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FreedomWorks

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FreedomWorks
Formation2004(2004)[1]
DissolvedMay 8, 2024(2024-05-08)
Legal status501(c)(4)
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.
President & CEO
Adam Brandon[2]
Parent organization
Citizens for a Sound Economy
AffiliationsFreedomWorks for America,
FreedomWorks Foundation
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FreedomWorkswas aconservativeandlibertarianadvocacy groupbased inWashington, D.C.FreedomWorks trained volunteers and assisted in campaigns. It was widely associated with theTea Party movement.[3][4][5][6][7]TheKoch brothers were once a source of the organization's funding.[6]FreedomWorks shut down in May 2024.[8]

History

[edit]

FreedomWorks originated from a conservative political group founded by the brothersDavid H. KochandCharles Koch,and calledCitizens for a Sound Economy(CSE). In 2004 CSE split intoAmericans for Prosperity,led by PresidentNancy Pfotenhauer,and a remainder group which merged with Empower America and was renamed FreedomWorks, led by President and CEOMatt Kibbe.[9][failed verification]Dick Armey,Jack Kemp,andC. Boyden Grayserved as co-chairmen of the new organization withBill Bennettfocusing on school choice as a Senior Fellow.[10][11]Empower America had been founded in 1993 by Bennett, former Secretary of HUD Kemp, former AmbassadorJeane J. Kirkpatrick,and former RepresentativeVin Weber.[12]In December 2006,Steve Forbesjoined the FreedomWorks board of directors.[13]

TheFreedomWorksname was derived fromArmeysaying: Freedom works. Freedom is good policy and good politics. "[14]

On August 14, 2009, after Armey's leadership of FreedomWorks became a problem to his employer, the lobbying and legal firm ofDLA Piper,Armey was forced to resign from his job at DLA Piper. In 2010, DLA Piper chairman Francis Burch responded that the firm serves clients "who support enactment of effective health care reform this year and encourages responsible national debate."[15]

On November 30, 2012,Armeyresigned as chairman of FreedomWorks. Armey stipulated that FreedomWorks was to immediately remove his name, image, or signature "from all its letters, print media, postings, web sites, videos, testimonials, endorsements, fundraising materials, and social media."[16]Armey claimed that the split was caused by President and CEOMatt Kibbe's use of FreedomWorks' resources to write a book,Hostile Takeover,which he personally profited from and which he asked Armey and the board to later acknowledge was written without significant resources from FreedomWorks; Kibbe alleged that the split was a result of competing visions for the direction of the organization.[17]TheAssociated Pressreported that in September 2012, Armey agreed to resign by November 2012 in exchange for $8 million in consulting fees paid in annual $400,000 installments, funded by board memberRichard J. Stephenson.[18][19]

Shortly following the split between FreedomWorks and Dick Armey, FreedomWorks again faced public controversy over its creation of a video featuring a giant panda-costumed intern pretending to perform cunnilingus upon another person wearing aHillary Clintonmask.[20]Its video was reported to be intended for showing at a conservative conference featuringGlenn Beck.

FreedomWorks was an associate member of the Koch-fundedState Policy Network,a U.S. national network of free-market oriented think tanks.[21]In 2009,Mother Joneslisted FreedomWorks as a significantclimate change denier.[22]

In March 2023, FreedomWorks laid off 40% of its 50 staff, including its executive vice president, Noah Wall.[23]

In May 2024, the board of directors of FreedomWorks voted unanimously to dissolve the organization. The group, which at the time had 25 staff members, was immediately shut down. The group cited "the ideological upheaval of the Trump era" as its reason for closure. FreedomWorks president Adam Brandon said a "huge gap" opened up between the libertarian principles of the group's leadership and "theMAGA-style populismof its members. "[8]

Activities

[edit]

