has arrived in Washington, D.C. A huge "March on Washington" Rally will be held there today. Hannity talked with organizers Mark Williams, Amy Kremer, and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey. Williams said their largest crowd thus far has been in Illinois, just outside Chicago, where the folks there said they rallied because "they know Obama." The "Tea Party Express" has stopped in 35 cities in 16 states. Hannity asked them how many they expected to attend the March...

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey is organizing a march on Washington against the Obama administration’s healthcare plan that he hopes will finally finish off the Democratic push for socialized medicine. The march, organized by Armey’s political group FreedomWorks, is scheduled for Sept. 12 and is already generating hundreds of thousands of responses, the Texas Republican tells Newsmax.TV. The group is isn’t providing transportation, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem. See Video: Fomer House Majority Leader Dick Armey talks about the movement to defeat Obamacare

Opponents of Barack Obama’s healthcare proposals are using the tactics of Saul Alinksy, the legendary leftwing activist who helped inspire the US president when he was a young community organiser, says Dick Armey, head of Freedom Works, a group fighting against universal healthcare. Mr Armey, who was the Republican majority leader in the House of Representatives for most of the 1990s, said his group, which is behind many of the “tea party” protests that have disrupted town-hall meetings in the past two weeks, draws consciously on the forms of agitation pioneered by Mr Alinsky. Mr Obama, who worked as a...

Somewhere, Joe McCarthy is smiling . . . On today's Meet The Press, Rachel Maddow demanded to know whether Dick Armey was a member of a coalition with the Tea Party Patriots, a group she alleges to promote "violence." Moderator David Gregory joined in the cross-examination of Armey, head of Freedom Works.

Here is video today of former GOP Rep. Dick Armey saying that reading the Democrats' Health Care Bill is a "scary thing" because of the "growth of bureaucracy" that it would demand. Armey then told a strong illustration of how a man who is currently on Social Security Disability is being treated by the bureaucracy that already exists. Imagine the mess that would be created by moving tens of millions more people into a Government-operated Health Care System. . . . . . (Watch Video)

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey has resigned from DLA Piper, saying a firestorm over his ties to a conservative nonprofit opposed to health care reform has hurt the firm. In an interview, John Merrigan, a DLA Piper partner who chairs the federal affairs practice, said Armey, who had been a senior policy adviser, made the decision to leave. The nonprofit group, FreedomWorks, has been associated with disruptive protests at town hall meetings on health care reform. Armey's association with FreedomWorks, and his ties to DLA Piper, have been repeatedly raised on liberal blogs and by left-leaning commentators. For instance,...

Political Insider Health care activism forces Dick Armey to resign 4:44 pm August 14, 2009, by Jim Galloway Former U.S. House majority leader Dick Armey is the keynote speaker at Saturday’s anti-health care reform rally in Atlanta’s Centennial Park. But as of today, he’s also underemployed. This from Politico.com: Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) is resigning from DLA Piper law firm amid a wave of negative attention his grassroots organization, Freedom Works, has drawn for helping to organize protesters at health care town hall meetings with members of Congress. In an interview…Armey said that he was concerned about...

Just a moment ago, Bob Shrum proclaimed that the tea parties are not "protests", but "squeaks". He further stated that anti-tax sentiment may be there in certain segments, it is nowhere near a majority, and has waned over the years. He said 10 years ago, anti-tax protests were far more momentous (think of it like an oil field; a strong opening, but a gradual depletion over time). Shrum also said the GOP was in "deep trouble" and would not repeat 1994. He cited demographics and the shrinking Republican party. He said there will always be conservatives who are anti-tax, but...

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey emerges from the shadows and echoes my feelings. I miss this guy.

Talk about the political becoming personal . . . On this evening's Hardball, Dick Armey told Joan Walsh: "I'm so damn glad that you could never be my wife, cause I surely wouldn't have to listen to that prattle from you every day." The former Republican representative from Texas had been wrangling with Salon editor Walsh over the politics of the stimulus package and the role Rush Limbaugh has been playing, when things got out of hand . . . [H/t reader JF.] View video here.

