Steinhauser, B

<p>=</p><p><b /></p><div><div style="color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3em; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0.2em 0px;"><strong style="font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Update at 1:03 p.m.: </strong> Spokeswoman Jackie Bodnar suggests FreedomWorks’ involvement in the speaker’s race ended with Hughes’ candidacy. “We had endorsed Hughes who recently dropped out and was replaced by David Simpson, who doesn’t support school choice vouchers,” she explained in an email.</div><div style="color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3em; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0.2em 0px;"><strong style="font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Original item at 12:47 p.m.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">: </span></strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A FreedomWorks official who last fall vowed the Washington-based tea party organization “would really ramp things up” to help topple Texas House Speaker Joe Straus has quit to join a conservative think tank in Austin</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Meanwhile, it’s not clear whether FreedomWorks, consumed by internal strife, has lobbed anything more than a single email blast against Straus. In January 2011, the San Antonio Republican survived the group’s earlier bid to persuade fellow Republicans to oust him for supposedly not being a “true fiscal conservative” and working too closely with Democrats — charges Straus dismisses, pointing to state budgets that were cut to avoid raising taxes.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3em; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0.2em 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Brendan Steinhauser, until recently FreedomWorks’ director of state and federal campaigns, has resigned to join the Texas Public Policy Foundation</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> as chief spokesman for its “Right on Crime” initiatives, Brooke Rollins, the foundation’s president and CEO, said Wednesday.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3em; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0.2em 0px;">Steinhauser, a University of Texas graduate, has criticized Straus in recent years for, among other things, maintaining as speaker the Texas House tradition under which committee chairmanships are spread between the two parties. Just over two years ago, Steinhauser distributed this <a href="http://archive.is/o/6YTjS/http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/bstein80/support-conservative-rep-ken-paxton-as-speaker-of" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 86, 137); text-decoration: none; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">email by former FreedomWorks chairman Dick Armey</a> that endorsed unsuccessful Straus foe Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, in the last speaker’s race.</div><div style="color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3em; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0.2em 0px;">Then last fall, Steinhauser roamed back into speaker politics, announcing FreedomWorks’ endorsement of Rep. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola.</div><div style="color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3em; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0.2em 0px;">“Speaker Straus has stood in the way of limited government reforms and has not shown the leadership that a conservative Texas Legislature requires,” said a Hughes endorsement e-mail that was prepared to go to FreedomWorks’ 100,000 Texas members, according to this Sept. 24 <a href="http://archive.is/o/6YTjS/http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/FreedomWorks-backs-Straus-challenger-for-speaker-3890974.php" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 86, 137); text-decoration: none; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">story</a> by San Antonio News-Express Austin Bureau Chief Peggy Fikac.</div><div style="color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3em; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0.2em 0px;">“We plan to really ramp things up in the weeks to come,” she quoted Steinhauser as saying of the group’s plans, which included telephone calls to House members, an online campaign and “targeted grassroots action in districts where Bryan needs our support.”</div><div style="color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3em; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0.2em 0px;">Last month, though, Hughes bowed out of the race and threw his support to newcomer Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview. The election is next Tuesday.</div><div style="color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3em; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0.2em 0px;">On Wednesday, FreedomWorks officials Adam Brandon and Jackie Bodnar did not immediately respond to emails inquiring whether the group has suspended efforts to target Straus.</div><div style="color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3em; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0.2em 0px;">It has had more pressing concerns. Armey, the former North Texas congressman, is being given an $8 million, multi-year severance payment. Earlier in September, he entered the group’s Washington offices with his wife and an armed companion, in what this recent <em>Washington Post</em> <a href="http://archive.is/o/6YTjS/http://wapo.st/UlgQabl" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 86, 137); text-decoration: none; outline: invert none 0px; border: 0px none white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">story</a> has described as a failed “coup” attempt.</div></div><p>=</p>