Together withAmericans for Prosperity,FreedomWorks played an important role in generating a significant part of theTea Party movementand encouraging it to lay a focus onclimate change denial.[24]In 2009, FreedomWorks responded to the growing number ofTea Party protestsacross theUnited States,and became one of several groups active in the "Tea Party" tax protests.[4]Three national conservative groups, FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity, andDontGoled the tea party movement in April 2009, according toThe Atlanticmagazine.[4]FreedomWorks was a lead organizer of the September 12, 2009,Taxpayer March on Washington,also known as the 9/12 Tea Party.[9][25][26][27]In February 2010, FreedomWorks, the FreedomWorks Foundation, and the FreedomWorksPolitical Action Committeewere among the twelve most influential groups in the Tea Party movement, according to theNational Journal.[28]In September 2010, FreedomWorks was one of the top five most influential organizations in the Tea Party movement, according toThe Washington Post.[29]In 2009, FreedomWorks advocated for the defeat of Democratic-sponsored climate change legislation.[30]In 2010, FreedomWorks helped organize Tea Party protests and passed fliers opposing national climate policy.[31]FreedomWorks promoted theContract from America,a Tea Party manifesto, which included planks in opposition to the Obama administration's initiatives onhealth care reformandcap and trade.[32][5]FreedomWorks sponsored campaigns to block climate legislation as well as Obama's broader agenda.[33]

Among other activities, FreedomWorks ranboot campsfor supporters of Republican candidates. FreedomWorks spent over $10 million on the 2010 elections on campaign paraphernalia alone. The required reading list for new employees includedSaul Alinsky,[34]Frédéric Bastiat,andAyn Rand.[3]Rolling StoneandTalking Points Memoalleged that FreedomWorks helped run theTea Party Patriots.[35][36]Tea Party Patriots denied this claim.[37]According to a 2010 article inThe New York Times,FreedomWorks "has done more than any other organization to build the Tea Party movement".[3]

In the2010 congressional elections,FreedomWorks endorsed a number of candidates, includingMarco Rubio,Pat Toomey,Mike Lee,andRand Paul.[38]In addition to the aforementionedUnited States Senatecandidates, FreedomWorks endorsed 114 candidates for federal office, of whom seventy won election.[39]An independent study performed byBrigham Young Universityshowed that only FreedomWorks's endorsement had a statistically significant impact on the success of a candidate in the election.[40]

In 2011, FreedomWorks ran a number of campaigns targeted at corporaterent-seekingbehavior. FreedomWorks ran a campaign with the goal of gettingDuke Energyto fire their CEO Jim Rodgers, accusing Duke Energy of lobbying for a "progressive agenda" to ensure that the company would receive greenenergy subsidies.[41]

In addition to their anti-rent seeking campaigns, FreedomWorks was also active in a number of issue campaigns at the state and national levels. One of these campaigns was theschool choiceSB1 campaign in Pennsylvania.[42]Additionally, FreedomWorks ran an active grassroots campaign in support of Ohio GovernorJohn Kasich's union reforms. FreedomWorks delivered thousands of yard signs, door-hangers, handouts, and registered conservative voters.[43]

In 2011, FreedomWorks launched aSuper PACcalled FreedomWorks for America.[44]The stated purpose of this PAC was to "empower the leaderless, decentralized community of the tea party movement as it continues its hostile takeover of the GOP establishment".[44]Its endorsed candidates includedDon Stenberg,Ted Cruz,Jeff Flake,andRichard Mourdock.[45]

In February 2013, FreedomWorks signed onto a memo which said, "Conservatives should not approve aCRunless it defunds Obamacare. "[46]On August 14, 2013, Joshua Withrow of FreedomWorks mentioned thecontinuing resolutionset toexpireSeptember 30 which "must be renewed in order for the doors to stay open in Washington. The CR is the best chance we will get to withdraw funds fromObamaCare.This can be done by attaching bills by SenatorTed Cruz(R-TX) or CongressmanTom Graves(R-GA) to the CR, which will totally defund ObamaCare. "[47]Withrow also wrote "SenatorMike Lee(R-UT) and CongressmanMark Meadows(R-NC) are leading the charge to get their colleagues to commit to this approach, by putting their signatures to a letter affirming that they will refuse to vote for a CR that contains ObamaCare funding. "[47]Withrow wrote, "Support for the Cruz/Graves bills is absolutely meaningless without also signing the Lee/Meadows letter."[47]

In September 2013, FreedomWorks opposed the legislation calledAuthorization for the Use of Military Force Against the Government of Syria to Respond to Use of Chemical Weapons.[48]This was the first time FreedomWorks took an official stance on foreign policy.[49]

On February 12, 2014, FreedomWorks joined with Rand Paul as co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Obama administration concerning reports of NSA domestic wiretapping. The lawsuit named President Obama, Director of National IntelligenceJames Clapperand National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander. Former Virginia Attorney GeneralKen Cuccinellirepresented Paul and FreedomWorks in the case.[50]

