Former House Republican Leader Dick Armey (R-TX)

Yesterday on CNN’s State of the Union, Armey said his groups aim to elect tea party-minded conservatives to Congress to force the White House on a far-right path. “We’ll build a legislative wall… We’ll either be walling a Republican president in, or walling a Democratic president out.”

Here are the bricks they aim to put in their wall:

– A not-yet-determined Republican primary challenger to Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) ($237,065 in independent expenditures to date). Hatch has veered sharply to the right since the 2010 defeat of Sen. Bob Bennett (R) by conservative activists and earned a 100 percent rating from the American Conservative Union for 2010. But FreedomWorks wants Hatch out of the senate too, given his past support for crazy things like the Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development.

–Former Texas Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz (R), a candidate for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R)’s open senate seat ($71,647 in independent expenditures to date). Cruz has offered an unconstitutional proposal for a backdoor method of state nullification of federal laws and the Affordable Care Act and co-authored a white paper advocating a radical reading of the Constitution that would lead to Medicaid and most federal education programs being declared unconstitutional.

– Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock (R), who is challenging Sen. Dick Lugar (R) in a primary ($47,180 in pro-Mourdock independent expenditures to date and another $12,378 against Lugar). Critics say Mourdock wasted $2 million in state funds in his unsuccessful legal challenges to the 2009 Chrysler reorganization and federal bailout. And in a September 12, 2009 speech to the FreedomWorks “Taxpayer March on Washington,” Mourdock warned that “through obvious, brutal, criminal acts of tyranny or through subtle, creeping
incremental-ism, governments corrupt the ideal of individual freedom into statism, economic slavery, and governmental dependency, and dependency is the opposite of liberty.”

– Nebraska State Treasurer Don Stenberg (R), a former state attorney general and candidate for Sen. Ben Nelson (D)’s open senate seat ($33,230 in independent expenditures to date). He has endorsed an extreme proposal to cripple our system of federal regulation by requiring that Congress approve every single major rule or regulation before it takes effect. In its endorsement, FreedomWorks for America said “Nebraskans described Stenberg to us as ‘tea party-minded before we had tea parties.’”

– Former Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, a former senatorial candidate who recently dropped out of the race to defeat Sen. Bill Nelson (D) ($12,378 in independent expenditures to date). The outspoken conservative is now a candidate for U.S. House. He supports a national anti-union “right to work” law and a freeze on any new regulation that might have a “substantial economic impact on job creators.”

If Armey and his allies succeed in electing these and other far-right conservatives to Congress, the legislative wall would continue to block progress.

In a post titled “Wall Street Protesters Should Instead Focus on the Federal Reserve,” a staffer for the group FreedomWorks claims:

The Occupy Wall Street website—which surely does not represent the views of all the protesters—has released a 13-point list of pro-government demands. OccupyWallSt.org demonstrates their economic illiteracy by demanding free college education for all, one trillion dollars in infrastructure and ecological spending. One little detail is missing: who is going to pay for all of this?

FreedomWorks is a front group used by Wall Street lobbyists to concoct bank-friendly schemes. FreedomWorks is playing its usual role: masquerading as a grassroots group to confuse activists and help big corporations. Even the Wall Street Journal has mocked the organization for its astroturf campaigns, which often include “amateur-looking” websites to promote the lobbying interests of FreedomWork’s leaders. Here’s a short run-down of how FreedomWorks manipulates people to promote their Wall Street donors:

– FreedomWorks is run by super lobbyist Dick Armey. Armey left his lobbying firm after ThinkProgress first revealed his long history of orchestrating fake grassroots efforts on behalf of his corporate lobbying clients. Still, Armey has a history of influence-peddling as a registered lobbyist for the Royal Bank of Scotland, Citizens Bank, the Investment Company Institute, and many other banks. His longtime firm DLA Piper represented AIG, Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch during the bank bailouts.