                    <table class="a-normal a-size-base"><tbody><tr><td class="a-span3"><span><br /></span></td><td class="a-span9"><span>AuthorHouse; 1st edition (August 12, 2008)&nbsp; self publ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AuthorHouse<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table>
                    <table class="a-normal a-size-base"><tbody><tr><td class="a-span3"><span><br /></span></td><td class="a-span9"><span>Morgan Printing; 1ST edition (July 1, 2004)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>===<br /></p><p>bs BO hit bk:</p><p>Steve Bierfeldt is currently working for Young Americans for Liberty, an

intricate part of the newly formed Campaign for Liberty that has

emerged from the Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign. He graduated from

Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut in 2006, and was the

National Field Director for the<font color="#FF0000"> Leadership Institute</font> from 2006 to 2008.

Steve has worked on various campaigns, spoken on dozens of college

campuses throughout the country, and has trained conservative students

at a number of seminars and conventions. He currently resides in

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Arlington, Virginia. </span>
</p><p>Francisco Gonzalez is the Director of Development

for <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The James Madison Institute</span>, Florida's premier free-market

think-tank, based in Tallahassee, FL. Francisco has a B.A. in History

from Florida Atlantic University and an M.A. in History from the

University of Maryland, where he also founded and was managing editor of

The Terrapin Times. From 2004-2007, Francisco was Director of

Membership and Campus Leadership for the <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Intercollegiate Studies

Institute</span>. His articles have been published in numerous outlets. He has

spoken at national conferences and on college campuses across the

country. He currently resides in Tallahassee, Florida.</p><p>Brendan

Steinhauser is the Director of Federal and State Campaigns for

FreedomWorks. He is a graduate of the University of Texas, where he led

the UT chapter of The Young Conservatives of Texas. As a student, he

wrote for The Austin Review and Contumacy, founded Students for American

Values and co-founded<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 153);"> Students for a Colorblind America.</span> Upon

graduation, Brendan published his book The Conservative Revolution: How

to Win the Battle for College Campuses. Brendan's articles on

conservatism have appeared in <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Human Events, TownHall.com, and Front Page

Magazine. He blogs at TheConservativeRevolution.com and

FreedomTalks.org. Brendan lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

      
      </span><br/>

<b>Brendan Steinhauser</b>, a former student activist at the University of Texas, is the author of <i>The Conservative Revolution: How to Win the Battle for College Campuses</i>. The book is a guide for right-wing activists, and calls on them to "launch a conservative revolution on college campuses."</p>

<p>

An alum of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Young_Conservatives_of_Texas" title="Young Conservatives of Texas">Young Conservatives of Texas</a>, Steinhauser established a sister organisation to YCT, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Young_Conservatives_of_California" title="Young Conservatives of California">Young Conservatives of California</a>.<a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1362922/posts" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1362922/posts" rel="nofollow">[1]</a> These groups are known for their in-your-face style. They have put on events like affirmative action bake sales, professor watchlists, Straight Pride days, and Texas Independence Day celebrations. The groups also lobby the state legislatures of Texas and California.</p>

<p>

Ryan Sorba, a controversial College Republican at California State University--San Bernardino, is the Chairman of YCC. Steinhauser has written on his blog about their antics on campuses, and published a piece on TownHall.com about Sorba's attempt to establish a Christian club at CSUSB that discriminates against homosexuals and non-Christians.</p>

<p>

According to his bio on TownHall.com and FreedomWorks.org, Steinhauser is affiliated with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and the Leadership Institute. His website indicates that he teaches <b>"grassroots methods" </b>for LI throughout the country. Steinhauser also is affiliated with the right-wing Collegiate Network, funded by ISI. The CN pours money into conservative campus newspapers and journals such as the <i>Dartmouth Review</i> and UT-Austin's <i>Contumacy</i>.