Some of FreedomWorks' campaigns were called "astroturfing",and some claimed that they projected a false impression ofgrassrootsorganizing.[51][52][53]

During the 2020 election campaign, FreedomWorks pushed false and misleading claims about mail-in-voting, targeting ad campaigns on swing states with high concentrations of minority voters.[7]In its ads which suggested that vote-by-mail was not safe for voters, FreedomWorks posted an image of NBA basketball playerLeBron James,misquoting him to make it seem as if he was against vote-by-mail.[7]

Legislation supported

[edit]

FreedomWorks supported theElectricity Security and Affordability Act (H.R. 3826; 113th Congress),which was into the House on January 9, 2014.[54][55]The bill would repeal a pending rule published by theEnvironmental Protection Agency(EPA) on January 8, 2014.[56]The proposed rule would establish uniform national limits ongreenhouse gas (GHG) emissionsfrom newelectricity-generating facilitiesthat usecoalornatural gas.[56][57]The rule also sets new standards of performance for those power plants, including the requirement to installcarbon captureandsequestrationtechnology.[56]In a blog post, then FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe said that the bill would go a "long way in curbing the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) radical war on affordable and reliable energy from fossil fuels".[55]Kibbe argued that the EPA's proposed rule was "an obvious backdoor attempt to effectively outlaw coal" because the standards were set "well below the emissions levels achieved by even the most advanced coal facilities".[55]

FreedomWorks supported theSmarter Sentencing Act of 2015,REDEEM Act,[58]andEmail Privacy Act.[59]FreedomWorks opposednet neutralityregulation.[60]

Funding

[edit]

According to John Broder ofThe New York Times,FreedomWorks received funding from the oil industry.[31]According to the liberal advocacy groupCommon Cause,FreedomWorks received funding fromVerizonand SBC (nowAT&T).[61]Other FreedomWorks donors includedRichard J. Stephenson,Philip Morrisand foundations controlled by theScaife family,according to tax filings and other records.[62][63]FreedomWorks also received funding through the sale of insurance policies through which policyholders automatically become members of FreedomWorks.[64]In 2012, FreedomWorks had revenue of $15 million, with nearly 60% coming from four donors.[65]In 2012, $12 million in donations from William S. Rose (via two of his companies) were scrutinized by some members of the media. Watchdog groups asked for investigations of the donations, alleging that the companies were created merely to hide the identity of contributors.[66][67]

