Dick Armey Quits FreedomWorks in Split Over Direction

[tsai3904]

In a move not publicly announced, former Rep. Dick Armey, the folksy conservative leader, has resigned as chairman of FreedomWorks, one of the main political outfits of the conservative movement and an instrumental force within the tea party.

Armey, the former House majority leader who helped develop and promote the GOP's Contract with America in the 1990s, tendered his resignation in an memo sent to Matt Kibbe, president and CEO of FreedomWorks, on November 30. Mother Jones obtained the email on Monday, and Armey has confirmed he sent it. The tone of the memo suggests that this was not an amicable separation. (See Armey's email below.) Armey demanded that he be paid until his contract ended on December 31; that FreedomWorks remove his name, image, or signature "from all its letters, print media, postings, web sites, videos, testimonials, endorsements, fund raising materials, and social media, including but not limited to Facebook and Twitter"; and that FreedomWorks deliver the copy of his official congressional portrait to his home in Texas.

"The top management team of FreedomWorks was taking a direction I thought was unproductive, and I thought it was time to move on with my life," Armey tells Mother Jones. "At this point, I don't want to get into the details. I just want to go on with my life."

More:
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/12/dick-armey-resigns-freedomworks-tea-party

[Matt Collins]

Fascinating

[Matt Collins]

/////

[Coolidge/Dawes '24]

I won't lie: I'm a little ... distraught. :/ What happened?

[SpreadOfLiberty]

They have been moving in a good direction.

Julie Borowski and Austin Peterson carry a lot of weight over there. They are Paul supporters.

[HOLLYWOOD]

They have been moving in a good direction.

Julie Borowski and Austin Peterson carry a lot of weight over there. They are Paul supporters.I'd say Dick was a double-agent, playing small gov leader while rubbing shoulders with the same ole DC establishment.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TokenLibertarianGirl
http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/NveZsG8fKQo/mqdefault.jpg

[Smart3]

This is probably good news. We need as many groups on our side as possible, and Armey is not one of us.

[angelatc]

This is probably good news. We need as many groups on our side as possible, and Armey is not one of us.

IMHO, you're not one of us. Armey is more aligned with me than you, that's for sure.

[NewRightLibertarian]

Considering how good FreedomWorks was backing Bentivolio in Michigan, I assume this is a positive development and that FreedomWorks plans to align more with the liberty wing of the Republican Party moving forward.

[Smart3]

IMHO, you're not one of us. Armey is more aligned with me than you, that's for sure.
So what have I said that runs contrary to what you believe? Let me guess, it's related to a social issue?

[thoughtomator]

FreedomWorks served its function of diverting the Tea Party from its original purpose, no need for it anymore.

[Shane Harris]

Good.

[aclove]

I'm the State Coordinator for Campaign for Liberty in North Carolina. We're currently conducting a grassroots pressure campaign against our state legislative leadership to get them to return the $73.5 million in federal money accepted by Bev Perdue, our outgoing Democratic governor. The incoming Republican governor, Pat McCrory, hasn't said definitively that he'll return the money and refuse further cooperation implementing ObamaCare in this state. Neither has the legislature, which will have a Republican supermajority come Jan. 1.

FreedomWorks has just jumped into this fight, on our side. If this is an example of the direction Dick Armey doesn't support, then good riddance to bad rubbish.

https://secure.freedomworks.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=493

[compromise]

I wouldn't say I'm happy. Armey had a pretty good fiscally conservative record in Congress and he did help FW out a lot.
That being said, he's 72, maybe he just wants to retire.

[ghengis86]

Lew Rockwell seems to think Dick was fired months ago
www.lewrockwell.com/blog

[Jeremy]

FreedomWorks served its function of diverting the Tea Party from its original purpose, no need for it anymore.FW is more libertarian than you think.

[angelatc]

I wouldn't say I'm happy. Armey had a pretty good fiscally conservative record in Congress and he did help FW out a lot.
That being said, he's 72, maybe he just wants to retire.

He called GWB a lair to his face, and quit Congress over the Iraq War. I'll always love him for that.

[angelatc]

So what have I said that runs contrary to what you believe? Let me guess, it's related to a social issue?

Probably. It's fairly obvious you're more liberal than Armey is. I align more with him than you, which means only that you shouldn't define "us."

[KingNothing]

I'd say Dick was a double-agent, playing small gov leader while rubbing shoulders with the same ole DC establishment.


If I had to guess, I'd agree and say this was a good move for us. Dick's just been around too long and is probably nothing more than your standard entrenched political hack.

I could certainly be wrong about this, though.

[Badger Paul]

"At this point, I don't want to get into the details. I just want to go on with my life."

Like founding new groups to bilk donors from their money to pay for my expensive tastes.

[TCE]

I wouldn't say I'm happy. Armey had a pretty good fiscally conservative record in Congress and he did help FW out a lot.
That being said, he's 72, maybe he just wants to retire.

Usually when one wants to retire peacefully because of age, they don't demand that their name and likeness be removed from everything nor send a copy of their resignation email to a media source. The fact that he said it was a split over direction specifically leads me to believe this was not amicable and it was not because of age.

