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The event, scheduled intentionally on Sept. 12 to coincide with the anniversary of the day following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was conceived largely by Fox News' Glenn Beck. Beck, the McCarthyite Fox News talk show host who has lost dozens of advertisers for calling Obama a "racist," is a relentless promoter of his 9/12 Project. However, most of the day-to-day organizing has been orchestrated by a now familiar set of lobbyists and Republican operatives who have helped plan anti-Obama "grassroots" tea party events since February. In addition, a set of far-right groups are supporting the event, bringing along self-described "American mob members" to join in on the Obama-bashing.

The top sponsors are the right-wing think tank National Taxpayers Union. Another top sponsor, Tea Party Patriots, is an astroturf website run by FreedomWorks staffers who have rebuffed members objecting to the march's logo. Our Country Deserves Better -- a Republican PAC that has compared Obama to Hitler -- operates the Tea Party Express, a bus tour arriving in DC for the 9/12 march. Other sponsors include the Heartland Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute, corporate front groups that claim smoking is good for you and global warming doesn't exist. Both organizations have received millions of dollars from Philip Morris, ExxonMobil and Koch Industries, the largest privately-held company in the United States. The American Conservative Union, another sponsor, is run by David Keene, a lobbyist for a firm that represents private health care companies, including the insurer HealthFirst. Many of these groups -- each of which paid up to $10,000 to FreedomWorks to participate as sponsors -- were pivotal in providing assistance to attendees of rowdy town halls in August and anti-Obama tea party protests. Part of their strategy was encouraging anger and intimidation against lawmakers supporting health care and clean energy reform was part of the strategy.

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FreedomWorks Foundation, a conservative organization led by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, organized several groups from across the country for what they billed as a "March on Washington."

FreedomWorks funders have included MetLife, Philip Morris and foundations controlled by the conservative Scaife family, according to tax filings and other records. FreedomWorks is closely tied to its founder, corporate lobbyist and former Republican Congressman Dick Armey, whose former lobbying firm DLA Piper that he resigned in August 2009, represents Bristol Myers Squibb, among other pharmaceutical companies.

In 2008, FreedomWorks was behind the creation of a fake grassroots web site called Angryrenter.com. AngryRenter.com looks a bit like a digital ransom note, with irregular fonts, exclamation points and big red arrows -- all emphasizing prudent renters' outrage over a proposed government bailout for irresponsible homeowners. Though it purports to be a spontaneous uprising, AngryRenter.com is actually a product of an inside-the-Beltway conservative advocacy organization led by Dick Armey, the former House majority leader, and publishing magnate Steve Forbes, a fellow Republican. It's a fake grass-roots effort -- what politicos call an AstroTurf campaign -- that provides a window into the sleight-of-hand ways of Washington.

In December 2004, FreedomWorks employee Sandra Jacques was introduced at a White House economic conference as a "single mom" from Iowa who supported the Bush administration's Social Security privatization plan. According to White House budget director, Jacques was was an example of how Bush promotes his agenda with testimonials from "regular folks." As the New York Times pointed out, however, "Ms. Jaques is not any random single mother. She is the Iowa state director of a conservative advocacy group." [5]

The Times also noted that Jacques "spent much of the past two years as a spokeswoman in Iowa for a group called For Our Grandchildren, which is mounting a nationwide campaign for private savings accounts."

on CNBC in December 2004, Armey "spoke glowingly of 'Rx Outreach,' a national mail order program for low-income people that had just been launched by Express Scripts Inc., a pharmacy benefit management firm based in Maryland Heights, Mo." At the time, FreedomWorks "had been working with Express Scripts' public relations firm, and a week later issued a news release praising Rx Outreach.

"Critics say the arrangement could call into question FreedomWorks' tax-exempt status because it appears that the group was a 'mouthpiece' for hire," wrote the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Bill Allison of the Center for Public Integrity said, "It's rare to see someone pushing a company this directly. It does look like it's more of a commercial for this company than a discussion of policy."

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have been able to tap into how the American people are feeling, and in most cases try and exploit it.

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WHERE?

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But I agree with what SignyM pointed out - the insurance companies can't have it two ways, and neither can you. The government cannot be both so incompetent that it will never be able to provide for people, AND at the same time an unfair competitor to private insurance.

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