References

[edit]
  1. ^Skocpol, Theda; Williamson, Vanessa (2012).The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism.Oxford University Press. p.104.ISBN978-0-19-991283-4.
  2. ^"Staff".FreedomWorks. October 15, 2013.RetrievedJune 12,2015.
  3. ^abcShaping Tea Party Passion Into Campaign Force,Kate Zernike,The New York Times,August 25, 2010
  4. ^abcGood, Chris (April 13, 2009)."The Tea Party Movement: Who's In Charge?".The Atlantic.RetrievedApril 1,2015.
  5. ^abJacobs, Lawrence; Skocpol, Theda (January 7, 2016)."Health Care Reform and American Politics".Oxford University Press: 193.doi:10.1093/wentk/9780190262037.001.0001.ISBN978-0-19-026203-7.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
  6. ^abThe Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism.Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. August 1, 2016. pp. 9–10, 108–109.ISBN978-0-19-063366-0.
  7. ^abc"Disinformation campaign stokes fears about mail voting, using LeBron James image and boosted by Trump-aligned group".The Washington Post.2020.
  8. ^abMullins, Luke (May 8, 2024)."FreedomWorks Is Closing — And Blaming Trump".Politico Magazine.RetrievedMay 8,2024.
  9. ^abPilkington, Ed (September 18, 2009)."Republicans steal Barack Obama's internet campaigning tricks".The Guardian.RetrievedApril 5,2015.
  10. ^"FreedomWorks.org".July 25, 2004. Archived fromthe originalon July 25, 2004.RetrievedJune 12,2015.
  11. ^"Board of Directors".FreedomWorks. October 15, 2013.RetrievedJune 12,2015.
  12. ^"Empower America – Profile – Right Web – Institute for Policy Studies".Rightweb.irc-online.org. Archived fromthe originalon December 29, 2005.RetrievedJune 12,2015.
  13. ^"Board of Directors".Freedomworks. October 15, 2013.RetrievedJune 12,2015.
  14. ^Dick Armey (January 8, 2003)."Citizen Armey".The Wall Street Journal.
  15. ^"Armey leaves firm amid health care flap – David Mark".Politico.RetrievedJune 12,2015.
  16. ^Corn, David; Kroll, Andy (December 3, 2012)."Exclusive: Dick Armey Quits Tea Party Group in Split Over Direction".Mother Jones.RetrievedDecember 4,2012.
  17. ^Vogel, Kenneth (December 4, 2012)."Inside the Dick Armey, FreedomWorks split".Politico.RetrievedSeptember 8,2014.
  18. ^Gillum, Jack; Braun, Stephen (December 4, 2012)."Tea Party group chief quits, cites internal split".Associated Press.RetrievedDecember 4,2012.
  19. ^Amy Gardner (December 25, 2012)."FreedomWorks tea party group nearly falls apart in fight between old and new guard".The Washington Post.Archived fromthe originalon December 29, 2012.
  20. ^Coscarelli, Joe (February 14, 2013)."Tea-Party Interns Starred in Video of Hillary Clinton Having Sex With Panda".New York.RetrievedSeptember 8,2014.
  21. ^Kopan, Tal (November 13, 2013)."Report: Think tanks tied to Kochs".Politico.RetrievedFebruary 24,2015.
  22. ^Harkinson, Josh (December 4, 2009)."The Dirty Dozen of Climate Change Denial".Mother Jones.RetrievedAugust 17,2015.
  23. ^Oprysko, Caitlin; Lippman, Daniel (March 8, 2023)."FreedomWorks lays off 40 percent of staff".POLITICO.RetrievedAugust 15,2023.
  24. ^Riley E. Dunlap, Aaron M. McCright:Organized Climate Change Denial.In: John S. Dryzek, Richard B. Norgaard, David Schlosberg (eds.):The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society.Oxford University Press, 2011, pp 144–160, p. 154.
  25. ^Brown, Emma; Hohmann, James; Bacon, Perry (September 13, 2009)."Lashing Out at the Capitol: Tens of Thousands Protest Obama Initiatives and Government Spending".The Washington Post.RetrievedSeptember 13,2009.
  26. ^Pilkington, Ed (September 13, 2009)."Barack Obama denounced by rightwing marchers in Washington".The Guardian.RetrievedSeptember 15,2009.
  27. ^Isenstadt, Alex (September 12, 2009)."'Freedom fighters' take a stand in D.C. "Politico.RetrievedSeptember 15,2009.
  28. ^Snow Hopkins, Christopher; Mahanta, Siddhartha; Poulson, Theresa (February 4, 2010)."12 Tea Party Players To Watch".National Journal.RetrievedApril 17,2015.
  29. ^"The top national players in the tea party".The Washington Post.September 26, 2010.RetrievedApril 17,2015.
  30. ^Eggen, Dan; Rucker, Philip (August 16, 2009)."Conservative Mainstays and Fledgling Advocacy Groups Drive Health-Reform Opposition".The Washington Post.RetrievedAugust 19,2015.
  31. ^abBroder, John (October 20, 2010)."Climate Change Doubt Is Tea Party Article of Faith".The New York Times.RetrievedAugust 19,2015.
