FreedomWorks Launches the “Market Freedom Project” to Expose Special Interest Deals

Washington, DC- FreedomWorks announced the launch of an aggressive education and activism campaign to expose the collusion between big business and big government, called the “Market Freedom Project.” The first target of the Market Freedom Project will be General Electric (GE), which lined its pockets with taxpayer money while CEO Jeffrey Immelt served as chair of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

General Electric pushed for Obama’s $787 billion stimulus fund and was a recipient of almost $100 million in government grants. The company was also a big supporter of cap-and-trade legislation that would drive fossil fuel prices higher and bankrupt the coal industry, boosting sales for the company’s renewable energy products (wind and solar power). More recently, GE engineered major tax loopholes in the fiscal cliff deal, including an extension of the wind production tax credit and a provision that would allow the company to avoid paying taxes from financial transactions that occur overseas. 

FreedomWorks Fellow Tom Borelli commented, “General Electric has a long history of profiteering off the size and cost of the federal government. Under Jeff Immelt’s leadership, GE lobbied for almost $100 million in grants out of the 2009 Obama stimulus, and continues to cash in with $5 million from the Energy Department this year alone.”

“The fiscal cliff deal raised taxes on nearly all Americans, so that politicians in both parties could give GE a competitive advantage in the marketplace. They extended the wind production tax credit and enacted a tax loophole that aided the company to pay no federal income taxes in 2010. We can’t allow this to continue. The Market Freedom Project will expose GE’s manipulation of the political system for their own financial gain, while at the expense of small business and individual taxpayers.”

FreedomWorks activists plan to gather outside of GE’s Annual Shareholder Meeting on April 24th at 8:30am CT at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, to demand that GE return its almost $100 million in Obama stimulus money. Deneen and Tom Borelli are GE shareholders and will represent FreedomWorks inside the shareholder meeting. Activists can send messages directly to the company’s corporate directors through the website, www.GEGiveItBack.com.

FreedomWorks is a service center to a community of over 4 million grassroots activists nationwide who believe in individual liberty and constitutionally-limited government. For more information on the Market Freedom Project, please visit www.FreedomWorks.org or contact Jackie Bodnar at JBodnar@FreedomWorks.org.