Steinhauser has published other articles in right-wing publications Human Events, TownHall.com, Front Page Magazine, Intellectual Conservative and The Austin Review. His articles have attacked Noam Chomsky, PETA, progressive professors and students, university administrators and the peace movement.</p>

<p>

Steinhauser was the Washington, D.C. chapter leader of the right-wing protest group, Protest Warrior. He led the counter-protest against the anti-war movement's mobilization on September 24, 2005. The group's confrontational and provocative methods have caused incidents at numerous peace rallies. Steinhauser also led an "infiltration" of a peace rally in San Diego in March of 2005, and protests of Michael Moore in Crawford, Texas and San Diego, California. He brags about making short films of his provocative "infiltrations" and distributes them to other activists.</p>

<p>

Steinhauser writes for a blog called, "Reagan's Children." The blog includes young conservative writers Ben Shapiro and Hans Zeiger, as well as ISI Membership Director Francisco Gonzalez. Shapiro and Zeiger both have published books and are apparently in the process of writing another.</p>

<p>

Steinhauser is currently employed as the Grassroots Manager for Dick Armey's advocacy group <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=FreedomWorks" title="FreedomWorks">FreedomWorks</a> in Washington DC. This organization claims 800,000 members and works on privatization of social security, tax cuts, deregulation, tort "reform" and spending "restraint." FreedomWorks claims credit for pushing Telecom "reform" through the Texas and Indiana legislatures in 2005 and 2006.

<h2><span class="mw-headline">Contact details</span></h2>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://bstein80.blogspot.com/" class="external text" title="http://bstein80.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Brendan Steinhauser's blog</a></li>

</ul>

<h2><span class="mw-headline">External links</span></h2>

<ul>

<li>Brendan Steinhauser, "<a href="http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/1102/1102chomsky.htm" class="external text" title="http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/1102/1102chomsky.htm" rel="nofollow">Noam Chomsky: Terrorism apologist speaks in Austin</a>", <i>Enter Stage Right</i>, November 18, 2002.</li>

<li>Brendan Steinhauser, "<a href="http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=6055" class="external text" title="http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=6055" rel="nofollow">Subversion in Bush Country</a>", <i>FrontPageMagazine.com</i>, February 11, 2003.</li>

<li>Brendan Steinhauser, "<a href="http://www.austinreview.com/tar-2003-10-001-2.htm" class="external text" title="http://www.austinreview.com/tar-2003-10-001-2.htm" rel="nofollow">Cookies Crumble SMU Represses Freedom of Speech: Applying Hypocritical Dual Standards</a>", <i>Austin Review</i>, October 2003 – Volume IV Issue 10.</li>

<li>The Daily Texan, "<a href="http://www.dailytexanonline.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&istory_id=643858" class="external text" title="http://www.dailytexanonline.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&istory_id=643858" rel="nofollow">Conservative Group Protests Proposed Honor Code: Students Speak Out Against Racial Task Force Recommendations</a>", March 29, 2004</li>

<li>Brendan Steinhauser, "<a href="http://maxgoss.worldmagblog.com/maxgoss/archives/009103.html" class="external text" title="http://maxgoss.worldmagblog.com/maxgoss/archives/009103.html" rel="nofollow">Operation Moore Lies</a>", <i>In Hoc Signo Vinces</i>, September 28, 2004.</li>

<li>"<a href="http://forum.isi.org/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/1010055552/m/5500037313" class="external text" title="http://forum.isi.org/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/1010055552/m/5500037313" rel="nofollow">New Book by YCT Leader Gives Secrets of Success to Student Activism—Calls for a “Conservative Revolution” Across College Campuses</a>", Media release,</li>

<li>Brendan Steinhauser, "<a href="http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/archive/July2004/UTSAFchapterforms072604.htm" class="external text" title="http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/archive/July2004/UTSAFchapterforms072604.htm" rel="nofollow">Students For Academic Freedom Forms on UT-Austin Campus</a>", July 2004.</li>