While much of the debate over the $700 billion federal bailout plan has focused on whether the money is being spent wisely or well, concerns are growing among many conservatives about its constitutionality. Some conservatives have argued that the law creating the program, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which Congress passed hastily in October, violates constitutional principles that limit the amount of power that lawmakers can delegate to the executive branch. They also maintain that the enormous bailout plan has illegally grown beyond its original focus on the financial services industry to include a bailout of the auto...

Get your FREE "Barack Obama is a Pain in My Gas" bumper sticker! Here is the website: http://freedomworks.org/petition/obama/request.html If you want a bulk order, please check the box that says "Assist with GOTV efforts."

With a definitive win in last week's Iowa caucus, Mike Huckabee talked himself into the frontrunner position for the Republican presidential nomination. His folksy demeanor and populist promises are central to his appeal, but they mask a strategy designed to divide the conservative movement. If the Republican party chooses to follow Huckabee's lead, it will allow political sweet talk to destroy its greatest electoral and policy-making advantage: the GOP's traditional political consensus built around limiting the size and scope of government. Mike Huckabee abandoned conservative governance long ago. As governor of Arkansas from 1996-2007, his record on economic issues was...

Thursday, November 15, 2007 What Fred Said [Larry Kudlow] I just sat down with presidential candidate Fred Thompson, for an interview that will air tonight on Kudlow & Company. The former Tennessee senator was in good form. He attacked Warren Buffet’s tax-hike proposal on the rich as totally wrong, and Buffett himself as nothing more than a mouthpiece for the Democratic party. He agreed with Dick Armey that the GOP will lose if it departs from the first principles of limited government and lower tax rates. He called the farm bill “disgraceful” and would veto it if he were president....

REFORMING retirement security in America is the greatest political opportunity -- and responsibility -- of our generation. Yet the topic of Social Security and Medicare is shockingly absent from Presidential hustings. Simply ignoring the problem does not mean it is going away. Thomas Saving, a trustee of the Social Security and Medicare programs, estimates a breathtaking $83.6 trillion unfunded liability in the two entitlements, which is a tremendous gap between promised obligations and what the government will actually collect in payroll taxes. Serious reforms of these broken government programs based on personal ownership have fallen victim to Republicans who don't...

Save the Date: FreedomWorks Conference Call Thursday July 19th at 1pm Eastern, 10am Pacific! Please join us for a conference call with FreedomWorks members, supporters, bloggers and other small government advocates as we talk about the 110th Congress at mid-session, and the presidential race for 2008. As you know, since the Democrats have taken over Congress, there has been a lot of talk about raising taxes, supporting bad energy policy, expanding socialized medicine and spending more of your hard-earned dollars. Call in on July 19th to find out what is in store for the rest of the session. We will...

For those who read this column, you probably most know me as a an architect of the Contract with America, House Majority Leader from 1994-2003, and more recently as Chairman grassroots powerhouse FreedomWorks... On the Democratic side, we see an abundance demagoguery and proposals for the largest expansion of government since the 1930’s and 1970’s, with socialized health care and severe regulation of the economy, especially the energy sector. Great for sound bites, but a complete disregard for fundamental economic principles.

FreedomWorks will be hosting a press conference March 21st on the Cannon House Office Building terrace at 12:00pm to show support for the Republican Study Committee's 'American Taxpayer Bill of Rights'. We have invited free-market groups in D.C. to join us to support these conservative congressmen. FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey will be hosting the event, and will be welcoming congressmen Jeb Hensarling and Jeff Flake, and Senator Jim DeMint. The press conference is part of Wednesday's FreedomWorks Liberty Summit, in which some of the top FreedomWorks activists in the region will come to D.C. to meet each other, receive training,...

In the wake of the Dem victory of November, Paul Krugman isn't merely doing a victory dance. He reminds me more of one of those ardent football fans up in the stands after his team scores the winning touchdown. Stripped to the waist, painted in team colors, getting up in the face of an opposing fan to taunt "na-na-na-na, goodbye" followed by a rousing chorus of "start the bus." In his pay-per-view opus of this morning, "A Failed Revolution," Krugman proclaims that not merely has the Republican revolution of 1994 failed, but that it "was always based on a lie."...

