Free Republic

The White House today welcomed a Federal advisory panel's recommendation to cut legal immigration by one-third. But the proposals met fierce opposition from Hispanic, Asian-American, Roman Catholic and Jewish groups, as well as from the National Association of Manufacturers. (SNIP) Representative Dick Armey, the Texas Republican who is the House majority leader, said: "The commission fails to tell us why we should so dramatically reduce legal immigration. It is long on recommendations, but short on analysis." He said the proposals were "a misguided attempt to make legal immigrants the scapegoats for America's problems."

Former U.S. Representative Dick Armey speaks at "Tea Party" a panel discussion at the 2010 New Yorker Festival at DGA Theater on October 2, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images the New Yorker) *** Local Caption *** Dick Armey Former Texas congressman Dick Armey knows from shutdowns. A chief author of the "Contract with America" and a hardline general in the Gingrich Revolution, Armey was House majority leader when the Republicans faced off against Bill Clinton in late 1995, insisting they would only fund government if the president agreed to a balanced budget in seven years....

Former congressman Dick Armey has quit FreedomWorks, the conservative group he helped bring to national tea party prominence. Armey confirms that he wrote a letter to FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe on Nov. 30, resigning from the group, as first reported by Mother Jones. He told the Post that he does not know who leaked his resignation letter. “We accepted his letter of resignation and we wish him well,” FreedomWorks press secretary Jackie Bodnar said. “As I resign from all board positions and duties, please see below a list of dispositions on outstanding issues: I expect to be fully compensated through...

The organization that ignited the tea party as a national mass movement gave Mitt Romney perhaps his biggest victory yet, deciding to drop its opposition to his candidacy, a top executive in the group told The Washington Times. FreedomWorks, which organized the Sept. 12, 2009, mass demonstration on the Mall, says that while it will not give an explicit endorsement, the time has come for Republicans to unite around the former Massachusetts governor and focus on defeating President Obama. “It is a statistical fact that the numbers favor Mitt Romney,” FreedomWorks Vice President Russ Walker told The Times on Tuesday....

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey tells Newsmax that the 2012 elections will leave the GOP in control of the presidency, Senate, and House, and tea party activists will oust “timid” Republicans who aren’t committed to small government. The Texas Republican, chairman of FreedomWorks and a patriarch of the tea party movement, calls President Barack Obama a “romantic egalitarian” who is “quite confused,” asserts that Obamacare is a “monstrosity,” and says Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to reduce spending is a “bold initiative” but doesn’t go far enough. Armey served in the House from 1985 to 2003 and is the co-author...

A key dividing line between those within the Ivory Tower and those without might be on the issue of taxes: Academics like them while the rest of us clearly don’t. Moreover, as evidenced by the TEA party movement, this becomes particularly problematic when we don’t show the tolerance for increased rates of taxation that scholars think we will demonstrate. The TEA in the parties, after all, is an acronym that stands for “Taxed Enough Already.” “After the major Reagan-era tax cuts in 1981, the corporate tax has provided less than 12 percent of federal revenues in all but four fiscal...

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is on former House majority leader Dick Armey’s list of Republicans he could support for president in 2012. Asked during a panel discussion Friday night on the Tea Party movement to name several leaders he would like to see challenge President Obama, he also listed Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. “There’s no shortage of good people,” said Armey, the chairman of FreedomWorks, a free-market group helping to organize this weekend’s Tea Party 9/12 Taxpayer March on Washington. Armey also suggested that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin...

Dick Armey’s conservative organization FreedomWorks is readying for the launch of a comprehensive political program aimed at debunking the NAACP’s race-charged attacks on the Tea Party movement. FreedomWorks President and CEO Matt Kibbe said the organization will roll out Diverse Tea, a platform and advertising campaign that will showcase diversity in the Tea Party movement, sometime this week or early next week. “The idea is to create a platform for African-American Tea Party leaders, Hispanic Tea Party leaders and Jewish Tea Party leaders to get out there and talk about why they’re involved and why these issues matter so much...

This morning I noticed a link to a posting from the FreedomWorks website in which Freedomworks Chair Dick Armey presents their endorsement of David Malpass in the GOP primary for the special U.S. Senate election in New York. I then paid a visit to the candidate’s website, which headlined a recent endorsement by Sue Kelly, formerly a New York Congresswoman, and a prominent so-called “pro-choice” Republican. The quote from her endorsement statement tells us that “David…has the experience and skill set to grow the economy and create jobs.” Such enthusiasm from someone who aligns with the Democrat party’s abandonment of...

