‘Grassroots’ Chicago tea party organized with the help of the right-wing Heartland Institute.
‘Grassroots’ Chicago tea party organized with the help of the right-wing Heartland Institute.
This afternoon on MSNBC’s Hardball, host Mike Barnacle had Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) and Chicago tea party organizer John O’Hara on to discuss the tea party protests. Throughout their discussion, both Pence and O’Hara repeatedly claimed that today’s protests were nothing more than a “grassroots” movement that had finally reached a boiling point. It wasn’t until Barnacle pressed O’Hara on how he got involved with the protests that O’Hara explained that he worked for the right-wing think tank, the Heartland Institute. Still, O’Hara claimed he only worked on the tea party project in his “spare time — on weekends and nights“:
BARNACLE: Why are you involved in this?
O’HARA: I work at a free-market think tank, the Heartland Institute here in Chicago. In my spare time, on weekends and nights, leading up to the Feburary 27 tea parties, my good friend J. P. Freire…at the American Spectator invited me and asked me if I could help get some momentum behind a tea party in front of the White House. I did and we had over 300 people show up. … Ever since then you’ve had thousands come out.
Watch it:
Like his fellow astroturfers at Americans for Prosperity, American Solutions, and FreedomWorks, O’Hara is misrepresenting the extent to which his employer, the Heartland Institute, has been involved in helping organize today’s protests. Earlier this week, O’Hara himself issued a press release bragging about how Heartland was “the first organization on board for the first tea parties” and has been “integrally involved in the April 15th Tax Day Tea Party here in Chicago.” Heartland promoted the protests on their homepage today.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
As their furious followers head off to their April 15th orgy of tea-bagging, the leadership of the GOP and its amen corner in the right-wing media have instead turned to tall tales on taxes.
Here, then, are 10 Republican Tax Day lies:
1. President Obama will raise taxes on small businesses.
2. The estate tax devastates small businesses and family farms.
3. 40% of Americans pay no taxes.
4. Tax cuts always increase revenue.
5. The GOP is the party of fiscal discipline.
6. Ronald Reagan was the greatest tax cutter of all time.
7. FDR caused the Great Depression, or at least made it worse.
8. Obama’s cap-and-trade plan will cost each American family $3,100 a year.
9. Obama’s tax proposals will undermine charitable giving.
10. The rich pay too much in taxes already.
For the details behind each GOP deceit, see:
April 15th, 2009 at 8:56 pm“10 Republican Lies for Tax Day.”
Wow. The right wing is rapidly getting all tangled up in lies and hypocrisy. and that’s wrong!
April 15th, 2009 at 9:03 pmFrom the “integrally involved” link:
This is patently false. And they know it.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:06 pmThe AstroTurf is always greener on a RePugniScums heart!
April 15th, 2009 at 9:09 pmHeartland Astroturfed the Chicago…
– - That Astroturf reference takes on even more relevancy after Texas Gov. Perry started blathering about secession.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:09 pmAngryOne,
great post and website as well and it’s all true. now watch faux news manipulate the actual people that turned out, another lie.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:13 pmThe truth is all around us -we get it- but these teabaggers refuse to see or hear the truth. Wow, getting pimped by the very same wealthy lobbyists they claim to hate?! There’s not a damn thing ‘grassroots’ about this – this is just another ponzi scheme worked out on these people. Will they ever wake up?
April 15th, 2009 at 9:16 pmHUNDREDS at these great events….wow! Looks like the grassroots fringe element to me.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:19 pmBoston should sue them for stealing a true patriotic name and event.
If you ask a dozen different people attending the “tea parties” why they plan to attend, you will get a dozen different reasons and none will have any merit based on reality.
Obama has not raised taxes, he has cut them for the vast majority of Americans.
The Bush Administration created the national deficit problem, and now we MUST invest federal dollars to re-right the ship.
And it was the LACK of government regulation that caused the banking system to crash.
Complaining about “socialism”? Does that mean you plan to refuse Medicare when you become eligible? Will you encourage your elderly loved ones to do likewise? Cause there isn’t anything more “socialistic” at the federal level than taxpayer-subsidized health care for senior citizens.
Or are you one of those extreme right-wing fringe whack-jobs that still think Obama is a Muslim…or a foreigner….or an alien?
Quick, run to Rush. He’ll give you a new batch of scripted talking points.
And to the handful of folks that mistakenly believed that they would be participating in a genuine grass roots political event, well, there is no Easter bunny either. It is true that you have every right to protest, air your concerns, and express your anger about the economy. But at the same time, the reality is that you are being reduced to a propaganda tool for the bozos on FOX News, FreedomWorks, and elsewhere that wish to exploit your concerns for their own self-serving, disingenuous purposes. Best to take a hot shower when you get home.
