August 6-7, 2009: FreedomWorks Official Boasts of ‘Blowing Up’ Town Hall Meetings on Health Care, Refuses to Calm Down Outbursts

Max Pappas, a senior official with the conservative lobbying firm FreedomWorks (see April 14, 2009), openly takes credit for his firm ratcheting up disruptive behavior at “town halls” across the nation devoted to discussion of health care reform (see June 30, 2009, July 6, 2009, July 25, 2009, July 27, 2009, July 27, 2009, July 31, 2009, August 1, 2009, August 1, 2009, August 2, 2009, August 3, 2009, August 3, 2009, August 3, 2009, August 3, 2009, August 4, 2009, August 4, 2009, August 5, 2009, August 5, 2009, August 6, 2009, August 6, 2009, and August 6-8, 2009). Pappas is interviewed by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, who says that FreedomWorks is “blowing them [town hall meetings] apart.” Pappas agrees, saying, “Yes, just like we blew up—” before Matthews talks over his response. Pappas says that FreedomWorks only has about 18 paid employees, and does most of its work over the Internet, working with 400,000 online members (referring to the number of people on its e-mail lists). “We… send them information about when the town halls are, give them briefings on the health care reform plans.” The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent writes: “[T]here’s nothing wrong with FreedomWorks or any other group doing this. But if industry-funded groups are pumping up turnout at town hall meetings, it makes it perfectly fair game for reform proponents to argue that the industry is trying to manipulate perceptions of public opinion for the sake of its bottom line.” [Plum Line, 8/7/2009] The next day, Pappas appears on C-SPAN, and a caller claiming to be a Republican veteran asks him “to tell these people to wrap it down.” The caller says: “We Republicans already have the image of being owned by corporate America. Now we’re getting the image of being owned by wild red neck America.” Pappas responds: “We don’t have the power to control how many people turn out or how they behave there. All we really do is facilitate their participation by letting people know when these town halls are and giving them information about the issues that are going to be discussed. The passions are so deep about this issue that we can’t send out an email that says ‘calm down.’” Another caller claims to be from the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), a white power and outspokenly racist organization (see June 2, 2009), and praises Pappas and FreedomWorks, calling him “a true patriot.” Pappas asks the caller to join the organization. [Think Progress, 8/7/2009]