Somewhere along the road to a "permanent majority," the Republican Revolution of 1994 went off track. For several years, we had confidence in our convictions and trusted that the American people would reward our efforts. And they did. But today, my Republican friends in Congress stand on the precipice of an electoral rout. Even the best-case scenarios suggest wafer-thin majorities and a legislative agenda in disarray. With eight days before the election, House speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi has already begun her transition planning. Where did the revolution go astray? How did we go from the big ideas and vision of 1994...

Both are Christian conservatives, and they were once stalwart allies, but Dick Armey and James Dobson are going after each other tooth and claw. Armey, the former Texas congressman and House majority leader, argued that Republicans face an "electoral rout" because they stopped being the party of limited government, allowed spending to spin "out of control," and concentrated on such issues as flag burning, Terry Schiavo and same-sex marriage. Calling them "thugs" and "bullies" in recent interviews, Armey says that "Dobson and his gang" have split the conservative Christian movement into two camps: those who want to "practice their faith...

Of the hundreds of thousands of words employed in this year's election campaign, none is more likely to have an impact on post-election politics than Dick Armey's characterization of Christian evangelicals in the Bush Republican Party as "thugs." Armey is no outsider taking shots at a GOP in trouble. He was an architect of the 1994 GOP campaign that brought Republicans to power in Congress, was House GOP majority leader, and is an evangelical himself. But Republicans now in control in Washington are guilty of pandering to Christian conservatives, especially to evangelical leaders like James C. Dobson, founder of Focus...

Somewhere along the road to a "permanent majority," the Republican Revolution of 1994 went off track. For several years, we had confidence in our convictions and trusted that the American people would reward our efforts. And they did. But today, my Republican friends in Congress stand on the precipice of an electoral rout. Even the best-case scenarios suggest wafer-thin majorities and a legislative agenda in disarray. With eight days before the election, House speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi has already begun her transition planning. Where did the revolution go astray?

Christians and Big Government There was a day when social conservatives were united with economic conservatives in the belief that small, limited government was not only good for our economy and the prosperity of American families, but essential to protect traditional family values. We all fought for a limited federal government -- a government that had the decency to respect the American people by staying out of their lives. Small government meant that all Christians could practice their faith as they saw fit. Big government violates those rights by meddling in our lives, misusing our hard-earned money, and dictating cultural...

Two weeks ago, European Commissioner of Competition Neelie Kroes arrived in the United States on a mission of economic cooperation. Increasingly, however, that cooperation is hard to find, especially for American firms doing business in Europe. More often than not, the European vision of cooperation is capitulation, with American companies forced to accept onerous conditions or else abandon the European marketplace altogether. Recent history provides a clear view of Europe's "not so competitive" competition policy. Apple recently ran into a buzzsaw in France over iTunes, and other European nations smell blood in the water. The European Union has blocked the...

WASHINGTON - As the No. 2 man in the Republican-controlled House for nearly eight years, then-U.S. Rep. Dick Armey of Texas never hesitated to assail Democrats. But three years after leaving Congress, the former House majority leader is now savaging conservatives in his own party for what he calls "knee-jerk" opposition -- "emphasis on jerk" -- to the Bush administration's efforts to create a temporary guest worker program and overhaul the immigration system. Armey, chairman of a Washington-based grassroots organization called FreedomWorks, was a leading architect of the Republican takeover of the House in the 1994 election and remains a...

If a successful steakhouse stopped selling beef and substituted stale vegan sandwiches as part of a strategy to increase its customer base, the restaurant wouldn't remain in business very long. Yet for some reason, the Republican Party has adopted precisely this strategy for governing. Instead of rewarding its loyal voters with the limited government they were promised, the Republican Party has decided to increase its voter base by offering the stale ideas of big government liberalism. This tactic is difficult to understand given that in modern midterm elections, voter turnout has hovered around 40 percent, meaning that winning is about...

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey has launched an attack on Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, saying Dobson and his "band of thugs” are "nasty bullies” and accusing the Republicans of pandering to the Christian right. In an interview with Ryan Sager, author of the book "The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians, and the Battle to Control the Republican Party,” Armey said the GOP was "adrift and rudderless” in its commitment to small government. When pressed by Sager about what he feels is wrong with today’s Republican Congress, Armey – who became majority leader when the GOP...

