MEMORANDUM
April 14, 2009
To: Interested Parties, Minnesota members of the media
From: Denise Cardinal, Executive Director Alliance for a Better Minnesota
Re: Minnesota's "Tea Party" activities on April 15
This memo outlines the facts behind the fiction of the Minnesota "Tea Parties." Like the other ones around the country they're organized by DC-based corporate lobbyists who protect big business, including oil companies. Much of this information can be found online at: www.savetherich.com.
Freedom Works -- one of the lobbying firms behind the tea parties -- is headed by prominent D.C. lobbyist and former Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey.
Freedom Works:
- Coordinates conference calls among tea party protesters, contacting conservative activists to give them "sign ideas, sample press releases, and a map of events around the country."
- Provides how-to guides for delivering a "clear message" to the public and media.
- Owns several domain addresses -- some of them made to look like they were set up by amateurs -- to promote the protests.
Americans for Prosperity run by Tim Phillips, who was Ralph Reed's former partner in the lobbying firm Century Strategies. The group is funded by Koch family foundations -- a family whose wealth is derived from the oil industry. Americans for Prosperity staff are writing press releases and planning the events in New Jersey, Arizona, New Hampshire, Missouri, Kansas, and several other states.
These Tea Parties haven't all been peaceful -- In Cincinnati reporters "had to seek police protection."
At a tea party in Cincinnati, "Several reporters and photographers were chased, spat on, and verbally harassed. No one was arrested. [Cincinnati tea protest, 3/17/09]
The Tea Parties are not really about "average" citizens -- but Neo-nazis, militias and secessionists are among the most active organizers.
Fringe elements and extremists are appearing at tea parties:
Minnesota's chief organizer is particularly hateful and bizarre; her twitter posts (all sic.) include the following statements (saved PDF is available for reference):
- Geitner, Paulson, Bernanke, Daschel, and even Condi. Rice! Bilderberg 2008 and the beat goes on... working on it since 1907 #teaparty 7:14 PM Mar 30th
- @BarackObama Since you are working for Bilderberg, Trilateral and appealing to the World, your not really working for US. #teaparty
- @BarackObama How come ACORN went global after Katrina and using same oppressive platform in all 50 countries? #tcot #dontgo #limbaugh #sgp 9:18 AM Mar 27t
- @BarackObama is it true that you are just @NancyPelosi (aka Satan) 's puppet? Your ears grow larger when you lie! #tcot #teaparty #limbaugh 9:02 AM Mar 27th
- @BarackObama I feel like I have been gang raped by YOU and YOUR LIBERAL thugs! I am not the only one! #tcot #sgp #mntcot #limbaugh #hhrs 6:40 PM Mar 13th
- Citizens across the nation are now demanding @BarackObama to prove that the votes for him were actually from American citizens. #tcot #sgp 9:35 AM Mar 5th
- I am getting my sons 6 month insulin supply ordered... In case of complete ANARCHY! Oh, thats right, the Govt started it! #tcot #diggcons12:41 PM Feb 23rd
- @BarackObama Are you going to change our US Preamble to ACORNs National Preamble? Is ACORN going to take over the UN? OPPRESSED! #TCOT
- @NancyPelosi Satan! I rebuke you! 8:37 AM Feb 21st
- Obama on tv, get ready to feel raped 7:01 PM Feb 9th
- @BarackObama AZ CO FL MI MN MO NV NH NM OH OR PA VA WI No photo id required to vote loop hole, I know the Palestinians will go here #tcot 9:21 AM Feb 8th
More on the Minnesota Tea Parties:
The Tea Parties are not really being organized by "average" citizens -- they are being organized of the fringe conservative groups, with strong coordination with state and national Republican groups.. Many are being organized by prominent, long-time local GOP activists, party insiders, or fringe elements of the right wing.
Bemidji
The Bemidji Tea Party is being organized by Kenneth Cobb, the Chairman of the county GOP.
Willmar
The Willmar Tea Party is being organized by Rollie Nissen, former chair and current board member of the county GOP.
A puff piece promoting this party appeared in the West Central Tribune.
Nissen attended the "Grassroots Campaign School," sponsored by the MN GOP and put on the the Leadership Institute. The Leadership Institute's annual budget of $8 million is financed by contributions from wealthy conservatives (New York Times, 06/2001). Numerous conservative foundations, such as the Coors-funded Castle Rock Foundation, the F.M. Kirby Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, have also provided funding to the Institute.
Among the "resources" offered to Leadership Institute patrons is a documentary produced by the Leadership Institute titled: "Roots of the Ultra-Left: What They Really Think." A trailer for the documentary and the full script are available here.
Rochester
Sponsored by the Olmstead County GOP with various resources from American Solutions, DontGo, Smart Girl Politics, and TCOT, according to their website.
Duluth
The Duluth Tea Party website uses information and content from the lobbyist groups.
Elbow Lake
The Elbow Lake Tea Party is being sponsored by the County GOP.
Fairmont
The Fairmont Tea Party is being organized by Neal Breitbarth, a local GOP fundraiser, and longtime activist. Breitbarth has attended the RNC and sat on the Rules Committee.
In 1994, Breitbarth supported Quist over Carlson at the GOP State Convention.
He was an early supporter of Mitt Romney in the 2008 primaries, and served on the State Central Steering Committee.
Mille Lacs
The Millie Lacs Tea Party also had a puff piece printed in the local paper. One of the local organizers, Wendy Stomberg, says the American Family Association recruited her to organize the tea party. "They sent it to me as an opportunity to express, at a grass roots level, the disappointment at the current administration and the policies that are being placed into law." The American Family Association is a fundamentalist Christian lobbying group, which has a Minnesota affiliate. The AFA is known for its campaigns against abortion, pornography, and gambling and its unapologetic stance against "the homosexual agenda." AFA has boycotted American Girl, Family Guy, Campbell's, and other companies.