<li>Brendan Steinhauser, "<a href="http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/guest/2005/bs_0321.shtml" class="external text" title="http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/guest/2005/bs_0321.shtml" rel="nofollow">Peaceniks Occupy Balboa Park in San Diego - Greet 'Dissenters' with Intimidation</a>", GOPUSA, March 21, 2005.</li>

<li>Brendan Steinhauser, "<a href="http://bstein80.blogspot.com/" class="external text" title="http://bstein80.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Protest Warrior Kicks Leftist Butt in DC: Protest Warrior Crashes Anti-War Rally in DC—Dupes the Leftist</a>", September 25, 2005.</li>

<li>Brendan Steinhauser, "<a href="http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/6575.html" class="external text" title="http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/6575.html" rel="nofollow">The battle on campus</a>", December 5, 2005</li>

<li>Brendan Steinhauser, "<a href="http://www.freedomworks.org/processor/printer.php?issue_id=2461" class="external text" title="http://www.freedomworks.org/processor/printer.php?issue_id=2461" rel="nofollow">Charles Davis Ganske of the Discovery Institute Talks Telecom Reform</a>", Transcript from FreedomWorks Radio on Rightalk.com, December 19, 2005.</li>

<li>Brendan Steinhauser, "<a href="http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/BrendanSteinhauser/2006/01/02/180786.html" class="external text" title="http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/BrendanSteinhauser/2006/01/02/180786.html" rel="nofollow">Christian Group Forced to Allow Non-Christians and Homosexuals into their Student Group</a>", <i><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Townhall.com" title="Townhall.com">Townhall.com</a></i>, January 2, 2006.</li>

<li>Alex Brunk, "<a href="http://www.campusleadership.org/" class="external text" title="http://www.campusleadership.org/" rel="nofollow">Christian group denied funding at Cal State</a>", Campus Leadership Program, January 3, 2006.</li>

<li>Brendan Steinhauser, "<a href="http://reaganchildren.com/serendipity/index.php?/authors/5-Brendan-Steinhauser" class="external text" title="http://reaganchildren.com/serendipity/index.php?/authors/5-Brendan-Steinhauser" rel="nofollow">Blog postings by author Brendan Steinhauser</a>", Reagan's Children Blog</li>

<li>Hans Zeiger, "<a href="http://www.dailytexanonline.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&istory_id=643858" class="external text" title="http://www.dailytexanonline.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&istory_id=643858" rel="nofollow">Reagan's Children: Taking on the Blogosphere</a>", Web Commentary, February 23, 2006</li>

</ul>

<p><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Brendan_Steinhauser">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Brendan_Steinhauser</a></p>

<p>

===</p>

<p>

As I ended in the last post…Grass roots – not so much.

To pick up on the origins of the Tea Party…

From the <a href="http://www.nationwidechicagoteaparty.com/newsmax.pdf">Nationwide Tea Party website</a> in a brochure released in April 2010:

“BEFORE RICK SANTELLI’S FEBRUARY2009 rant, cross·country bus caravans, nationwide rallies, and long before vendors started hawking every kind of tea party merchandise, there was a 53-year-old lady with bad hips in Fort Myers, Fla., who’d lost her job and felt thoroughly disgusted with Washington…

…<strong>a </strong>direction they didn’t feel was right.

Not sure what to do about it, Rakovich searched the Internet <strong>and learned that a </strong>grass· roots <strong>conservative organization, <a href="http://www.freedomworks.org/press-releases/freedomworks-florida-meets-in-tampa">FreedomWorks, was hosting an activist·training session</a> </strong>[on Feb 4, 2009]<strong> in nearby </strong>Tampa. She attended, and paid careful attention to the tips that <strong>Brendan Steinhauser was offering as FreedomWorks’ organizer.</strong></p>

<p>

Only a few weeks later, the media announced that President Obama would come to Fort Myers to tout passage of a $787 billion stimulus bill <strong>that conservatives said had more pork </strong>than a Texas barbecue.”