Of course, these tea parties can help improve the economy if everyone had purchased stock in Lipton on Tuesday and then sells it on Thursday…
April 15th, 2009 at 9:29 pmAgain, before any wingnuts come in here to shout about
1) how upset we libs are, and
2) how if we had protests they’d probably also be organized by thinktanks and promoted by donors
… we’re merely pointing out that it’s not a “grassroots” movement, like you keep saying it is. If we had protests, we wouldn’t deny involvement in them, as every one is about this.
Which begs the question, what’s so shameful about these particular protests that none of the people promoting or organizing them are willing to admit their role? Other than Rush Limbaugh – who as far as I can tell has nothing to do with it – nobody is willing to admit their part in promoting and organizing these. Are they all afraid it’s going to end up being a laughingstock?
Because, it is. That’s all us lib media are saying. It’s a laughingstock. Y’all are making fools of yourselves.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:36 pmThey can’t get it up without viagra, either.
“Monumental Impotence!”, rallying cry of the endangered wingnut.
Neil Cavuto’s inbox is stuffed with thank you notes for his courageous fluffing, too.
And all the King’s fluffers, and all the King’s pills,
still didn’t help the poor ol’ Queen out one little bit.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:41 pmWhile glancing thru various pics in cities across this nation I realized one thing:
I did not see one person of color attending a tea party…. they are all white.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:44 pmApril 15th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
i must agree, the repukies astroturd protests were pretty sheyatty
April 15th, 2009 at 9:50 pmhad enough Says:
I did not see one person of color attending a tea party…. they are all white.
__________
And no doubt… all of the men are all chubby, balding, and oddly sexless…
And most of the women too…
April 15th, 2009 at 9:51 pmhad enough Says:
I did not see one person of color attending a tea party…. they are all white.
But we’ve had a number of wingnuts come right here to report that they personally saw a rainbow of skin tones, which is how they know the protests are “nonpartisan.”
April 15th, 2009 at 9:52 pmIf anyone sees Daryll aka RaptureReady tonight please ask him how he enjoyed the “Fizzle in the Drizzle” today.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:52 pmPachydiplax de St. Augustine Says:
RAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA! AAHAHAHAHAAHA!
April 15th, 2009 at 9:54 pmHate to keep posting this, but it’s just SOOOOO TELLING…
… and thus, ChicagoTeaParty.com, registered in August 2008 by Chicago radio producer Zack Christenson, was live within twelve hours.
Huh… imagine that… ChicagoTeaParty.com, registered in August 2008…
Gee… a website named “ChicagoTeaParty.Com”, organized SIX MONTHS EARLIER.
ChicagoTeaParty.com was just one part of a larger network of Republican sleeper-cell-blogs set up over the course of the past few months, all of them tied to a shady rightwing advocacy group coincidentally named the “Sam Adams Alliance,” whose backers have until now been kept hidden from public.
Cached google records that we discovered show that the Sam Adams Alliance took pains to scrub its deep links to the Koch family money as well as the fake-grassroots “tea party” protests going on today.
All of these roads ultimately lead back to a more notorious rightwing advocacy group, FreedomWorks, a powerful PR organization headed by former Republican House Majority leader Dick Armey and funded by Koch money.
http://www.wikio.com/news/Zack+Christenson
Oh yeah… these “Teabaggers’ Balls” are DEFINITELY spontaneous, genuwine social uprisings…
April 15th, 2009 at 9:56 pmThis is how you display your good and authentic American citizenship: Lie, cover up the truth, obfuscate and waffle. The never-ending supply of preposterous BS is mind-boggling.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:56 pmi don’t find a better place to post this and ask a question…
remember the DHS “rightwing extremism report”?
i first heard that the story “was leaked” to the washington/moonie times…
then i read this:
The report, which was prepared in coordination with the FBI, was published last week. It was distributed to federal, state and local law enforcement officials. Mainstream media picked up the story after it was reported by conservative bloggers.
some of those bushie hold-overs doing their duty, leaking to the friendlies?
April 15th, 2009 at 10:01 pmhere:
April 15th, 2009 at 10:02 pmhttp://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/15/extremism.report/
who is “Sam Adams Alliance”? Was Sam Adams a good guy?
April 15th, 2009 at 10:22 pmThey try to give the impression it was leeked or exposed unwillingly. It’s another re-assuring sign that the Right Wing resents for unfounded reasons.
April 15th, 2009 at 10:25 pmI mean to say i was pleased that the FBI is keeping an eye out for dangerous loonies, and being forthright about it.
April 15th, 2009 at 10:29 pmApe-Man Says:
who is “Sam Adams Alliance”? Was Sam Adams a good guy?
Oh hellz yeah, he makes a decent beer.
April 15th, 2009 at 10:45 pmApe-Man Says:
who is “Sam Adams Alliance”? Was Sam Adams a good guy?
King George III would have said he was a terrorist. In fact, he may have actually done that, I’m not sure.
