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Armey Leaves Lobby Firm, Citing Negative Attention Brought by FreedomWorks
Dick Armey, the former House Majority Leader, is leaving his job with top Washington lobbying firm DLA Piper, citing negative attention that the firm is receiving thanks to the role of Armey's corporate-backed outfit, FreedomWorks, in turning out protesters to shut down town hall meetings on health care.
In a Friday afternoon news dump, Armey, a committed anti-government extremist, gave Politico the following statement:
It is painful and frustrating to see a good, decent, able and effective partnership of honorable men and women and their clients attacked for things in which they are not involved simply because of their association with me. One would expect a higher degree of competence and professionalism from members of the media than spurious attacks on innocent bystanders.Let me be perfectly clear about DLA Piper. It is a fine firm with good, competent people. It has been my privilege to be associated with them, and I will miss them. I am leaving the firm with regret but also with anticipation of being more fully engaged in the nation's struggle and without having attacks on me being directed at others.
It is imperative for me, within the context of my life's work in the defense of personal liberty against the encroachments of big government, to give my undivided attention to the work we do at FreedomWorks. In short, the threat to personal liberty in America is so serious and imminent at this time that it requires the full commitment of my efforts. While I consider it a personal sacrifice to leave DLA Piper, it is a sacrifice I must make in light of the important work I am committed to at FreedomWorks.
Reading between the lines here, it looks like DLA Piper -- concerned about Armey's activism against an administration it seeks to influence -- pushed him out.
FreedomWorks has played a major role in coordinating the efforts of the right-wing Tea Party movement, including on opposing health-care-reform.
And as TPMmuckraker reported this morning, it also is helping to fund astroturf events aimed at blocking climate change legislation.
As Politico notes, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow earlier this month brought up the issue of DLA Piper's complicity in Armey's work with FreedomWorks, telling viewers:
In addition to fronting [FreedomWorks], Dick Armey is a senior policy adviser at a law firm called DLA Piper. DLA Piper just happens to have received $830,000 this year, so far, from a giant pharmaceutical firm called Medicines Co. This, after the $1.5 million Medicines Co. paid Mr. Armey's firm last year.
Late Update: Armey and Maddow may get a chance to hash the issue out this Sunday morning, when both appear on a Meet The Press panel on health care.
Josh
Zachary
He should have considered those good and honest bystanders before he decided to wreak havoc on the 1st amendment.
August 14, 2009 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Goodbye....DICK
he won't be nissed and I hope he has no future in fucking w/ our political system again!
August 14, 2009 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's not leaving, he's just spending all his time directing his astroturf mobs.
He's the new face of the conservative movement, and it ain't pretty.
August 14, 2009 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think you're right. He's not leaving. He's just going underground.
August 15, 2009 8:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder if he'll still show up on MTP this Sunday. My guess is no. He'll be too scared to face Rachel Maddow. Tee hee!
August 14, 2009 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
I believe this is his prep for that appearance. I predict the Dick will blame Rachel for his employment separation, or use the new arrangement to show "distance". I pre-call Bullshit!!
August 14, 2009 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hope Rachel gives him a good talking to on MTP on Sunday. I will be watching the part with Rachel, the rest with David Gregory is a snooze fest.
August 14, 2009 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gregory should be taking lessons from Rachel in how to conduct substantive interviews...with a pleasant demeanor.
August 14, 2009 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Better yet, "Dances with Rove" should step aside and let a real journalist who is not afraid to ask the tough questions take the MTP job. I watched for years, but Gregory is such an obvious tool, it's unbearable to watch anymore!
August 14, 2009 5:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was right with you peggy, but I knew Gregory was not going to let her talk. And he didn't!
August 17, 2009 10:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
.
"Armey" no more...
Just like Cheney, we can best describe this guy by just using his first name.
.
August 14, 2009 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
why do so many assholes run things?
August 14, 2009 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Society is like a stew. If you don't stir it up every once in a while then a layer of scum floats to the top.
-Edward Abbey
August 14, 2009 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why are so many assholes Dicks?
August 14, 2009 5:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ever hear that great Louis Jordan song "Beans and Cornbread"? If you know the tune, sing along:
Dick and asshole, hand-in-hand.
