Give Us Liberty? Matt Kibbe and Dick Armey of FreedomWorks
by Reason TVSen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is the latest victim of the Tea Party insurgency that’s trying to take over the Republican Party. Tea Party favorite Joe Miller defeated Murkowski in The North Star State’s primary by hammering away at (among other things) her support for TARP and lack of zeal for overturning Obamacare.
Miller joins a new breed of anti-spending candidates such as Maine’s Paul LePage, Kentucky’s Rand Paul, Florida’s Marco Rubio, and South Carolina’s Nikki Haley, who promise to bring a new passion for shrinking government to D.C. and state capitals.
Here’s how Freedom Works’ Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe sum up what the Tea Party stands for in their new book, Give us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto: “It doesn’t take a lot of words to say that we just want to be free. Free to lead our lives as we please, so long as we don’t infringe on the same freedom of others.”
Armey and Kibbe say that the Tea Party coheres around spending and that other issues are not central to its mission. Perhaps. Joe Miller is also pro-life, pro border fence, and wants to outlaw the use of embryonic stem cells in medical research. Maine gubernatorial hopeful LePage believes the “traditional definition of marriage should be preserved.” Haley, who will probably be South Carolina’s next governor, has campaigned on tough enforcement against illegal immigrants. And the closest thing to a Tea Party spokesperson is Sarah Palin, the former “Bridge to Nowhere” supporter who oversaw a 16 percent increase in spending during her time as governor of Alaska.
Can this coalition stay together, stick to its anti-spending message, and actually change American politics? Or will it be co-opted by the very party upon which it seeks to perform a “hostile takeover?”
Reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie sat down with Armey and Kibbe to discuss these issues and more.
The interview was shot by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg, and edited by Epstein and Joshua Swain.
Approximately 9.30 minutes
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83 Comments
They have to be honest and honorable in everything they do, else it will come crumbling down.
People need to realize that Nov. is only the first shot in the war to take back our country.
Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and work to get our heritage returned to us. Undooing all the changes made by the proggressive movement will take time and vigilance.
I believe that now that our republic has been threatened from within that we should come through this a stronger nation.
GOD BLESS US AND PROTECT US
When Republicans take Congress and the Senate. They should increase the size of Government in two areas. 1st. Hire a bunch of Constitutional Attorneys to review EVERY duty the Federal Government performs and stop funding anything outside of the original 18 Duties gifted to them by the Constitution before dismantling that part of the Federal Government. 2nd. Hire a bunch of Auditors to try to figure out where all our dollars went and who should go to prison and for how long. Put Barney Frank and Chris Dodd in a cell right next to Madoff for their antics in Fannie and Freddie among other things they did to kill off a world economy 35 days before an election.
“It doesn’t take a lot of words to say that we just want to be free. Free to lead our lives as we please, so long as we don’t infringe on the same freedom of others.”…
That statement sums it up pretty good! Small government is what our Founding Fathers intended when they wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights! Anyone NOT following that, is unAmerican!!
This is just the beginning. More and more people are coming to realize just how much is being stolen from us by arrogant politicians. The tide is turning and the storm surge will dwarf any hurricane that has ever existed!
We need 535 Chris Cristy and Marco Rubio types, people who "get it", and are not part of the "Beltway in-crowd",
otherwise expect nothing from your typical Repub and even less from your typical Dim…
Heck, I would even consider some Sheriff Joe types.
Obama needs to be stopped. The nerve of Obama/Holder to attack U.S. by sending his corrupt D.O.J. after Sheriff Joe Arpaio & Gov Brewer, two American Heros! Obama is pushing U.S. too far!
Mr. Obama, & Holder: Did you see how many people came out to Glenn Beck's gathering?…….Stop attacking U.S. Officials that, unlike yourself, are actually enforcing The Constitution! We TeaParty types have just about had it with your socialist Attacks on our Freedoms!
Sheriff Joe for President! Make Palin his VP and let the a**whooping begin! Start with the IRS Code.