Dave and Lisa Otey are also listed as organizers for this tea party. Dave has made comments on the State Budget (here and here).
Owatonna
The Owatonna Tea Party uses video and other resources from American Solutions to promote their event.
Twin Cities
The Twin Cities Tea Party lists many sponsors with fringe conservative ties, including:
- Minnesotans for Immigration Reform
- A member of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
- In response to a comment Liberian president Ellen Johnson made in front of a Minnesota audience, regarding the progress being made in Liberia, FAIR president Dan Stein, said "It is time for people to go back and rebuild their country. . . for Liberians to stay when their country is at peace would be an abuse of U.S. hospitality" More here.
- These groups will leaflet the Minnesota state capitol to recruit new members to support anti-immigrant policies.
- A part of MCFIR, which put up a billboard in Albert Lea depicting a road sign featuring a family of migrants running across the highway.
Prominent Republicans involved nationwide include:
- The rallies are being officially supported by Newt Gingrich and his organization American Solutions for Winning the Future.
- At least a dozen other prominent Republicans are scheduled to speak at the April 15th tea parties:
-
- Rep. David Davis (R-TN) and representatives from Sen. Bob Corker's (R-TN) office will be speaking at the Kingsport protest.
- Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) will be speaking at the Salt Lake City protest.
- Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and a representative from Rep. Sam Graves' (R-MO) office will be speaking at the Overland Park protest.
- Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) will be speaking at the Shreveport protest.
- Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL) will be speaking at the Jacksonville protest.
- Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH) will be speaking at the Wauseon protest.
- Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) will be speaking at the Phoenix protest.
- Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) will be speaking at the Charlotte protest.
- Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL) will be speaking at the Brevard protest.
- Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) will be speaking at the Longview protest.
- Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) will be speaking at the protest in Columbia.
Other conservative activists will be speaking at events as well, including anti-health reform activist Rick Scott and Joe the Plumber.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Blois Olsen: It's Tax Day, Where's Pawlenty?
In Minnesota, Pawlenty is becoming a symbol of the challenges that the state party faces and these rallies are evidence that Pawlenty's national star may have some local tarnish. Any conversation with the "free market" or libertarian crowd within Minnesota is sure to start with the qualification: "And I am no fan of Pawlenty" ...
As for Pawlenty's national profile, it's another place where Pawlenty is spending more time than making sure his state party is in solid shape for either his reelection campaign or for a successor who can carry on his ideals. It would seem that if Pawlenty was truly interested in his reelection next year, he would be taking a much more active role in the selection of the next state party chair or offering new ideas for Minnesota.
The Tea Party is cute, but the national effort being promoted by Fox News isn't really accurate when it comes to history. Since conservatives like to quote our forefathers on their ideals on liberty and freedom, they should be reminded that the original "tea party" was about taxation without representation. (Something Minnesota DFLers have been complaining about during the Senate recount process. But it's unimaginable that many Al Franken voters will be showing up at any of these "rallies.")
In the end, Pawlenty's future and his legacy are at stake. Rallying the anti-tax crowd would seem to be a no-brainer -- unless, of course, he's trying to chart his course as a new idea Republican. In which case, time is running out in the Legislature, and Minnesota could use some new ideas.
MN 2020: Don't Drink the Tea; Taxes Benefit Everyone
Our tax investments are an expression of public priorities. We build schools for our children to learn and succeed; roads and rail to facilitate commerce; flood walls to keep cities dry. We're kept safe by the police, fire, and health inspectors we pay for.
None of these cornerstones would be possible if Minnesota were to adopt the sort of "me first" greed advocated by these conservative extremists. These are the same sort of people who brought you the gilded age and the great depression. Don't buy into their bluster. Taxes benefit everyone. Let's say thanks!
Minnesota Progressive Project: April 15th: nativist teabaggers attack!
Our current Glenn Beck-inspired partiers want all the benefits of citizenship, but don't want the obligation to pay their fair share of the bill.
Gosh, that sounds a bit like the argument they might make against undocumented immigrants, doesn't it? But I digress.
It's a partisan thing, really. If the teabaggers cared as much about rising deficits and taxation and spending rates as they do about rebelling against President Obama's huge electoral victory and high approval ratings, then where were they while President Bush heaped the cost of two wars on our children (and grandchildren)? Where were they while he took hundreds of billions of dollars in budget surplus and turned it into hundreds of billions of dollars in deficit so he could provide the equivalent of a new luxury sedan to a select few super-rich citizens around the country?
Socialism for the rich and incorporated; capitalism for the rest of us.
I love paying my fair share of taxes, and so should you. It's how we contribute to the general welfare, the common defense, and all the other big ideas enshrined in that most hallowed of founding documents, the Constitution of the United States of America. I'm more than willing to argue over how much represents "fair share", but that's not what the teabaggers are looking for. In their GOP- and Fox News-sponsored events, they're pushing for no taxes, no government, no common defense, no general welfare, no nothing. They don't want to contribute to the common bottom line. And that, my dear readers, is about as unpatriotic a thing as I've seen in recent years.
MN Publius: I was going to go to a Tea Party , but...
..I have to work.
Millions of Americans are unemployed. Millions more are underemployed, working part-time because they can't find full-time work. Still more American workers are working two jobs, but are nevertheless unable to make enough money to pay their rent and feed their children. Perhaps you can see why I'm not overly concerned about your situation, tax-day protesters.
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