FreedomWorks Spreads Message of Economic Freedom at CPAC

FreedomWorks is on the front lines the battle for economic freedom within the conservative movement. On February 17-19, staff spread the FreedomWorks’ message of fundamental tax reform, tort reform, and Social Security reform through personal accounts at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Started in 1973, CPAC is a yearly gathering of conservative organizations. The conference has grown since its inception and has become one of the premier annual political events in the nation. An estimated 4800 people attended this year’s CPAC, which took place at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington, DC.

FreedomWorks sponsored the event with a number of other conservative organizations. From the FreedomWorks booth, staff advocated limited government by handing out Social Security booklets, “Take Back AARP” postcards, and information on telecommunications deregulation. Staffers Mike Shiba, Rob Jordan, Max Pappas, Sam Weir, and Bruno Behrend all manned the booth at various times and attended some of the panels and dinners. FreedomWorks used the booth to engage attendees in discussions about Social Security reform, convincing many people to support large personal accounts without tax increases. A delegation of FreedomWorks members attended CPAC, and one member even proudly produced his FreedomWorks membership card when explaining our mission to other CPAC-goers.

For FreedomWorks, the highlight of CPAC was a speech by FreedomWorks Chief Economist Dr. Wayne Brough. Dr. Brough made the case for stopping state tax hikes like FreedomWorks has in Alabama, Oregon, and Washington State. He noted that while there’s progress being made on the national level, “states continue to look for new revenues rather than impose spending restraints.”

Dr. Brough went beyond taxes during his presentation, touching on the need for legal and regulatory reform. Even with the passage of class action reform, courts in a few ‘tort hellholes’ will continue to dole out unjust decisions and unreasonable awards until conservatives enact tort reform on the state level. Overregulation is also an issue, and some states are even adopting Kyoto-style regulations that “would impose huge costs on consumers.”

FreedomWorks also broadcasted a special episode of its internet radio show, “The FreedomWorks Show,” live from CPAC. The program was featured online on Rightalk, a conservative internet radio station, at www.rightalk.com. (Check out the photo below for a view of G. Gordon Liddy on Radio Row). Policy Director Max Pappas kicked of the show with a discussion on CPAC’s fundamental tax reform panel. Short of scrapping the code, Max identified some key goals for conservatives such as eliminating the death tax and the dividend tax.

FreedomWorks Illinois Director Bruno Behrend and Campaigns Director Rob Jordan also appeared on “The FreedomWorks Show” at CPAC. Bruno discussed organizing for Social Security and telecommunications reform in the field, and Rob gave his opinion on the legislative outlook for the ‘Ownership Society’ on Capitol Hill.

All in all, it was a successful CPAC for both FreedomWorks and all of the conservatives who attended!