If they would have put sex scenes in the book, then the left would only read it for that reason!! That part at the end of the interview made me laugh and the left says the right is too uptight and has no sense of humor. Have you ever met a happy contented liberal?
'Give us Liberty' is another book I want to read. I am behind on 'homework' as it is.
I am not able to attend Tea Party meetings and rally's but I support them in spirit. God bless the Tea Party!
"….hostile takeover"???…………WTH The damn Repb Party had better contemplate where they will be
with out conservative TEA Party types. We sure understand where we'd be without them.
OUR problem is the check-pants, blue-haired, blue-blood wing of the Repb Party who shudder at the
thought of a 'hayseed' like Palin as the Party leader she has come to be.
She is ripping the GOP from their hands at present, one grasping fingernail at a time.
I watch, in awe of her power, and wonder from where it comes…
There can be only one answer…
I am amazed.
.
Awww, I am so sorry Barry No Bama that you are working so hard that you need another vacation to recover from all your sweat and toil.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11550...
They need to vilify him and take him down….how dare he stand up to their wishes.
I also love your dream. Maybe with the right folks in congress it can be made a reality.
"Hire a bunch of Constitutional Attorneys to review EVERY duty the Federal Government performs"
I have a lot of reasons to support the Enumerated Powers Act, but the one thing that would increase that support would be if it was made RETROACTIVE.
Hey lost a little off topic but have you seen Wydens ad on tv? He touts his accomplishments all the way back to when he had a head of hair but fails to mention his vote on obamacare.
Funny how he is distancing himself. Seems a little stupid as we already know what he did.
He would be one heck of choice for head of the DOJ or homeless insecurity. Would love to see him put the boot to Janet Nappy poo. She's one of the reasons AZ is facing so many lawsuits. She wasn't much of a gov, and she's even less qualified to be head of the bowl brush.
The tea party can definitely take over the repubs and turn it into a real conservative group after cleaning house of the rinos.
I like Nick Gillespie, but I think he has trouble getting his arms around the Tea Party movement. Nick, it's simple:
1) Quit the F#$%!ing nanny state bullsh@#!t
2) No more crony capitalism
3) Federal government stay the F@#$! away from my constitutional rights
4) Don't tax my sorry white !@#$ss out of existence
5) Secure our border, and stop running our country like an international soup kitchen.
This is not just a battle against the progressive/socialist/marxist/democrat bunch, but also a battle with those leftist leaning members with an "R" after their name. McCain, Graham, and their ilk must be shown the door as well. The stakes in this game are far too high to have players on the team who will hand the advantage to the enemy. And yes, the progressive/socialist/marxist/democrat bunch is the enemy! The enemy to our Constitution, our natural rights, our liberty, and they must be defeated. Roll up your sleeves boys and girls, this fight isn't going to be won in November, not in 2010 or 2012. This is going to be a long fight to bring our country back from the brink of destruction brought about by the policies started over a hundred years ago.
Palin does steam roll everyone.
The establishment doesn't know how to deal with it.
Everytime she speaks, MSNBC, CNN, go into seizures and she is the topic of there shows for the rest of the week.
May I add that anyone elected to hold Office an took a Constitutional Oath would lose all benefits from holding such Office if they voted for the Federal Government to assume any Duty outside of the original 18 Gifted to the Federal Government at the expense of American Tax Payers. IRS Tax Code and the Board of Education would be a great place to start followed by the EPA.
If Obama's D.O.J. continues to attack Sheriff Arpaio & Gov. Brewer, they are committing POLITICAL SUICIDE!
They are our American Hero's!!
Dick Armey and FreedomWorks are frauds. They are trying to hijack the Tea Party Movement. Meanwhile Dick Armey is a PRO-AMNESTY guy. He has big money backing him and many in the tea party are taking his money and not realizing they are selling their souls to the devil. He does NOT represent the Tea Party philosophy and his is NOT their "defacto" leader as was said recently. Tea Partiers need to REJECT this FRAUD
Pop some corn, pull up your easy chair and watch between naps…..
I feel guilty not being in the fight by her side…
Hopefully we'll get our orders soon.
.
