NOTE 1: I do not normally do this but I am asking that you please SHARE THIS THREE PART SERIES with friends in any way you can. Facebook, e-mail, however. I believe exposing corruption is necessary.
NOTE 2: I support the Tea Party Movement 100% and the original goals set forth: a) to promote fiscal responsibility b) to promote government accountability and c) promote government transparency.
NOTE 3: I support Sharron Angle and pray she is able to defeat Harry Reid on November 2nd.
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Clue #1 on Wednesday was “Pay attention to Sal Russo and Russo, Marsh and Rogers, Inc.
CLUE #2: on Thursday was Pay close attention to the statements of Kelly Eustis, former Political Director of the Our Country Deserves Better PAC / Tea Party Express.
Today’s Clue:
CLUE #3: While reading this, don’t think as a Tea Partier wanting to “Take America Back”. Think of this as a business owner who wants to MAXIMIZE his profits.
In my first two articles I laid out a list of twenty people, six Political Action Committees and five companies that are tightly bound by the executives and have shown great profit in the Tea Party Movement and more so in the Tea Party Express. But as I said I don’t believe that all involved are “dirty”. Some don’t have an ulterior motive. As an example I suspect that someone like Tiffany Ruegner found herself supporting the Tea Party Movement. She hooked up with a local group (Our Country Deserves Better) and became part of the Express. She knows these folks and probably believes in them. For that reason she could never see them as having “ethics problems” and will likely fight to the death to protect them.
The fact is that through my research and the details of previous articles you can see that there are millions to be had. Greed is a funny thing. It can turn something pure and right into something unacceptable. Much of the money spent by the Express is legitimate. It is spent for things such as television ads and fliers. But the fact is for every TV dollar spent there is a commission paid to the King Media Group. For every dollar raised, Joe Wierzbicki receives a commission. And people are getting paid wages to work when they are already receiving wages from the parent company.
I’m not so naïve to think this doesn’t happen elsewhere. But this is being done to an extreme. In addition, this has the potential to put a black mark on the entire Tea Party Movement. Some might ask why I would write this if that is the case. The answer is simple. If someone in “the other camp” identifies this – it becomes a major scandal. If someone like me, who supports the Movement, brings it out then it is cleaning house. We are simply making sure that those involved are above board. We are doing the best for the Movement.
The people at Russo, Marsh and Rogers saw an opportunity to make a lot of money. By starting the Our Country Deserves Better PAC they were able to jump on the anti-Obama frenzy in 2008. Remember what Sal Russo said. He intended to let the PAC die after the 2008 election. But an odd thing happened. In February of 2009 the first Tea Party Rally was held. A new movement was a foot. There was money to be made. And the OCDB PAC, with the help of Joe Wierzbicki, was able to benefit from the Movement. Because they were very good at what they do, Russo, Marsh and Rogers via the Express were able to quickly position themselves as the largest and most popular Tea Party group. They became the face of the Tea Party Movement. Look at some statements and facts about the Express:
1) Robin Stublen, Organizer , Punta Gorda, Florida, Tea Party: “Would a true Tea Party patriot drop nearly $1600 in donor money for a small meal at a fancy steakhouse? (The TPX dropped $1597.29 for a meal for six at the Chop House in Sacramento). Six people averaged $266; that’s NOT grassroots”.
2) The OCDB PAC paid nearly $50,000 of donated money to decorate the Tea Party Express bus.
3) Mark Meckler, Tea Party Patriots regarding TPX Chairman Mark Williams: “Williams has a tendency to go out to national media and say exceptionally inflammatory things. That can lead to the Tea Party movement being painted by the left as a bunch of racists. And that is not the Tea Party movement”.
4) Christen Varley, President of the Greater Boston Tea Party: “They are show business people (TPX personalities), putting on a traveling road show. We are a nonprofit, public policy group. That’s not our mission”.
5) Tea Party Nation, Statement made after the TPX endorsement of Sharron Angle and the TPX contention that Angle was the “only true conservative” running: “….. in Nevada Sharron Angle is not the only conservative candidate in the race. ….. We can no longer stand aside and let misinformation about the Nevada race go uncontested ….”
6) Tea Party Nation, Statement #2, After the TPX called on Danny Tarkanian to vacate the US Senate race: “ … at Tea Party Nation, we have taken the position that where there are multiple conservative candidates, we should not make an endorsement. We should have the candidates endorse the Tea Party Movement. At Tea Party Nation, we do not consider asking a conservative candidate to quit a race to be an appropriate thing to do…… “
7) Debbie Dooley, Coordinator, Tea Party Patriots: We’ve worked hard to distance ourselves from the Tea Party Express because of their close affiliation to the Republican Party, the Republican establishment and their PAC”.
8) Ned Ryun, President of American Majority: “I’m concerned they’re using it (the Tea Party Express) as a marketing gimmick to line the pockets of consultants instead of actually helping the Tea Party movement”.
9) Liberty First PAC, Statement, Regarding the Angle Endorsement: “The Tea Party Express does not speak for the entire movement. No organization can speak for the entire movement, nor should they try. But the Tea Party Express endorsement in Nevada and Idaho is mistakenly being read by many to be a Tea Party Movement endorsement”.
10) Ian Dodge, Idaho Daily Caller, regarding the endorsement of Democrat and Nancy Pelosi supporter Walt Minnick by the TPX: “There are a lot of frankly befuddled Republicans, Tea Partiers and Idahoans that deserve an explanation why the race was singled out for such a spot of bizarre meddling”.
NOTE: Some believe the endorsement may have been, in part, a reaction to Politico suggesting the organization was merely a front for Political operatives seeking to take advantage of the energy of the Tea Party movement. The endorsement for Minnick came one week after the Politico article.
