FreedomWorks Rally draws more than 500
Over 500 people registered for the FreedomWorks Rally held at the Shell Factory & Nature Park Wednesday.
Founded in 1984, FreedomWorks is a grassroots movement headquartered in Washington, D.C., which has hundreds of thousands of volunteers nationwide. The group’s cause is to “fight for lower taxes, less government and more freedom,” said officials.
The group’s chairman is former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey, who was the key speaker. He opened his remarks with, “I shudder at the word politician.”
Of the group, he said, “We’re about smaller, more responsible government, effectively doing on a cost effective basis only doing what is necessary to do and authorized by the constitution.
“We need to keep on keeping on,” he said of the group’s activities.
“This is where the Tea Party started. Our organization has grown all over the country bigger than I ever imagined or seen. We need to keep it on because this is the fight of our life.”
His remarks included “hard work beats daddy’s money” and noted that the group still has a lot of work ahead.
“It was a great privilege for me to be in Congress,” he said, when asked about his political career. “I think anyone would see it that way. It was a great responsibility. I tried to do it to the best of my ability – without embarrassing my family. I’ll look back and say it was a privilege but it’s time to move on and do more.”
Dick Ripp is running for Lee County Board of Commissioners District 2.
“I came today to see what this is all about,” he said. “These are causes I generally agree with – less government, less government spending.
These are things I want to bring to Lee County.”
Local organizer and Cape Coral resident Mary Rakovich said she never got involved with politics until last year.
“I got interested in politics for the first time in my life last summer,” she said. “I got on the Internet and started reading about our candidates.”
She joined FreedomWorks then, and went to an activist training last year. She then met Brendan Steinhauser, director Federal/State Campaigns and Grassroots Coordinator, and decided to become more involved.
“They are an excellent resource, especially for someone who is just learning to be an activist and doesn’t have a clue of what’s going on, like I was,” she said.
Renee Haines of Fort Myers said she was at the rally because, “I am very fearful with the way our country is going. I think government is out of control. I am not racist, I don’t have a racist bone in my body. I’m thrilled we have a black man as president – I just don’t want that one.”
Adam Brandon, vice president of communications for the group, and Steinhauser also spoke to the crowd.
FreedomWorks recruits, educates, trains and mobilizes hundreds of thousands of volunteer activists. The Web site is freedomworks.org.