I'm beginning to think it's obama's handlers that are pushing him off on these vacations. They can see that he's becoming unhinged by his critics (read: US), and they're very afraid that he's going to lose it and say something they won't be able to cover for. They're probably slipping him Valium at this point.
There really needs to be serious accountability. Any bureacrat found to be guilty of not practicing due diligence to the point of malpractice should be fired and sanctioned somehow. Some high level bureaucrats act like they're untouchable.
I saw a show that had a guest that was a liberal that turned conservative. the question was poised to him " Why is it that the left always takes the side of the radical muslims? ". He said " it is because they both want the same thing, the destruction of the U.S. and capitalism. They will then fight it out afterwards to see which will control the world. " I contend that the progressives are probably even coaching the extremists on how to use our system to achieve their goals, much like the progressives have over the past 40 years.
More on Dick Armey the RAT
http://www.diggersrealm.com/mt/archives/003463.ht...
Ya know, you may be right.
Bureaucrats Want It All! (Halt The Assault)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzNHqaYcGzs&fe...
As long as we're adding sanity to sanity, let's see Congress move to de-fund whole segments of the federal judiciary that have ruled to reinterpret the Constitution to advance the "progressive" agenda.
It's been done before. It CAN be done again.
We are free and we shall remain that way regardless of who is President! Now lets kick some azz this November and then again in 2012 and there-after!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIPoPw9zgvQ
Ditto
That's right, MonoPed. This is a generational struggle. It's the price of freedom; eternal vigilance.
We can because we have the fortitude and the numbers!
Oh, and we're mad. Get off of Sheriff Arpaio's & Gov Brewer's back!
Obama & Mrs.Clinton: BIG MISTAKE REPORTING YOUR OWN COUNTRY TO THE U.N!
It can, but it needs something that will make it sustainable. I'm a member of two Tea Parties here in Texas and what I have seen (so far) is a lack of organization beyond some broad ideas.
Broad ideas lacking real policies to make them concrete enough to sustain support. This is our challenge. Everyone wants government to rein in spending – that's a no-brainer. The idea of reducing taxes will also be popular, but will wax and wane with the public's perception of the danger government presents to its subjects. Protecting our borders sounds good, but it means different things to different people so we need something more than that to make a connection people will sustain at the cost of all other ideas.
That's the key: we need a platform that connects so strongly to people that they are willing to support it over everything else the Republicans and Democrats would propose.
We are now seeing an ever-increasing frequency of recessionary business cycles that always seem to clean out the middle class. The government always does okay, big business does okay, the banking industry does okay, but everyone else has to pony up and pay to make these things happen. We are even seeing (for the first time) the reality that government spending doesn't help us at all and concrete proof that stimulating consumption is the least efficient outcome possible that keeps creating market "bubbles" that make us suffer when they pop.
All of this leads us to a great question that we must answer: do we want to have these arguments and suffer these problems or do we honestly want to resolve them permanently? This isn't as easy as some would think. After all, if you "fix" government spending, then lots of lobbying organizations will be out of business. If you "fix" taxation then the accounting and legal professions will be forced to re-tool their business models. If you "fix" the banking industry then the investment banking and commercial banking industries will have to re-tool their business models and learn to compete in an entirely different way. If you "fix" the economy there will be no more recessions and all the money made by media companies on the arguments of solutions will be taken away.
What do you really want? That's what the Tea Parties have to come to grips with and then we can talk about how it becomes sustainable. That I deem to be the real business before America and everything else is just a stimulus for the guys who sell ink by the barrel.
OBAMA:you & Clinton REPORTED YOUR OWN COUNTRY TO THE U.N! enough said.
Good points. It will take someone smarter than I to do that. I hope someone steps up to the plate soon.
You're spot on. And I have seen his ridiculous ad. The only hope we have of culling this one from the herd is an awkening of the dems, of which we have many, to the reality of his complicity in the destruction of America as we know it. I'm not sure it is going to happen, but I"ll never stop pointing out what an arrogant hypocrite he is to who ever will listen.