  32. ^Armey, Dick;Kibbe, Matt(August 17, 2010)."A Tea Party Manifesto".The Wall Street Journal.RetrievedAugust 19,2015.
  33. ^Dunlap, Riley E.;Brulle, Robert J.(2015).Climate Change and Society: Sociological Perspectives.Oxford University Press. p. 315.ISBN978-0-19-935611-9.
  34. ^David Weigel(August 11, 2009)."Conservatives Find Town Hall Strategy in Leftist Text".The Washington Independent.Archived fromthe originalon October 18, 2010.RetrievedOctober 31,2010.
  35. ^"FreedomWorks Says Jump, Tea Partiers Ask How High".TPM.
  36. ^Dickinson, Tim (September 23, 2009)."The Lie Machine".Rolling Stone.Archived fromthe originalon September 28, 2009.
  37. ^Fang, Lee."Pressed On FreedomWorks' Connections To Tea Parties, Dick Armey Lashes Out At TP As 'Juvenile Delinquents'".Think Progress.RetrievedMarch 14,2012.
  38. ^"A Tea-Party Target List? FreedomWorks Releases Its Races For 2010 – Politics".The Atlantic.January 25, 2010.RetrievedAugust 29,2010.
  39. ^"Tea party endorsement overlap".The Washington Post.
  40. ^Karpowitz, Christopher F.; Monson, J. Quin; Patterson, Kelly D.; Pope, Jeremy C. (April 8, 2011)."Tea Time in America? The Impact of the Tea Party Movement on the 2010 Midterm Elections"(PDF).PS: Political Science & Politics.44(2): 303–309.doi:10.1017/S1049096511000138.S2CID154650467.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on January 19, 2012.
  41. ^"Protesters descend on Duke Energy meeting".Charlotte Business Journal.May 5, 2011.
  42. ^"Conservative TV & Radio Ads Target Vance, Yaw".PoliticsPA.
  43. ^"Kasich to rally state issue supporters".RetrievedNovember 1,2011.[dead link]
  44. ^ab"Log in – FreedomConnector".FreedomWorks. Archived fromthe originalon January 29, 2012.RetrievedJanuary 9,2012.
  45. ^[1]ArchivedJanuary 8, 2012, at theWayback Machine
  46. ^Matt Kibbe (February 14, 2013)."Coalition Letter: Congress Must Honor Sequester Savings and Defund ObamaCare Before It Is Too Late".FreedomWorks.RetrievedOctober 11,2013.
  47. ^abcJoshua Withrow (August 14, 2013)."Have Your Members of Congress Signed the" Defund ObamaCare "Letter? Find Out Here!".FreedomWorks.RetrievedOctober 11,2013.
  48. ^Burgess Everett (September 5, 2013)."FreedomWorks to fight Syria resolution".Politico.
  49. ^"Year in Review".fwsites.org.
  50. ^"Paul sues Obama over NSA spying".The Hill.February 12, 2014.
  51. ^Phillips, Michael M. (May 16, 2008)."Mortgage Bailout Infuriates Tenants (And Steve Forbes)".The Wall Street Journal.
  52. ^Krugman, Paul (April 13, 2009)."Tea Parties Forever".The New York Times.RetrievedMay 2,2010.
  53. ^"Big Money Backs Renders' Campaign".NPR.org.NPR.RetrievedJune 12,2015.
  54. ^"H.R. 3826 – Summary".United States Congress.RetrievedMarch 6,2014.
  55. ^abcKibbe, Matt (January 28, 2014)."Tell Your Representative/Senators to Support the Electricity Security and Affordability Act".FreedomWorks.RetrievedMarch 6,2014.
  56. ^abc"CBO – H.R. 3826".Congressional Budget Office. February 12, 2014.RetrievedFebruary 28,2014.
  57. ^Kasperowicz, Pete (March 6, 2014)."House votes to block EPA regs on coal-fired electricity plants".The Hill.RetrievedMarch 6,2014.
  58. ^Reader, Mallory (June 11, 2015)."Here are three conservative bills the House Judiciary Committee's justice reform initiative should consider".FreedomWorks.RetrievedFebruary 24,2016.
  59. ^"Support The Email Privacy Act – Freedomworks Action Center – D7 Staging".Secure.freedomworks.org.Archived fromthe originalon March 4, 2016.RetrievedFebruary 24,2016.
  60. ^Coopersmith, Wesley (July 16, 2012)."Net Neutrality: Goes Global".FreedomWorks.RetrievedJune 12,2015.
  61. ^[2]ArchivedNovember 14, 2008, at theWayback Machine
  62. ^Dan Eggen and Philip Rucker,Loose Network of Activists Drives Reform OppositionThe Washington Post,August 16, 2009
  63. ^Ed Pilkington,Republicans steal Barack Obama's internet campaigning tricksThe Guardian,September 20, 2009
  64. ^"With Insurance Policy Comes Membership".The Washington Post.
  65. ^Maguire, Robert (October 24, 2013)."More than Kochs, Small Donors Fueled Heritage Action in 2012".OpenSecrets.RetrievedAugust 19,2015.
  66. ^Schouten, Fredreka (December 20, 2012)."Watchdog groups ask for probe of super PAC donations".USA Today.RetrievedDecember 16,2013.
  67. ^Gillum, Jack (December 8, 2012)."Shadowy donor behind record 'super' PAC checks".Associated Press. Archived fromthe originalon June 28, 2014.RetrievedDecember 16,2013.
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