(With apologies to all my friends named Richard, including my cousin Dick, who I will now call "Richard."
August 14, 2009 5:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
YOU MIGHT LIKE THIS;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdq577iClbU
August 14, 2009 5:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Decent, affordable health care for all is such a threat to personal liberty in America? Dick!
People actually listen to this bullshit?
Somebody just shoot me. Please.
August 14, 2009 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm watching Obama on CNN now talking in Montana.
He just said Canada and GB are the same in that they both have socialized medicine, in that govt.
owns hospitals and hires doctors.
True for GB. For Canada, NOT!
No wonder we're losing this fight.
August 14, 2009 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lying greedy corporate Bastards..where's the pictures of him with a swastika and Hitler mustache..? Or maybe a picture of Armey's face imposed on the body of Mussolini (hanging) ..when the Italians finally had enough of their (fascist) dictatorship, "corporate controlled government"...1943....fascism is CORPORATE controlled government, what don't these Town Hall screamers get about that..? Corporations (Wall Street) "own" Congress...and they are behind the astro-turfers...why can't any one else make that connection...is it because the "old geezers" at these town hall meetings don't know how to operate a computer...? And therefor rely on Rush and Sean, etc., to pass on the corporate right-wing propaganda...Young'un..! do us a favor take your Gramma and Grandpa out to lunch and then to the library..teach them how to educate themselves on a computer...!..Please!
August 14, 2009 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bloody Mary party here for the Sunday smash-up. All our money's on the lesbian to take down the air bag. We're also having a pool on how long it takes Armey so say something like "Shut up fag girl." I've got 2 minutes flat in that pool.
August 14, 2009 5:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
That ought to be a fun party!
August 15, 2009 12:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Isn't DLA Piper a law firm, not a lobbying firm? I know they have a federal affairs practice, but is the federal affairs practice of a law firm the same as a lobbying firm? (I ask this as an honest question, as I know very little about how lobbying firms are organized or work).
August 14, 2009 6:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Law firms are one of the primary entities lobbyists work out of. I have worked at several large law firms, and they all have lobbying practices. They just don't call them lobbyists, opting for more innocuous euphemisms like "government relations."
August 16, 2009 3:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe from now on, we could just refer to the Tea Bag mobs as "Dick Army's"
Cause they are.
August 14, 2009 6:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Too easy.
Dick, Armey of Whine.
Maddow should be able to shred this idiot without much effort. She's a gem.
August 14, 2009 7:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking of Rachel Maddow... I'm starting to lose confidence in her ability to report facts accurately. While I probably agree with most of her politics, I am disconcerted by a few things she's said which I think are distortions.
Case in point is where she calls Medicines Co. a "giant pharmaceutical firm" in order to promote guilt by association on the part of the law firm DLA Piper, of which Medicines Co. was a client.
I know nothing about DLA Piper, but I do know that Medicines Co. is a very small pharmaceutical company, market cap about $410 million - compared to, say, Merck, which is about 150 times the size. Medicines Co. needed legal & lobbying assistance because one of their lawyers blundered in not requesting a patent extension by the deadline. The company has since been trying, unsuccessfully, to get Congress to give them a waiver.
I know little else about the business practices of Medicines Co. at this time. But if Ms. Maddow wants to practice guilt by association, the least she could do is report facts accurately.
August 14, 2009 7:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
$410 million qualifies as "giant" as far as I'm concerned. What are you worth?
August 14, 2009 11:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Write to her with your complaint and at least she gives critics a fair listen. But I agree with SqueakyRat...410 million is big, if not "giant". Not really a distortion on par with "death panels".
Rachel rules.
August 15, 2009 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Looks to me as though Armey intends to cash in on his hot astroturfing business and I'm sure he will laugh all the way to the bank as a result of the haul he'll make as a result of his lifelong battle for liberty.
August 15, 2009 2:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not sure I've ever witnessed a two-fer anything like the period of time Texas gave us both Armey and Phil Graham as their Representatives in Washington.
It's enough to make you think they sell crack at the polling places in Texas.