That someone will have to be us, Mr. Gary. It will have to be us. The minds of the wise and lordly men of government are detained on weightier matters, so it has fallen to us to resolve for THEIR benefit. Just like it always does.
Sure would be refreshing to have someone that takes his job seriously heading up the DOJ.
Nice start!
Be careful with Dick Armey, he’s an inside the Beltway politician and lobbyist. Autonomy is the key to the Tea Party’s success.
The beauty of the tea party is its diversity on political issues and the fact that there is no "leader". It's more a grass roots movement that grew to include a large group of conservatives, repubs, independents, disgruntled dems, and even a crowd of libertarians within the country. Each tea party group is independent of another; yet, all are able to work together for a common good or ideal. We don't want a leader. We're doing just fine the way things are, thank you. FYI, We will definitely be around after the 2010 elections and even long after the 2012 elections are dust in a closet to see that congress stays true to the founders ideals.
Love the Internet. The tea party is a very good indication as to why the progs want net neutrality passed.
You are right. He and most of his kind reek of that arrogance. Hopefully that will be their undoing
You bring up some good points. A lot of the problems you outline are from legislation and the bureaucratic infrastructure that is created by the legislation.
The solution is to de-fund the bureaucracy. Department of Energy-Gone. Department of Education-Gone. Dept. of Agriculure-Gone., Fannie and Freddie-gone, etc., etc. etc. Let these functions get taken care of at the state level.
Government policy cause distortions in the free enterprise system and create and excerbate bubbles, and the business cycles.
I don't think the solution is to "Add" solutions. I think we will do better to "Deduct" the crap that cause the problems. At least at first.
I'm in the tea party and Armey is definitely not my spokesperson. He may have illusions of grandeur, but no single individual speaks for us. We're adults; we speak for ourselves. Watch this Nov. BTW, Sarah doesn't speak for us; she's one of us; and, as another adult, speaks her own mind. It just so happens that when she speaks, we happen to agree with what she has to say.
Could be. My thought would be to replace what we have with something that renders the argument moot. In other words, what if we replaced the system of fiscal appropriations with one that was self-sustaining, self-regulating and required no tax dollars? No more taxation, no more deficits, no more unfunded liabilities, no more national debt and no more arguments about it. I don't know if we can ever get there with budget fights as our political fortunes wax and wane there will always be more spending as the people who make the decisions are not being made to suffer the consequences of their decisions, so they have no reason to reduce spending. A better solution may be to create a structure/systemic solution that renders its bad impacts meaningless – or even better – turns the excessive spending into an actual benefit to our economy. Could we get behind that? Is that what the Tea Parties want or do the Tea Parties want to have the right to scream and holler and protest?
Addition to prior post: any Court who approved the expansion of the Federal Government outside of the limits and bounds of the Constitution shall have one or more Judges removed from the bench and in breach of their oath to Constitutional Government. Any Federal Government Benefits at the time of removal shall be consoled and void.
I agree and they bring up a great point that the party is not mired down in petty issues. So what you do or do not agree with abortion or gay marriage. We have too many big issues to deal with. I've stood in crowds where one guy was gay and the next guy was against abortion. They didn't care cause a 14 tril debt was more important.
Can't take anybody with that facial hair seriously.
precisely — it took almost 100 years to get us into this mess; one election cycle is not going to get us out of it
Dick Armey, Matt Kibbe and their so called, "freedomworks" had NOTHING to do with Miller's election in Alaska, in fact, the Tea Party Express, who Armey, Kibbe and their bought and paid for "Tea Party Patriots" have been attacking the Tea Party Express, for refusing to be controlled, bought and paid for. Armey, Kibbe and their lot are trying to exploit the Tea Party concept, and have been threatening and suing the Tea Party Express. While Kibbe and his TPP fraudsters were huckstering themselves on television, trying to slander one of the leaders of the Tea Party Express, she had been up in Alaska, on her own dime, volunteering as part of a grassroots campaign to get the word out about Miller. The falsely named Tea Party Patriots are on the take from corporate and foreign interests, including Saudis who also finance terrorists. Armey's hooked up with Dick Gephardt and Tom Daschle, and is no conservative. Freedomworks wants to dictate what the Tea Party can say, do and advocate for. Their so called leaders aren't grassroots, but insiders who are looking to personally profit, while exploiting others. I would have nothing to do with Freedomworks
I'll second that. I don't trust him either. I'm very suspicious…
And that says it all. I don't trust them and now I have even less reason to trust them. Anybody hooked up with Tom Daschle and Dick Gephardt are corrupt.