Dick Armey on the Direction of the GOP By Ryan Sager This week Ryan Sager's new book, The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians, and the Battle to Control the Republican Party, hits bookstore shelves. Below is an interview Sager conducted with former Rep. Dick Armey one of the chief architects of the Republican Revolution in the 1990's. Armey assumed the position of majority leader after the Republicans took Congress in 1994 and remained in that post until he retired from the House in January of 2003. Mr. Armey, now chairman of FreedomWorks, sat down in his Washington, D.C., office...

Dick Armey going to Iowa! August 27th, 2006 FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey will be going to Iowa on September 19th to promote the Freedom Agenda of lower taxes, less government and more freedom. Specifically, Chairman Armey will discuss the need for bold ideas like personal retirement accounts, fundamental tax reform and budget process reform to curb spending. The event will be hosted by Steve Forbes, Senator Charles Grassley and Iowans for Discounted Taxes. The event will be at the Holiday Inn in downtown Des Moines. Admission is $25. You can reserve a seat by calling 202-942-7612

Beltway Fever has infected the national leaders of the Christian Coalition, and the latest bout of illness has them standing with the ACLU, MoveOn.org, U.S. PIRG, SEIU and the Progressive Democrats of America in support of Net neutrality regulation. Sadly, this is not the first time leadership at the Christian Coalition of America has sided with the forces of big government and against good sense and the rest of the conservative movement. In 2003, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley--also my friend and former House colleague--attempted to pass a voter referendum to broadly raise state taxes. The usual suspects--public employee unions and...

In his 1989 farewell address, President Reagan described America as a “shining city upon the hill,” quoting the Pilgrim John Winthrop, an early “freedom man.” In this vision Winthrop saw a “tall, proud city – teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace – with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors, and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.” With the passage of an immigration bill before this fall's elections seen as a political priority,...

The main message is the Sunday Shows.  Message 1 will be the Saturday Shows and message 2 will be the show guest links post.  Then I'll post the ping list.ABC This Week (George Stephanopoulos) Meme: It's the oil companies faultOK, if it's not the oil companies, then it's the incompetent Bush administration foreign policiesGeorge Clooney is a serious and important voice on the international stage (can you say "presidential material?") Topics: Oil, Iraq and foreign policy Turmoil overseas is pinching American pocketbooks at the gas pumps. On Sunday, I'll speak with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to ask how the...

WASHINGTON – An engraving on the IRS building in Washington reads, "Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society." Unfortunately, paying taxes does not bring society a civilized tax code. Tax Day reminds us every year just how unruly our tax code has become. A tax code should simply, fairly, and transparently collect the revenue necessary to pay for the functioning of the government. But America's tax code is fundamentally unfair, complicated, a drag on the economy, and encourages corruption. The entire tax code needs to be thrown out and replaced with one that is simple, fair, and flat.Our...

How important is immigration to the business community? Very. On Mar. 16, Bill Gates trekked to Capitol Hill to tell key leaders of both parties that immigration is Microsoft's No. 1 issue in Washington. "If we hope to maintain our economic and intellectual leadership in the U.S., we must renew this commitment," Gates said in an earlier letter to lawmakers. "Unless there is reform, American competitiveness will suffer as other countries benefit from the international talent that U.S. employers cannot hire or retain." Gates and his fellow CEOs have good reason to be nervous. Politicians in both parties are seizing...

About FreedomWorks Our Founding Fathers risked everything in the battle for independence. They created a new form of government and a Constitution to safeguard our freedoms. Over subsequent years, ground was lost to those with a different vision. Advocates for bigger government and less freedom successfully enacted ideas that have extended government's reach into more and more aspects of our daily lives. Some individuals responded to that challenge by establishing academic centers and think tanks that have done much to shape the debate. FreedomWorks moves beyond the policy community to educate and mobilize volunteers across America on issues of economic...