April 15th, 2009 at 10:55 pmWatching Jon Stewart – it’s hilarious! He’s totally stomping Fake News for lying about sponsoring these teabagging parties!
April 15th, 2009 at 11:06 pm“Ass-roots,” anyone?
April 15th, 2009 at 11:12 pmHAHAHAHAA
It just happened on tax day that we chose to express our feelings…people are fed up and it just so happened on the dems watch…we are counting all people that show up as teabaggers…I teabag in my spare time, heartland Inst. is just my job…
How can a small head hold so much bullshit?
What are the repugs agenda after the cameras are off? It’s like a bad show with worse actors. They are touting the same failed bs.
They hold the blame for growing the government by invading nations and hiding bin Laden.
repugs are overly desperate and totally disgusting.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:05 amlabman57 @ #9 Says:
Brilliant!
April 16th, 2009 at 12:34 amThanks – to all of you – for posting such excellent points tonight…and no trolls, so far. We won “the culture wars” because we are correct. Night all……..
April 16th, 2009 at 12:47 amJohn Boehner is in Bakersfield CA today to be with Cong. Kevin McCarthy. Now they say Boehner was in town for a fund raiser not the tea bag party. They were told they couldn’t speak and they now say they only went to the rally to listen to others. Ya right. KERN 1180 right wing radio bought a full page ad in the newspaper today which says “WE’RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT!” They say use the ad as a sign at the rally.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:01 amthat scowling heartland guy was too much.
April 16th, 2009 at 3:06 amBarnacle was completely inept at taking the obvious to these guests.
I mean Chris would have at least asked them which taxe raises they are protesting?
Or to heartland scowler, what is your solution? let the banks and all fail? what would be the consequences?
these idiots get too much room from too many so called tv journalists.
Grassroots to wingers is carrying water for corporate whores who need the little man to do the dirty work for corporations. I get it wingers, you are just not that smart but hang in there, we need you dumb people to keep the democratic majority. What a bunch of flaming fools.
April 16th, 2009 at 6:15 amI thought the wingers said 30,000 ACORN employees were going to show up and cause havoc? Oh wait! Another lie for their Tea Party to drink to!
April 16th, 2009 at 7:07 amTP — OT
I tried again to put this on your tip line, but it isn’t working.
Spanish prosecutors will recommend against opening an investigation into whether six Bush administration officials sanctioned torture against terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, the country’s attorney-general said Thursday.
Candido Conde-Pumpido said the case against the high-ranking U.S. officials — including former U.S. Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales — was without merit because the men were not present when the alleged torture took place.
“If one is dealing with a crime of mistreatment of prisoners of war, the complaint should go against those who physically carried it out,” Conde-Pumpido said in a breakfast meeting with journalists. He said a trial of the men would have turned Spain’s National Court “into a plaything” to be used for political ends.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:54 amMarie,
April 16th, 2009 at 8:59 amI wonder if Bush/Cheney had any influence on that decision.
On TV last night I saw that the teabaggers couldn’t dump their teabags in the park because they didn’t get a permit. Guess who invited them into their offices to perform the ceremony?
It was the Competitive Enterprise Institute! One of the teabaggers said the CEI was one of the sponsors of the rally! Oops! It was supposed to be a grassroots uprising, not a staged event paid for by Richard Mellon Scaife.
April 16th, 2009 at 9:18 amInsane. And they won’t stop there. The science deniers have begun invading math as well:
http://themathskeptic.blogspot.com
April 16th, 2009 at 1:42 pmWrong. I attended one of the events to see what it was. It was not a Fox News production, they weren’t even there at the cities I visited. This was democrats as well as republicans, average Americans concerned about the debit and the direction that debit is taking us. Many of them I interviewed just said they wanted to be heard.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:28 pmCNN put an incorrect spin on this. It appears to me they picked out the worse clips or intentionally agitated people into getting upset by not allowing them to voice their feelings.
Fox covered it because IT”S NEWS! Just like Code Pink protesting the war…….it’s news, they are a news organization and they cover the news without picking and choosing like most of the drive by media……CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC.
I must admit our friends on the left are getting bias more and more each day. I don’t want them censoring my news, just report it, I’ll make up my own mind as to what is reality to me.
Come on CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, we are adult enough to handle the truth.
I just saw a GREAT VIDEO on youtube. Go into their search window and search for (anti tea baggers) and it should bring up a video with “Joe the Pretend plumbers” pic.
April 16th, 2009 at 7:27 pmWatch the anti tea bagger videos, there’s two of them. They are GREAT!!!!
sANTELLIA WHAT A LOSER AL I HAVE TO SAY bUSH IS USING CNBC TO GET AHEAD BUSH IS DEAD IN EWATER
April 17th, 2009 at 10:05 amOK Pat obviously senile dementia has set in. Time to see the nice young men that will need to take care of you soon.burun estetigi rent a car arac kiralama
April 18th, 2009 at 5:14 amsac ekimi