About a week ago, I began to document the organizations behind the national Tax Day Tea Party. In a week’s time, that list has swelled considerably. Tax Day Tea Party (.com) has evolved into a premier vehicle for promoting conservative fiscal policy and the free market philosophy. ###
"The Tea Party movement is a genuine bottom-up grassroots protest. It’s fueled by angst and rage arising from a feeling of helplessness at the realization that the people have lost control of their government." ~ Blog entry by "teablogger" (anon) from the Tax Day Tea Party website.
Peeling Back the Layers of the Onion
Tax Day Tea Party (.com)
From the TDTP "About Page":
"The Tax Day Tea Party is a national collaborative grassroots effort organized by Smart Girl Politics, Top Conservatives on Twitter, the Don't Go Movement and many other online groups/coalitions.
The Tea Party protests, in their current form, began in early 2009 when Rick Santelli, the On Air Editor for CNBC, set out on a rant to expose the bankrupt liberal agenda of the White House Administration and Congress. Specifically, the flawed "Stimulus Bill" and pork filled budget.
During Rick’s rant, he called for a "Chicago tea Party" where advocates of the free-market system could join in a protest against out of control government spending.
A few days later, grassroots activists and average Joe Americans began organizing what would soon become the Nationwide Chicago Tea Party effort."
Website Background Information:
TDTP is operated by Eric Odom owned Strategic Activism, LLC.:
"Strategic Activism, LLC is going to be a Nashville based, "ePolitics 3.0? technology and innovation firm. My former new media consulting firm, Fresh Vision Media, is partnering up with Flat Creek Strategies to form a perfect marriage of professional solutions for eActivism and online community development.
Flat Creek Strategies is currently developing a social network unlike anything we’ve ever seen before (on the right at least). This system does everything from user profiles and user generated social networks, to full scale political campaign websites and campaign management.
I’m going to be integrating a suite of tools I’m building that will provide any organization, individual, or candidate the ability to listen and monitor to social media realms 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This script will track discussion trends, and help clients custom craft rapid response campaigns that are specifically targeted based on what the audience wants to talk about."
Fresh Vision Media-
Online Strategy: The internet has the potential to radically change the way people live and work. Having sound strategy when approaching the online realm is vital in succeeding with eActivism.
Fresh Media Web Properties:
- The Union Label Blog (Anti-union articles and links to similar websites)
- Conservablogs
- Freshy SEO
- Live & Fresh (Not active)
- Plurkable
- Thanks to Palin (Not active)
- Don’t Go Movement
Objective: The #dontgo movement is for anyone who supports free markets, low-taxes, low-regulation and personal freedoms. The initiative to use the latest online technology will allow resources to be used efficiently and with maximum impact. This will provide a direct and constant communication infrastructure with and for all local activists/members. The ultimate goal is to completely reform the way agendas are shaped by mobilizing citizens and enabling collaborative efforts. The purpose of this is to effectively take online political action to the offline environment.
Additional background: DGM Leadership Team, The Next Right and Patrick Ruffini.
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Flat Creek Management and Blog
About Flat Creek:
Since we launched this little project, we've done a little bit of everything. We've planned events for prominent Washington non-profits, organized grassroots political organizations, created corporate disaster recovery plans, installed servers, even helped manage the operations for a gubernatorial campaign. Across eight states and three continents, you name it.
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Before the website "blossomed", "teablogger's" entries included an outside link to After the Tea Party (.com) on the Home page. ATP is an entry page for the American Majority, Inc. website.
American Majority, Inc.
"About Us/Who We Are": "American Majority Incorporated is a non-profit, non-partisan political training institute whose mission is to train and equip a national network of leadership committed to individual freedom through limited government and the free market.
...American Majority was conceived by the Sam Adams Alliance, an organization which strives to educate and inform citizens about the important political issues necessary to maintaining a free society.
Sam Adams Alliance (.org)
- Who Are We? - Founded in November of 2006, The Sam Adams Alliance is a to-do tank that educates, informs, and empowers citizens about important political issues through a set of new media tools (i.e. Blogs, Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia) that allow ordinary people to fight big government. The Sam Adams Alliance is a 501(c)(3) organization based in Chicago, IL.
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- SA Board of Directors
Joseph G. Lehman: Mackinac Center for Public Policy, an independent, nonprofit research and educational institute based in Michigan. (SourceWatch: Mackinac)
Eric O'Keefe: Chairman and CEO of the Sam Adams Alliance. Eric also serves on the Board of Directors of The Institute for Humane Studies, Club for Growth, the Center for Competitive Politics and Wisconsin Club for Growth. Founding board member of U.S. Term Limits.
Eric Tubbs: Part owner of the Tubbs Brothers, Inc. retail automobile dealership in Sandusky, Michigan.
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UPDATE: In the week leading up to April 14, 2009, the following new links have been added to TDTP (excluding media):
- Pajamas TV
- American Solutions (SourceWatch Info)
- The Institute for Liberty (About Us)
- Freedom Works (SourceWatch info)
- Americans for Limited Government (SourceWatch info)
- ParcBench (About Us)
- GOP USA (SourceWatch info)
- Radio For Conservatives (About Us)
- Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assoc. (About Us)
- Citizens Against Government Waste
- Sen. Jim Demint- Saving Freedom (SourceWatch info)
- Americans For Tax Reform (SourceWatch info)
- Heartland Institute (SourceWatch info)
- Freedom Works (SourceWatch info)
- Coalition for a Conservative Majority (SourceWatch info)
- National Taxpayers Union (SourceWatch info)
- New American Tea Party
We’re a coalition of citizens and organizations concerned about the recent trend of fiscal recklessness in government. This website is dedicated to the Washington, D.C. effort of February 27th, 2009 specifically sponsored by the American Spectator, the Heartland Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, the National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Prosperity, FreedomWorks, the Institute for Liberty, the Coalition for a Conservative Majority and the Young Conservatives Coalition.
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The Tax Day Tea Party is shaping up to be the next national conservative "Trojan horse" and has replaced the "Drill Here, Drill Now" campaign as the conservative issue du jour.
What makes this campaign more impressive and potentially effective, is the scope of the alliance of conservative organizations, causes and media outlets.
In my opinion, it would be wise for moderates and liberals to remain vigilant.