11) Me: On May 18, 2010 Joe Wierzbicki sent me a personal e-mail that stated “Our goal here is to positively help Sharron, not publicly smear her opponents”. Two days later on May 20, 2010 the OCDB PAC / TPX issued a statement calling for Danny Tarkanian to drop from the race.
Lastly and most significantly are the statements of Kelly Eustis. Eustis was brought into the OCDB PAC / TPX as Political Director leading up to and through the first Tea Party Express tour. Mr. Eustis has since left the TPX. Eustis has made the following statements:
(Wikipedia): He (Eustis) believes Russo Marsh + Associates, the Republican political consulting firm behind the organization, is “basically hijacking the movement for their personal and business gains without regard for real tea party activists” and the PAC is “is keeping the firm afloat.”
(Wikipedia) On May 5, 2010, Eustis told the Huffington Post that “Mark Williams is one thing on-stage and on television, but when out of the spotlight he is not the ‘conservative Tea Party leader’ he’s known as on Fox News. He preaches working hard and paying taxes when he hasn’t had a real job in years since he was fired from his radio talk show. People like Mark, racist bigots, have infiltrated the movement and are giving it a bad name.
But enough already! If the money trail, incestuous company relationships and statements from others including former group insiders doesn’t convince you, nothing will. The important part is “what now”? The Express has placed themselves dead square in the middle of the Reid/Angle race. And they have set themselves up to be winners (i.e. make money) no matter what. So how can we mitigate what they have done?
Let’s look at what they did and how they did it. Six weeks prior to the primary Angle was not even a blip on the radar. She was polling at 5% and was virtually an unknown in Southern Nevada. Lowden was in the low thirties but dropping based on Chickengate and bus controversies. Tarkanian was in the mid to high twenties and moving up. It was a two person race. But the Express wanted to be involved and develop some control. The problem was endorsing Lowden or Tarkanian meant little. If either won they would thank the Express but little else. Either candidate would have claimed they were already at or near the top anyway and the Express endorsement was nice. In reality neither of the other two candidates would have allowed themselves to be put in a position to be controlled by the Express. So the Express chose Angle. Again it was a no brainer. If Angle lost it would have been expected. The Express could have claimed that Angle was the “most conservative” candidate” but after the loss the Express could have easily moved to the primary winner. But a win by Angle would have solidified the Express as the leader in the Tea Party Movement. They, along with the Club for Growth would have pulled Angle from obscurity to the winner’s circle. Angle would owe them. There were other endorsements (Mark Levin, Gun Owners of America, etc.) but unlike the Club for Growth and Tea Party Express they were not going to drop cash into the race. And the two groups did. Estimates are that the two organizations dropped a combined $1.6M into Angle in the final four to six weeks of the campaign and the rest is history.
Now, once again the Express is positioned very well. If Angle wins and takes down Dingy Harry she will be a hero. A hero that rode in on the back of a white steed. Or in this case a hero who rode in on the Tea Party Express bus. A win puts Angle in a Senate seat and the Tea Party Express as the “lead” group in the Tea Party Movement. The funny part is as good as that would be for the Express, a loss by Angle might even work out better. If American’s are successful in running Reid, Pelosi and Obama out of office it is likely the Tea Party Movement will see less activity. I suspect it will continue but some portions as well as the fervor may be quelled.
Now, if Angle loses the Express can claim that it was Harry Reid and there was nothing they could do. They gave it their best shot. But it also means the Movement will continue. In fact is the frustration and therefore likely the Movement will grow. The Movement will become stronger and more determined to campaign hard into 2012. And with that determination will come more rallies, more trips and most importantly for the Tea Party Express – MORE MONEY.
Remember with every trip there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, funneled to Russo, Marsh and Rogers. Every dollar of fundraising puts a commission check in Joe Wierzbicki’s pocket. Every TV ad placed sends a 15% commission to the King Media Group. An Angle loss to Reid could mean a financial windfall for Russo, Marsh and Rogers and all their cronies. So what to do? Here are a few simple suggestions:
1) If you want to support the Tea Party Movement do so at the local level, in your own community. Don’t expect National groups like the Express to have your local interests at the forefront.
2) If you want someone like Sharron Angle to beat Harry Reid – don’t do it through donating to a PAC. Donate to the candidate. I can assure you every dollar you donate to www.sharronangle.com will go to support the Angle campaign. Can you say that about money donated to the Our Country Deserves Better PAC?
3) Follow the money. Know who you are giving to and where it is going.
4) Be diligent in your research. Don’t assume that because someone has an “R” next to their name or a group says they are “conservative” – that they actually are. There are plenty of people who see those things as “marketing tools”. So do your research.
Most important is making known to the Our Country Deserves Better PAC / Tea Party Express that you are holding them accountable for what they have done. I do hope and pray that Sharron Angle can win in November but I have serious doubts. I think of the top three Republican candidates from the primary Angle is the least likely to beat Reid. “She may be the only Republican alive Harry Reid can beat,” Eric Herzik, chairman of the political science department at the University of Nevada-Reno, told the Associated Press. OCDB PAC / TPX own this and they own it because they are chasing the almighty dollar. They put their power and money ahead of what is right for Nevada and America. We must stop supporting their money grubbing antics. We must eliminate groups like this from the Movement.
One of the main goals of the Tea Party Movement is to “Take Back America”. But before we can do that we MUST take back the Movement from groups like the Tea Party Express who are taking something very good and making it very bad. The “Movement” must be treated like one of our children. No matter how much we like someone we will never allow them to harm our child. Keep your eye on the prize.
