I've been following the anti-tax "tea party" story primarily with amusement but also with eye-rolling disbelief. I mean, here we have supposedly grassroots parties that are actually organized by Faux News and corporate lobbyists -- including former Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey's FreedomWorks. The mission of FreedomWorks, by the way, is to "[fight] for lower taxes, less government and more economic freedom for all Americans." FreedomWorks apparently defines "economic freedom for all Americans" as follows"*"...focusing their energy activism on supporting the status quo reliance on fossil fuels...[including] maintaining the U.S.-UAE relationship where “U.S companies have played major roles in the development of UAE energy resources, which represent about 10 percent of global oil reserves."
*"...mobiliz[ing] its members for deregulated life insurance reform."
*"...actively organizing against health care reform" and instead "represent[ing] pharmaceutical companies, such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, that oppose comparative effectiveness research in the health reform plan because such a program may cut into revenue for branded drugs."
In short, "freedom" as defined by Dick Armey et al. means "crony capitalism" and "fighting for corporations not people."
Meanwhile, let me get this straight. Congress and the Obama administration CUT TAXES for 95% of Americans, and right-wingers hold a bunch of "tea parties" to protest...higher taxes?!? Or, perhaps they're really protesting the huge expansion of government (such as Hank Paulson's TARP plan) and budget deficits that took place under...the Bush Administration? Ah, right-wing world, where "higher" means "lower," "clear skies" means "pollution," "healthy forests" means "cut the forests down," "a humble foreign policy" means "nation building," etc., etc.
UPDATE: See Firedoglake for more on this.