– FreedomWorks has pushed a myriad of bank-friendly policies to benefit Armey’s lobbying clients and other FreedomWorks board members. The biggest example would be FreedomWork’s central role in promoting President Bush’s attempt to privatize Social Security. In 2005, FreedomWorks literally paid people to attend rallies to support Bush’s event. The New York Times caught a FreedomWorks operative pretending to be a regular town hall citizen standing up to support Bush’s plan. In more recent history, FreedomWorks has instructed Tea Party members to oppose financial reforms designed to clean up corruption on Wall Street, regulate predatory bank practices, and limit risky behavior that has systemic implications for the economy.

– FreedomWorks is headed by a group of Wall Street investors and bank lobbyists: FreedomWorks board member C. Boyden Gray is a longtime DC lobbyist whose firm Grey and Shmitz represents the trade association for Goldman Sachs, AIG and JP Morgan — the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Other board members include James Burnley, a corporate lobbyist for a firm that represents ING Bank, right-wing bank apologist Steve Forbes, as well as investors Frank Sands and Robert Lansing.

The demand that protesters avoid big banks and instead picket the Federal Reserve is typical FreedomWorks misdirection. As Matt Yglesias notes, the Federal Reserve is not inherently the problem; the Federal Reserve not doing enough to promote fiscal and monetary stimulus to encourage jobs growth is the issue.

FreedomWorks is a pay-to-play corporate front group that has historically served as a service for corporate lobbyists to generate “grassroots” support for narrow special interest legislation. Dick Armey, after taking over the group, routinely used FreedomWorks to serve his corporate clients at his lobbying firm, DLA Piper. As the Washington Post noted, after ThinkProgress highlighted Armey’s use of FreedomWorks “organizing” to his own benefit, he resigned from DLA Piper. However, other corporate lobbyists, like Gray & Schmitz chief lobbyist C. Boyden Gray and Venable lobbyist James Burnley continue to oversee FreedomWorks (and continue to lobby for right-wing corporate interests). In the last two years, FreedomWorks has become known for its key role in organizing Tea Party opposition to President Obama and to reforms designed to help reign in corporate abuses.

On Thursday and Friday, FreedomWorks hosted a retreat for freshmen Republican lawmakers. Sen.-elect Mike Lee (R-UT), according to the New York Times, recalled almost breaking out in tears over the vast resources FreedomWorks dedicated to helping him get elected. However, the retreat occurred amidst new reports claiming that Republican insiders and GOP operatives are using events during the upcoming lame duck session of Congress to co-opt new “Tea Party” lawmakers.

ThinkProgress traveled to Baltimore for the retreat, and asked Lee if he was worried about the appearance of attending a retreat run by a former lobbyist for banking other corporate interests:

TP: I know Tea Party groups have actually raised concerns about a lot of quote unquote insider trainings and conferences during this break period. Are you worried that some of this freshmen class are going to be co-opted by lobbyists? I know Dick Armey used to lobby for AIG and some of the big banks and some of the pharmaceutical companies. Are you worried about some of the lobbyists co-opting the Tea Party movement?

LEE: Not at all. To the supporters of the Tea Party movement, and to its antagonists, I have one thing to say: Watch what’s next.

Watch it:

In addition to Lee, other GOP freshmen, including Reps. Todd Young (R-IN), Renee Ellmers (R-NC), Tim Scott (R-SC), Reid Ribble (R-WI), Steve Pearce (R-NM), and Andy Harris (R-MD), attended the event. Shortly after the retreat, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Lee appointed one of “Utah’s most prominent lobbyists” to be his chief of staff.

Armey, who presided over the event in Baltimore, has personally lobbied for multinational alcohol company Diego, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Medicines Co, Raytheon, Carmax, and many other corporations. Although Armey and his “Tea Party” cohorts have assailed President Obama’s economic stimulus, which helped create 3 million jobs for the middle class, as wasteful taxpayer “bailouts,” his lobbying firm helped engineer the bank bailouts of 2008. As the Wonk Room reported, while Armey worked for DLA Piper, the firm assisted AIG, Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch during President Bush’s bank bailouts.

