Remember when Republican Senate candidate Barry Hinckley courted out-of-state political donors by saying, “Although many of you who live out of state cannot vote for me – remember, I can vote for you.”? Well, it seems as if one out-of-state group has taken him up on the offer.
Hinckley was endorsed by the Freedomworks PAC on Tuesday, which on its website describes itself as “leading the fight for lower taxes, less government, and more freedom.”
You can say that again.
Freedomworks is the anti-tax astroturfing group that secretly organized the first tea party protests in 2009, according to The Atlantic.
Here’s how a article in The Guaridan described the group:
It was set up by one of America’s richest men, David Koch, an oil tycoon who has funded rightwing causes for decades.
FreedomWorks receives funding from the tobacco conglomerate Philip Morris, as well as from Richard Scaife, another business tycoon, who for years helped fund dirt-digging investigations into Bill Clinton. Local branches of Americans for Prosperity have also received tobacco money; the group has opposed smoke-free workplace laws and cigarette taxes.
In the environmental area, too, there has been an affinity between the groups and the corporate interests that back them. ExxonMobil was a sponsor of Citizens for Sound Economy, and both FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity have campaigned vigorously against Obama’s plans to reduce CO2 emissions through a cap and trade scheme, working closely with the American Petroleum Institute.
It’s endorsement of Barry Hinckley should speak volumes to Ocean Staters. I’m pretty certain most Rhode Islanders want our Senators to represent Rhode Island, not the Koch Brothers and ExxonMobile.
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