I'd add something else; any Congressman/elected official that gets convicted of ethics violations loses not only his job, but his pension and any other benefits given to him (or her) by the American people as well.
Oh; no more 100% pensions for members of Congress. They need to work for a living when they get out, just like I have to.
Our government doesn't want the peons to have liberty.
Read this from 1954
The great conspiracy to destroy the United States(cong. record 1954)
http://www.boomfox.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=4...
I tried to open it, but cant. Seems like it has been wiped.
The Dick Armey of FrenchWorks is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Koch Brothers.
Hi Gary, it hasn't been wiped..I don't know why you couldn't open it though. It's at my own site so it should be good to go. Try it again.
http://www.boomfox.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=4...
Seems like people who ought to "get it" are the worst of the ones that don't "get it".
I do not believe the tea party movement (note case) is "trying to take over the Republican Party".
I believe that they are trying to take over the government with a view of discarding anything that is not authorized or required in the original Constitution.
As an aside, I say again: The Republican Party had best stop worrying about whether there is a third party and get really busy trying to insure that they are one of the three,
(Suggested steps: get rid of RINOs. Get rid of DIABLOs. Get rid of progressives. Get rid of Democrats in Republican clothes. Develop beliefs, policies, programs, and platforms that concentrate on the Constitution, on freedom, on liberty, and on independence while purging it self of the toxins that have accumulated.)
And now he switches sides on obamacare. What a CHOOOCH (east coast word). Hmmmm lets see Horse's patooty comes to mind and then there's…..
We'll need a standing order from the orange jumpsuit factory. Great post.
I wish Dick Armey would just go away. He is a career lobbysit/politician looking to make a buck and stay relevant. Plus, he is pro-amnesty. The guy's a joke – an even bigger joke than Kibbe's sideburns. Instead of wasting your money on a book that probably just regurgitates the same stuff you've heard a million times on FOX news, why not donate the money you would have wasted to a conservative candidate.
A Class Action Law Suit is getting ready to be launched against the Federal Reserve for violating their Charter …YEA. (Holder is going to meet his maker on this one.) I like your post …but missing is Step 3: REDUCE (layoff) at least 40% of Federal Gov't Employees. My husband did fundraisers for the Dept. of Education and Social Security. What did he observe? Employees coming to work at about 9-9:30 …then eating breakfast in the gov't cafeteria for about an hour …lunch from 12-1:30 ish …a break at about 2-3 and then they all left by 4. These gov't employees (who are also unionized) need to make their own way …get a REAL job. Our tax $$$ are paying them 3X (with ALL benefits) than what they would receive on unemployment. Madness …get rid of them all.
It *is* outrageous. So outrageous in fact it makes me stop and wonder….why..? With every step, every action Obama is full steam ahead on ticking most of the country off. No one is *that* oblivious….so again, I wonder….why?
What is the left hand doing, while the right hand is flipping us off?
But you *are* fighting by her side, Corn! With every supportive word, you're fighting. We can't begin to imagine how many people read these posts…and form opinions, and weigh what all we say and the knowledge that we throw out there.
Sometimes you can't see the battle through the … monitor? <snort> jeeze…that pun was so awful Atilla the Pun needs to come bop me up side the head LOL
Gary,
I have faith that you…and the rest of us do, in fact, have the intelligence to get this done. I truly do. And why? Because we have more motivation….and honor, and most of all- faith.
Can we highly independent conservative types really trust a DC insider with a name like Dick Army?
Methinks not!
"We can't begin to imagine how many people read these posts..", gee pix (((shudder)))
there's a sobering thought to slap me awake on a Sat morning, thank you.