FreedomWorks is not a genuine grassroots group serving the public interest. Even the conservative-leaning Wall Street Journal has exposed Armey building “amateur-looking” websites — under the FreedomWorks brand — to promote Armey’s corporate clients.

Last night, FreedomWorks chairman Dick Armey appeared on CNN’s Parker Spitzer to advocate for his conservative views and the tea party. Armey explained that he wants to inject tea party values into mainstream American political culture and wants its politics to define the modern Republican Party.

At one point, Spitzer asked Armey a series of questions about what he thinks the government should and should not be involved in funding to try to “add texture” to what the FreedomWorks chairman believes. During this question period, the CNN host asked Armey if he would “have the federal government pay for higher education?” Armey bluntly responded, “No, I would not.” He then went on to say that the university system of his home state of Texas has “not been made any better by federal money involvement:”

SPITZER: Would you have the federal government pay for higher education?

ARMEY: No I would not.

SPITZER: You would not have any funding?

ARMEY: No. I don’t think the federal government’s involvement in education has benefited the students of America.

PARKER: Wait a minute, finish that thought if you don’t mind.

ARMEY: The federal government has the military academies and it’s an important thing they should continue to do that. But the education of our young people oughta be under the jurisdiction and auspices of the state governments. The state of Texas has a great university system that has not been made any better by federal money involvement.

SPITZER: So you would rip out all the money that goes to the universities and say let the states increase their taxes to pay for it.

ARMEY: Let the states manage the education of their young people.

Watch it:

Armey’s claim that the “federal government’s involvement in education” hasn’t “benefited the students of America” is wildly false. The FreedomWorks chairman’s statement ignores the billions of dollars in federally subsidized loans and grants that enable tens of millions of Americans students to be able to afford to go to college. In the 2008-2009 academic year, federal student loan disbursements totaled $75.1 billion. The same year, “$18.4 billion in Pell Grants averaging approximately $2,973 to 6.2 million students.” A whopping 19 million college students applied for federal assistance this year.

Texas students are major benificiaries of this spending. Students in the state actually utilize federal student loans at a level above that of the average U.S. student. During the 2006-2007 school year, 83 percent of Texans utilized federal student loans, compared to 71 percent of Americans. Additionally, thousands of Texan students receive the federal Pell Grant in order to afford their college education. From 2007-2008, 402,425 Texan students recieved the Pell Grant, totalling $1,077,915,908 in federal assistance for the state. At the state’s largest and flagship university, the University of Texas-Austin, 21 percent of students recieved the Pell Grant during the the same time period. One has to wonder if Armey really believes that Texas’s university system really isn’t “any better” thanks to all of this “federal money involvement.”

This past weekend, conservative activists and Tea Party groups gathered in Chicago for the Right Nation 2010 convention. Among those who attended was former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, the chairman of one of the original Tea Party groups, FreedomWorks.

During the event, ThinkProgress sat down with Armey at a blogger’s roundtable. No sooner than we took our seats did Armey come out guns-blazing against Social Security. He called it a “corrupt government practice” that steals people’s money “under false pretenses.” He went on to call Social Security a “Ponzi scheme”:

ARMEY: The government uses the concept of a trust fund to take your money under false pretenses. For years, I wrote about and talked about and taught about what I call ‘corrupt government practices,’ because they’re always so quick to talk about corruption. One of the corrupt government practices is stealing your money under false pretenses. I’ll give you a to wit: social security. When they had the Alan Greenspan commission, they knowingly raised payroll taxes more than what was necessary to meet the flow of output. Social Security is a pay-as-you-go Ponzi scheme. They knew very well that the extra $250 billion would be spent on their social schemes.

Watch here:

Though Tea Party candidates continue to flail on whether or not they would like to privatize Social Security, Tea Party groups like FreedomWorks mince no words about what their plan is for the hugely-successful social safety net. In a Politico interview, Armey said that if he could do one thing as president of the United States, he would make “all government programs…voluntary.” However, the American public remains adamantly opposed to this plan, with two of every three Americans uncomfortable with the idea of privatizing Social Security.

