“On the [Tea Party organizers] Freedomworks website, it says: ‘If you are not able to organize or attend a Taxpayer Tea Party, you can still help the cause by donating or buying a t-shirt.’

“The ‘donation’ for the Tea Parties page goes to — you guessed it — the FreedomWorks Foundation. The ‘thank you’ letter is signed by Matt Kibbe, President & CEO, who cut his teeth working for Lee Atwater. He was behind the attempt to get Ralph Nader put on the ballot in Oregon in 2004, prompting a complaint to the FEC of illegal collusion with the GOP.

“FreedomWorks was launched [as] a GOP version of MoveOn. ‘We believe that hard work beats daddy’s money,’ said Dick Armey at the time. Armey seems to be a bit irony challenged — Steve Forbes is on the FreedomWorks board. As [Paul] Krugman notes, their money comes from the Koch, Scaife, Bradley, Olin and other reliable funders of right wing infrastructure including Exxon Mobil.” []

“Before any media covering these events accept the idea that this is just a grass roots outpouring of populist sentiment, they ought to take a look behind the curtain — where Dick Armey is laughing and counting his cash.”
— Jane Hamsher, “The Corporate Lobbyists Behind the Tea Parties,” Firedoglake, April 14, 2009.