By their own admission – “long before” Freedom works was providing training to activists across the country.  One such trainer is:

<strong><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Brendan_Steinhauser">Brendan Steinhauser</a></strong>, a former student activist at the University of Texas, is the author of <em>The Conservative Revolution: How to Win the Battle for College Campuses</em>. The book is a guide for right-wing activists, and calls on them to “launch a conservative revolution on college campuses.”

An alum of the <a title="Young Conservatives of Texas" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Young_Conservatives_of_Texas">Young Conservatives of Texas</a>, Steinhauser established a sister organisation to YCT, the <a title="Young Conservatives of California" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Young_Conservatives_of_California">Young Conservatives of California</a>.<a title="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1362922/posts" href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1362922/posts">[1]</a> <span style=" color: #ff0000;">These groups are known for their in-your-face style.</span> They have put on events like affirmative action bake sales, professor watchlists, Straight Pride days, and Texas Independence Day celebrations. The groups also lobby the state legislatures of Texas and California.

One can’t help but question whether Keli Carender received her training from Brendan – maybe they just both like a “get in your face” style of pressuring people to agree with them.</p>

<h5 style=" padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://redistributingknowledge.blogspot.com/2009/01/solution-revolution.html">Solution Revolution</a></h5>

<p style=" padding-left: 30px;">A casual comment from my left-leaning, independent fiancé made me realize one of the missteps of the Republican Party, and I think we would do well to take it to heart. We were debating the merits of government sponsored, nationalized healthcare and he said, regarding the conservative claim that there are free market solutions, “Well, I just haven’t actually seen any other solutions being discussed [besides a socialistic approach].” In that moment I realized the GOP’s problem. We always talk about how the Democrats are socialists, or their plans are socialistic, and we talk about how and why those are bad things. However, we never actually get anything off the ground and <span style=" color: #ff0000;">in the people’s faces</span>, providing our own, alternative solutions to problems. I do not remember our GOP leadership actually presenting viable solutions that we, the conservative base, could believe in and share with others. If they exist, they are buried somewhere, inaccessible to the masses.

Another tidbit of information from the Nationwide Tea Party brochure mentions the conference call noted in the previous post.  The website IamWithRick.com takes you here:  http://www.freedomworks.org/petition/iamwithrick/index.html with a nice picture and intro by Brendan Steinhauser.  According to the whois search, this site was purchased on 2/20/2009 – the day after Santelli’s rant.  Below Michael Patrick Leahy states he “had four or five direct messages from people on Twitter saying, ‘Hey, let’s hold <strong><span style=" color: #ff0000;">another </span></strong>conference call.  Let’s do something about this.”

Another conference call?  Then obviously there was one before the one on 2/20/2009 the day after Santelli’s rant.  Clearly, many activists had already been identified all across the country BEFORE Santelli’s rant allegedly kicked off the “Tea Party” rallies.

Hmmm…again, not so grass rootsy, is it?

<p>

And just who are Freedomworks funders?  David Koch anyone?  Almost $6 MILLION dollars. And the <a href="http://mediamattersaction.org/transparency/organization/Claude_R_Lambe_Charitable_Foundation" target="blank">Claude R. Lambe Foundation</a> (controlled by the Koch family) has contributed almost another $6 million.   Another big player is the Sarah Scaife Foundation,  “<a href="http://old.mediatransparency.org/funderprofile.php?funderID=3" target="blank">financed by the Mellon industrial, oil and banking fortune. At one time its largest single holding was stock in the Gulf Oil Corporation</a>.”  I smell oil – black gold – carbon emissions, gulf oil spills – you know, groups <a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/davidhorsey/archives/222939.asp" target="_blank">Gov. Schwarzenegger just called out:<strong> </strong></a>