With the election of John Boehner as House majority leader, Republicans have, in effect, taken over the House of Representatives for a second time. And not a moment too soon. After over 10 years in the majority, House Republicans had lost their way, too focused on parochial pork over public policy. More than anything, Rep. Boehner's success represents the intent of Republican members of the House to repair their credentials as reformers with the American people. His victory was made possible because he was able to find common purpose with John Shadegg, Jeff Flake, Mike Pence and the rest of...

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey sees a similarity between himself and Rep. Mike Pence, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee who decided not to run in the current leadership race despite receiving encouragement from conservatives fed up with the status quo. Armey retired from Congress in 2002, but since then he’s been busy leading FreedomWorks, a D.C.-based grassroots organization that advocates lower taxes, less government and more freedom. (Full disclosure: I used to work there, so I’m kind of partial to the organization’s goals — but if you’re reading NRO, you could be, too.) Armey could have won...

In all my years in politics, I've never sensed such anger and frustration from our volunteers -- those who do the hard work of door-to-door mobilization that Republican candidates depend on to get elected. Across the nation, wherever I go to speak with them, their refrain is the same: "I can't tell a dime's worth of difference between Republicans and Democrats." Our base rightly expects Republicans to govern by the principles -- lower taxes, less government and more freedom -- that got them elected. Today, with Republicans controlling both the legislative and executive branches of the federal government, there is...

RUSH: Try this headline in the Boston Globe today: "GOP Embracing its Maverick." I said, "Oh, is the GOP getting friendlier with McCain?" Then the subhead says, "Tough Race Makes Chafee an Asset." You know, this Specter experience is a mistake. Why do you keep repeating history here? "Senator Lincoln Chafee hopped out of the driver's seat of his beige Toyota Prius..." I was really hooked after that line. "Senator Lincoln Chafee hopped out of the driver's seat of his beige Toyota Prius, a car with a dent on the side and 'I am electric' blazoned across the back window,...

In all my years in politics, I've never sensed such anger and frustration from our volunteers -- those who do the hard work of door-to-door mobilization that Republican candidates depend on to get elected. Across the nation, wherever I go to speak with them, their refrain is the same: "I can't tell a dime's worth of difference between Republicans and Democrats." Our base rightly expects Republicans to govern by the principles -- lower taxes, less government and more freedom -- that got them elected. Today, with Republicans controlling both the legislative and executive branches of the federal government, there is...

President Bush is calling for a complete overhaul of the broken U.S. tax code, and his Advisory Panel is holding hearings to make recommendations for reform. As I testified to the Panel earlier this month, instituting the flat tax is the right answer. Our current income tax system is a catalog of favors for special interests and a chamber of horrors for the rest of America. As a country, we spend more time filing taxes than we spend building every car, truck, and van produced in the United States. To put this in perspective, it takes the average taxpayer over...

Washington FOR over two decades, Congress has wrestled unsuccessfully with the difficult problem of asbestos. Now, with Congress about to produce legislation that will compensate Americans hurt by asbestos without clogging the courts and causing undue economic hardship, Dick Armey, a Republican and the former House majority leader, has led a huge and misleading advertising campaign to defeat the bill. The bill, which Senator Patrick J. Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, and I introduced last month with broad bipartisan support, would use a $140 billion trust fund to pay asbestos victims in a no-fault program similar to...

Asbestos litigation is a continuing crisis. Thousands of truly impaired asbestos victims are deprived of just compensation through the courts because their legitimate claims must compete with those of the unimpaired. At the same time, hundreds of firms face the imminent threat of bankruptcy at the hands of a predatory trial bar with all the economic calamities that inevitably result... The current system is irrational and unfair. The problem is compounded by an elite class of trial lawyers who have turned asbestos litigation into an entrepreneurial pursuit. Worse still, the hundreds of millions of dollars siphoned by the trial bar...

Under the bright lights of his nominating convention in 1980, Ronald Reagan told the country, "America must get to work producing more energy. The Republican program for solving economic problems is based on growth and productivity ... the [Carter] administration seems to believe the American people would rather see more regulation, taxes and controls than more energy." On that platform, Ronald Reagan was elected president, whipped the energy crisis, and ended the oil shocks and shortages that plagued America in the 1970s. Twenty-five years later, we have substantially reformed America's energy policy, but there's still much to be done. President...