[tsai3904]

More departures:


Several top FreedomWorks staffers are leaving the conservative advocacy group in the wake of former House Majority Leader Dick Armey’s resignation, the organization confirmed Tuesday.

Max Pappas, the group’s former vice president for public policy and government affairs, has left the organization, and Brendan Steinhauser, director of campaigns, will depart on Friday. Two of his staffers, Amanda Shell and David Spielman, have also resigned.

Armey, who served as FreedomWorks’ co-chairman since 2003, cut ties with the group in a tersely-worded email dated Nov. 30. But The Associated Press reported Tuesday morning that the terms of his resignation were set in September under a confidential contract that would compensate him with $8 million in consulting fees, paid in annual $400,000 installments.

Adam Brandon, FreedomWorks executive vice president, said the group was not party to any such agreement and he said the money was not coming from any of the organization’s legal entities, including its super PAC or nonprofits. The contract was negotiated by FreedomWorks board member Richard J. Stephenson, the founder and chairman of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, according to The Associated Press.

More:
http://www.rollcall.com/news/top_freedomworks_staffers_depart_in_wake_of_armeys _resignation-219648-1.html

[TheGrinch]

Who would have thought you couldn't trust a guy named Dick Armey?

[Cowlesy]

Fun Fact. Gage's picture is being used on MotherJones's link.

[Matt Collins]

I hear FW has a $36 million bank account

[tsai3904]

I hear FW has a $36 million bank account

I wouldn't be surprised. They're very organized (besides this situation) and have results to show, which encourages donors.

[TonySutton]

FreedomWorks served its function of diverting the Tea Party from its original purpose, no need for it anymore.

Freedomworks predates the Tea Party

[Athan]

Probably. It's fairly obvious you're more liberal than Armey is. I align more with him than you, which means only that you shouldn't define "us."
DAMN!! So... much... drama...
and I'm out of popcorn... *sniff*

[specsaregood]

I wonder what direction they are taking that he thought would be "unproductive"?

[NewRightLibertarian]

I wonder what direction they are taking that he thought would be "unproductive"?

probably supporting liberty candidates. i was pleasantly surprised with their work for the 2012 elections

[AuH2O]

Interesting

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/12/what-happened-beautiful-chaos-freedomworks-just-now/59626/

[specsaregood]

Interesting

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/12/what-happened-beautiful-chaos-freedomworks-just-now/59626/

so the "pro-paul" people are fully in charge now? nice.

[tsai3904]

so the "pro-paul" people are fully in charge now? nice.

With lots of openings to fill the positions of those who left.

[LibertyEagle]

Maybe, but I don't trust Kibbe. I don't remember exactly what he said, but I remember sending him a scathing email after he said something about Dr. Paul in a CSPAN interview early on.

Just keep your eyes open is all.

[TheGrinch]

I wonder what direction they are taking that he thought would be "unproductive"?

He probably meant it was unproductive for him to try to co-opt it. Now he'll just go back with the rest in Washington and the media that want to hold their fingers in their ears and pretend like we don't exist.

[MRoCkEd]

Maybe, but I don't trust Kibbe. I don't remember exactly what he said, but I remember sending him a scathing email after he said something about Dr. Paul in a CSPAN interview early on.

Just keep your eyes open is all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgOTekIQ90g

Kibbe supports Ron Paul, although not "overtly" as that would split his organization. FreedomWorks is a good coalition group for conservatives and libertarians.

[SpreadOfLiberty]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgOTekIQ90g

Kibbe is a libertarian.

These developments sound good.He has been involved with Reason and CATO I think. Pretty sure he is libertarian.

[misean]

I'm pretty sure Matt Kibbe was a student of Hans Sennholz in college. Sennholz was a Ron Paul friend. I'm a big fan of Dick Armey too. My guess is that Kibbe wanted to take the group more to Libertarian side. Armey more mainstream.

[angelatc]

Maybe, but I don't trust Kibbe. I don't remember exactly what he said, but I remember sending him a scathing email after he said something about Dr. Paul in a CSPAN interview early on.

Just keep your eyes open is all.

I'm with you. I recall Kibbe being an ass at some point. I don't view associations in the same black-and-white narratives as some people here do, but I wouldn't say he's one of us - with "us" being defined as a Ron Paul supporter. I think he leans more towards the traditional conservative wing.

The article says that he was suspended for a few days,too. I don't know what to think. I hope they can survive the turmoil, that's for sure.

[Matt Collins]

Those sideburns...

[AuH2O]

"What Would Mises Do?" -- by Matt Kibbe. +1 for the libertarian column.

http://reason.com/archives/2008/10/02/what-would-mises-do

[aclove]

Bottom line, a fight erupted over control of FreedomWorks, and it sounds like the team more friendly to us won. A bunch of activists from both FreedomWorks and YAL strolled down to Boehner's office yesterday to fuss at him for the stripping of Amash and others from their committee assignments. I'm sure the "change in direction" refers to the adoption of Rothfeld-style mobilize-and-confront tactics aimed at the GOP.

[aclove]

Now we need to do the same thing at Americans for Prosperity.

[A Son of Liberty]

I've liked what I've seen from Austin Petersen... and I like what I see from Julie Borowski. ;)

Seriously tho', they are both pro-Paul people.