FreedomWorks
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FreedomWorks is non-partisan non-profit organization based in Washington D.C. with over 700,000 grassroots activists who recruit, educate, motivate and mobilize volunteers who desire less government, lower taxes, and more economic freedom. FreedomWorks drives policy change by training and organizing grassroots Americans to engage fellow citizens and encourage their political representatives to act in defense of individual freedom and economic opportunity.
History
FreedomWorks was created on July 22, 2004, by the merger of Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) and Empower America. The merged organization is co-chaired by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey and former White House Counsel C. Boyden Gray. The president and chief operating officer Matt Kibbe said that the new group “will encourage Republicans - and Democrats - to take positions on issues of individual freedom.” Dick Armey said that "Ronald Reagan launched a political and intellectual revolution, and the Contract with America expanded it. Today, it’s time for the next wave. We have a rare window to make the big ideas of individual ownership and economic opportunity a political reality for all Americans. That’s the purpose of [FreedomWorks]."Citizens for a Sound Economy was founded in 1984, making FreedomWorks one of the oldest free market grassroots advocacy organizations in operation today.
Empower America was founded in 1993. Its cofounders were William J. Bennett, Jack Kemp, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, and Vin Weber.[link]
Freedom Agenda
The Freedom Agenda is a set of political changes that FreedomWorks supports. The six core issues are: Fundamental Tax Reform to scrap the federal tax code and make it simple, low, transparent, and flat; Social Security to include large Personal Retirement Accounts (PRAs) that individual workers own; Tort Reform to end lawsuit abuse; School Choice to increase parental control and competition in education; Economic Growth to push for pro-growth regulatory and trade policy changes; and Welfare Reform to emphasize work, personal responsibility, and greater access to capital. The Freedom Agenda also includes numerous state issues including those on telecommunications, TABOR (taxpayer bill of rights), property rights, and decreasing local taxes.Legal Status
Like many other "independent-expenditure" organizations that follow the provisions of the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance rules, FreedomWorks has legal structure giving it nonprofit status as a 501(c)3, a 501(c)4, a 527 and a federal political action committee.Projects
- [Center for Global and Economic Growth (CGEG)]: Provides assistance and training to free market think tanks, taxpayer associations, and other limited government organizations outside of the U.S. to help them create effective grassroots networks to bring about policy changes through the political processes in their own countries.
- [ChooseYourCable.org]: Online resource for information on telecommunication regulatory changes across the country.
- [TaborUSA.org]: Online resource for information on the Taxpayer Bill of Rights movement.
Personnel
- Chairman Dick Armey
- Chairman C. Boyden Grey
- President Matt Kibbe
- Vice President Molly Byrne
- Vice President Research - Wayne T. Brough Ph. D.
- Vice President Development - Jaci Brown
- Vice President Interactive Media – Chris Kinnan
- Vice President of Operations – Judy Mulcahy
- Director of Campaigns - Rob Jordan
- Director of Policy - Max Pappas
External links
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