August 15, 2009 5:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Phil Gramm (((shudder))). Props to wife Wendy for sinking his presidential bid. Get ready for Rick Perry vs. Kay Bailey Hutchinson for gov. That'll be interesting. The fur will fly, I hope, I hope, I hope.
August 15, 2009 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
OOPS! I knew the correct spelling on Gramm, too! I musta' had Lindsey "Cracker" Graham on my mind.
I just wish Molly Ivins was still around to hold these fellows to account.
August 15, 2009 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
When Armey and Maddow meet Sunday morning, expect the crap Armey threw out Thursday on the News Hour. He stated that people who did not want to be in the Medicare system are forced to be in it.
That is a lie. No one is required to use medicare benefits. However, if they ACCEPT MEDICAL CARE and do not pay for it, the provider of medical care can file for reimbursement if the individual is qualified for Medicare. But no one is required to accept medical care.
As to the question of paying Medicare taxes, everyone is required to pay Medicare taxes in order to cover the expense society bears in providing health care services to those qualified for them. It's exactly like everyone is required to pay taxes to pay for military defense or for police or fire services. It's not a question of if they use the services. Its an issue of whether they pay taxes to support the society in which they live. Their choice is to pay the taxes or to leave the society and move elsewhere. They can't stay here and ignore their responsibility to the society to which they belong. That's not an option. It's join and belong or leave.
Armey is, of course, a libertarian. That's why he was a failure as an academic Economist and escaped into politics. He has no significant record of research and was not well liked. The Economics Department of North Texas State University was delighted to see him leave.
August 15, 2009 3:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Richardxx -
You are correct. Armey used his "forced into Medicare" ploy on today's "Meet The Press" broadcast. He also smirked a lot and refused to make eye contact with Rachel Maddow. I've never seen Armey's "live" performance. Totally unimpressive. The man is a DICK in the greatest sense of Cheney-type DICKness.
August 16, 2009 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
"One would expect a higher degree of competence and professionalism from members of the media than spurious attacks on innocent bystanders."
Hey DICK: ever heard of PROJECTION? That's when someone attributes the same negative actions that they themselves are guilty of to others, and denies their own guilt...you despicable hypocrite.
August 15, 2009 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Smarmy Armey.
August 15, 2009 1:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
In other words, Armey's principles only extend as far as his wallet. It's fine to instigate people until it starts to affect his *real* job. Then his so-called principles go out the window so he can keep his paycheck.
August 15, 2009 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I just want to know why conservatives by & large are white, over-weight, upper & upper middle class,on the high end of middle age males? It also seems the only thing they want to conserve is their money.
August 15, 2009 6:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
And don't forget "ugly"
August 19, 2009 7:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
For more astroturf and teabagging analysis check out-http://unreasonablysafe.wordpress.com/2009/08/15/teabaggingtownhalls/
August 16, 2009 6:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Whoa. Dick Armey sounds like he had a few Bloody Marys before he went on Meet The Press.
Not only does he SOUND potted...his comments are loopy even if read.
He's the best lobbyist that the insurance industry could come up with?
August 16, 2009 2:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have seen Dick Armey hundreds of times...he's "Joe Slick the used car salesman" and he's peddling a lemon, just let the private health care corporations keep doing what they do best...raping, plundering and murdering American citizens for profit.....
August 17, 2009 11:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
They're attemping to Hubris. Drudge cites the Obama assasination threats often. Even TPM is showing the gun attempts. The assasination planning looks to be tailing. I don't know if anytbing will happen with the Obama assasination.
August 17, 2009 7:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
If someone else posted this previously, I apologize for the repeat, but on MTP this past Sunday, Rachel Maddow mentioned that Army was suing the government to get out of receiving medicare and social security - that's a good thing but last night on her show she also mentioned that he believes the Swine Flu is a made up pandemic!!!!!
This shit blows my mind. And they get away with it.
August 19, 2009 7:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Assuming that Armey had to choose between DLA Piper and FreedomWorks, why did he choose to go with FreedomWorks?
Is it because he thought he could make more money working for a phony astroturf organization than a legitimate law firm/lobbying group? Or is it because he thought he could influence policy more with phony astroturfing than with overt lobbying?
Or did he have a choice at all?
August 21, 2009 7:46 AM | Reply | Permalink