If you get a few comments from me today that are duplicate it is cause I'm trying to figure out
why/how this Intense Deb won't post from my e-mail. Sometimes it will, then it won't…lately
it won't at all. I may play around with it if I have time today, as I am getting thoroughly disgusted
with going back to the 'page' to comment. Seems like every problem I have with non-function
winds up leading to connection speed. Sorry, didn't mean to get on a rant…
I live to make people laugh…or shudder LOL its win-win for me
And rant on! One, because it'll make you feel better, two, in mid rant, you could possibly discover the answer to the problem causing the rant, and three…gives me ammo to tease you unmercifully….see?? Win-win!
I think I found your Gov. Employee Cut. "review EVERY duty the Federal Government performs and stop funding anything outside of the original 18 Duties gifted to them by the Constitution before dismantling that part of the Federal Government".
You've echoed my thoughts entirely. Dick Armey is part of the problem not the solution just as the Federalists, Whigs, and Democrats before him. It seems to me that Armey had his chance to restore a constitutional limited federal government when he was Speaker, he didn't do it then he won't do it now. Does anyone know what a Republican form of government actually is? Sometimes it seems that it is just Thomas Jefferson and myself.
How do we get rid of them?
What about adding more members to the House of Representatives?
I think conservatives do it better…we're much happier.
In the Washington State Senate primary both Palin and Ron Paul endorsed the true Tea Party candidate, Clint Didier.
FreedomWorks and DeMint endorsed the RINO: a former state senator,millionaire real estate developer and two time gubernatorial loser,Dino Rossi who is annointed by the old guard Republican establishment.
When I checked the pre-tea party 2008 FreedomWorks Form 990 on Guidestar I found:
Average work week was 17-18 hours:
Total Compensation From FreedomWorks and Related Organizations:
Matt Kibbee $ 299,508
Dick Armey $ 550,000
I've often asked Tea Partier's the same questions here in California. Here is an idea backed by the constitution: add more members to the House of Representatives. It has been "fixed" at 435 members since 1929. First congress 65, after the 1st census 105, and so on and so on. Until the Progressives froze it at 435. Smaller congressional districts means smaller government. If anyone tells you the numbers are fine then they are oppressing you! Technically, the constitution calls for around 9,741 members in congress. Article 1 Section 2 The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every Thirty thousand. Montana, Wyoming each have just 1 member in congress while Rhode Island has 2. Wyoming and Montana combined have a larger population than Rhode Island. You see, they're 1 member in the house of Reps is a "regional governor" more powerful than the Senate and their states' governor. Funny, how the Tea Party wants to uphold the constitution and they overlook this fact.
LMAO pixie…….passive/aggressive much? Yeah, me too.
.
Good point, but will it control spending or result in the economic emancipation of our people from the tyranny of progressive government?
I love that point ForConstiution! For every TeaParty person who goes out, there are tens of Millions of Tea Party Americans that don't! – I love that!
I sleep well at night thinking of the TeaParty Americans that are THE Majority of the ICEBERG! while the active ones are only the tip of the iceberg. What a comforting thought! Add to that, those who do not use computers! Believe me there are Millions!
Stampede in Nov, BUT WATCH OUT FOR DEM's DESPERATE VOTER FRAUD! especially in "write-ins, absentee!" They CAN win with successful voter fraud!
We WAY outnumber the socialists. If we restore our text books, and put cc TVs in College Classrooms we can re-balance the influence that the alisky marxist types have on our kids, while WE pay the Tuiton!
They don't call them "Bleeding Heart Liberals" for nothing. Watch for the "sob stories" and "obama bleeding heart sound bites" from now on, i.e. 'we are for the poor working class' 'we will increase jobs' 'we will help those in need' 'our economy is growing (really?)'- 'we are behind the middle class families' – - -YEAH SURE——WAY BEHIND!
BAHAHAHAHAHA….I'll own up to the aggressive portion…passive…ehh. Well, alright, but only if it makes me giggle
Sarcasm…is a terrible thing to waste…<snort>
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