At a meeting with “well-heeled” Republicans at the GOP Lincoln Club in Irvine, CA yesterday, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) promoted his book, “Give Us Liberty – A Tea Party Manifesto,” and outlined many of his familiar political arguments. But he also shared an odd conspiracy theory:

Armey bashed Barack Obama and Democrats even harder – the former economics professor said the president was “economically ignorant” and accusing Democrats of widespread voter fraud, saying it bad votes accounted for 3 percent of elections.

“I’m tired of people being Republican all their lives and then changing parties when they die,” quipped Armey, 70.

The idea that dead people are voting Democratic is even more of a reach than popular and well-debunked ACORN conspiracy theories. While it’s true that many states have dead people on their voter rolls, it’s simply an administrative problem that is easily resolved by checking voter rolls against the Social Security Administration’s national death list. While some far-right outlets like CNS News scare-monger over supposed “zombie voters” being used in fraud schemes, there has been no evidence of any widespread practice of voters pretending to be dead people.

Armey seems to believe that not only does this happen, but that it accounts for 3 percent of votes cast during elections. In the 2008 general election, 132,645,504 people cast a vote, which means that if Armey’s theory is correct, almost 3.8 million of them were dead.

It’s hard to imagine how Armey came up with this conspiracy. Perhaps he took the title of Jason Mattera’s recent anti-Obama screed literally.

Former House Majority Leader and FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey is making the rounds this month to promote his new book, “Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto.” In proselytizing for the conservative agenda of the “leaderless” Tea Party, Armey touts the humble foundations of the movement’s agenda, saying the “best practices come from the ground up, around kitchen tables, from Facebook friends, at weekly book clubs, or on Twitter feeds.”

In trying to reestablish the conservative brand, Armey is attempting to throw President Bush under the bus. In an interview aired last night on the O’Reilly Factor, Armey dismissed the qualifications of Bush who pushed for the 2008 financial bailout funds. When right-wing pundit Bill O’Reilly tried to defend Bush’s decision, Armey told O’Reilly that “Bush isn’t a big thinking guy” and he lacked “adult discipline,” unlike Armey, who knows better because “he read Hayek and Mises”:

O’REILLY: So you think the federal government should just step back and let it go?

ARMEY: Yeah the whole notion of too big to fail is simply a rationale for government intervention mostly.

O’REILLY: Bush isn’t a Big government guy..

ARMEY: No Bush is… Bush isn’t a big thinking guy either. Quite frankly He’s not well-schooled on economics. [...] Look I’m an economist by training, I studied it all my life. I have an advantage over them because I read Hayek and Mises. But the fact of the matter is the most critical affliction that came to the economy for those few days was the nations see in the secretary of treasury and the president in a total panic. If they would’ve had an adult discipline.

O’REILLY: So if you were there, you wouldn’t have done anything, no intervention. You would’ve let whatever happen happen

ARMEY: Absolutely right. You’ve got to let..you can’t privatize profits and socialize loss.

Watch it:

Armey is not shy about his current contempt for the former president. At a Christian Science Monitor lunch last month, Armey dubbed Bush the “quickest, biggest bitter disappointment.” But, during Bush’s administration, Armey found plenty of policies to praise Bush about. In 2001, Armey even touted Bush’s “rare ability to ‘tune out the noise’” to get things done:

House Majority Leader Dick Armey said yesterday President Bush has a rare ability to “tune out the noise,” which is helping him define and organize the new initiatives of this administration. “There’s a new demeanor in Washington,” Mr. Armey told a group of constituents at a breakfast coffee klatch. Mr. Bush “knows what he wants to accomplish and is busy going about it.”

While he now slams Bush’s No Child Left Behind policy, Armey published an op-ed in the Washington Times in 2001 to congratulate Bush for “finally changing the way Washington views education.” Blaming President Clinton for “simply talking about a failed education system,” Armey said Bush “is doing something about it.” When Bush pushed to privatize Social Security in 2004, Armey saluted Bush’s “strong leadership” in “clearly understand[ing] the profound issues at stake.”