Fists? Let me first state that I sympathize to the cause of the people involved in Freedom Works organization. However their resent artwork looks like photoshoped Soviet posters. It’s like somebody erased Kremlin and put the Capitol on the background on their 9/12 tax-payer march on Washington DC poster. Kim Jong Il is going crazy with envy looking at those fists at the 8/27 convention poster. He does not respect the copyrights so it is very possible for him to use the ‘fisty’ artwork as a center piece at the next parade in North Korea. The communist artists may...

Sound politics, but surprising nonetheless coming from a guy who’s positioned FreedomWorks as a sort of Tea Party HQ.

Until this past year, I would never have guessed Sen. Bob Bennett would be a top target of RINO hunters. He's made some very unpopular moves, like supporting the TARP bailout, but his ACU rating has been quite high. Nonetheless, I've been rather excited to see the RINO hunters so successful that they can move down to what I would have guessed was a low priority target. But are Utahans about to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire? Mike Lee is currently leading polls among delegates to the Utah state convention. But Lee is proudly trumpeting...

THE TEA PARTY NEEDS NO "LEADER" I must tell you Faithful FREEPERS and Tea Party Patriots that I laugh every time I see a headline or link identifying Dick Armey or Sarah Palin, or anyone else as the leader of the Tea Party Movement. The true beauty of the Tea Party Phenomenon is that it wasn't borne in some politico's back room, or on some media manager's bar stool, or isn't some under-cover front for the Republican Party. The Tea Party is a force to be reckoned with because it is the most pure Grassroots political movement I have...

In this video, I analyze the recent March on America in the second installment of Western Resistance Radio. I cover the prospect of amnesty and what it might mean for our national identity as well as the electoral and political ramifications of such a sweeping naturalization. Finally, I discuss Dick Armey's efforts to marginalize Congressman Tancredo in the former's quixotic quest to garner the mythical conservative Hispanic vote. http://vimeo.com/10411178

For weeks, various grassroots leaders of tea parties have been asking NumbersUSA if there is anything to the rumors that former Congressman Dick Armey is soft on amnesty and the costs of illegal immigration. If he were, that would be an unsettling situation for the vast majority of people at tea party events who oppose both vehemently. Well, today, Dick Armey settled the question. No need for rumors now. Mr. Armey -- labeled as the "uber-organizer of the tea party movement" by a reporter today -- seems to have labeled as "goofy" most of the grassroots citizens attending tea party...

A spokesman for FreedomWorks' chief Dick Armey posts a clarification: The New York Times reported recently that FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey has endorsed Sen. John McCain in the GOP primary in Arizona. This is not the case, though this story has been picked up and repeated by countless media personalities and reporters around the country. This seems to be a good case study in how false information can make its way around the Internet and the airwaves before it can be corrected. But we wanted to post a quick statement for all of you who have asked us about this....

With 'tea parties' on the warpath, leadership could come from the bottom up Special elections are often the harbingersof political change. As I watch the Senate race in Massachusetts, where an insurgent small-government conservative campaign has shocked the Democrat establishment, I am amazed at how similar the political climate today is to the early days of the Contract with America. Back in May of 1994, the 2nd Congressional District of Kentucky held a special election to fill the seat following the passing of Democrat William Natcher. The district had not elected a Republican in 129 years, but Republican Ron Lewis...

It is 2009's quiet story -- quiet because it's about what didn't happen, which can be as important as what did. In this highly partisan year, we did not see a sharpening of the battles over religion and culture. Yes, we continued to fight over gay marriage, and arguments about abortion were a feature of the health-care debate. But what's more striking is that other issues -- notably economics and the role of government -- trumped culture and religion in the public square. The culture wars went into recession along with the economy. The most important transformation occurred on the...

Can Sarah Palin make a political comeback? Not everyone's convinced. With Palin mania set to sweep the nation anew tied to the release of her memoir, key voices in the Republican establishment are voicing skepticism about the former Alaska governor's ability to rebuild her national standing. On ABCNews.com's "Top Line" today, Dick Armey, the former House majority leader who now heads the grassroots antigovernment group FreedomWorks, expressed praise for Palin as a "self-made woman" with a proven ability to draw crowds. But Armey said she hasn't shown a commitment to doing the hard work of rehabilitating an image that took...

WATERTOWN, NY - Doug Hoffman, the conservative Republican candidate for Congress (NY-23), today received the endorsement of former House Majority Leader Dick Armey. Citing Hoffman’s support for “lower taxes, less government and more freedom” Armey endorsed Hoffman in front of a room filled with supporters at Hoffman’s Watertown, NY campaign headquarters. Armey, a Texas Republican, served in the House of Representatives from 1985 – 2003 and held the title of House Majority Leader from 1995-2003. Dick Armey said: “I am endorsing Doug Hoffman in this crucial race for Congress for three very basic reasons; Doug Hoffman believes in lower taxes,...