“Does anybody really believe that these companies, out of the goodness of their black oil hearts, are spending millions and millions of dollars to protect jobs? This is like Eva Braun writing a kosher cookbook. It’s not about jobs at all, ladies and gentlemen. It is about their ability to pollute and thus protect their profits.”</p>

<p>

Scaminaci provides more information regarding the Koch brothers from a report submitted by David Weigel who attended a summit where David Koch spoke:

<strong><a href="http://politicalchili.com/2010/03/origins-of-the-tea-party-movement%E2%80%94part-iiia/">Koch Industries—Planning and Executing The Outside Game</a></strong>

“On October 3 [2009], David Koch, the co-owner of Koch Industries, told about 2,000 of Americans for Prosperity’s libertarian activists at a Defending the American Dream Summit, <em><strong>that he had started planning the Tea Party movement five years ago </strong></em>[emphasis added] —essentially when Citizens for a Sound Economy split into Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks. Koch told the activists, “‘We envisioned a mass movement, a state-based one, but national in scope, of hundreds of thousands of American citizens, from all walks of life standing up and fighting for the economic freedoms that made our nation the most prosperous society in history.’” According to David Weigel who reported on the event, “Koch took credit for launching one of the key organizations of the conservative insurrection.”  The purpose of the Summit, which drew three times as many activists as the Tea Party national convention would in February 2010, was to get “newly discovered conservative activists” to elect fiscally conservative Republicans in 2010.</p>

<p>

The first indication that Americans for Prosperity may have been planning what would become the Tea Party movement came in a July 2008 article in the <em>New York Times</em>.  Kate Philips reported that Americans for Prosperity was sponsoring training seminars with the Sam Adams Alliance “to encourage right-leaning activists and bloggers to get online and focus on local and state issues.” One of the Sam Adams Alliance (SAA) trainers indicated that SAA “was working on projects that it wasn’t ready to talk about yet.”[4] Whatever those projects were or were not, SAA was building the virtual network, the future backbone of the eventual Tea Party movement.”

<strong><a href="http://politicalchili.com/2010/03/origins-of-the-tea-party-movement-part-iiib-kochs-inside-game/">Koch Industries—Executing The Inside Game</a></strong>

“On the day in October 2009, David Koch announced he had planned the Tea Party movement Koch gave Senator Jim DeMint the <a href="http://www.americansforprosperity.org/102009-americans-prosperity-foundation-honors-sen-jim-demint-washington-award">[Americans for Prosperity Foundation] Washington Award</a>.”

I had already determined Sen. Jim DeMint’s obvious role – he has repeatedly endorsed “tea party” candidates* throughout the country and a little research at <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/">www.opensecrets.org</a> produced the information he has received $62K in donations from Koch Industries.  (In addition to some nice contributions by Club for Growth and AT&T – net neutrality anyone?  And, of course, DeMint’s protégés would be more than happy to vote him in as the next Leader of the Senate – either as majority or as minority).  I doubt his vanity is behind this, however.  His principles, maybe -

<strong><em><a href="http://blogs.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2010/04/21/senator-demint-to-brody-file-tea-party-movement-will-bring.aspx">Senator Jim DeMint</a>:</em></strong><em> “Well, I think people are seeing this massive government growing and they’re realizing that it’s the government that’s hurting us and I think they’re turning back to God in effect is our salvation and government is not our salvation and in fact more and more people see government as the problem and so I think some have been drawn in over the years to a dependency relationship with government and as the Bible says you can’t have two masters and I think as people pull back from that they look more to God. It’s no coincidence that socialist Europe is post-Christian because the bigger the government gets the smaller God gets and vice-versa. The bigger God gets the smaller people want their government because they’re yearning for freedom.”</em>

As he ranks as one of the poorest Senators, money does not appear to be his issue.  His “C Street” association with “The Family” and the above statement indicates he’s much more dangerous – an ideologue.</p>

Steinhauser, B

Attachments