This past Friday, the anti-worker Freedom Foundation held a fundraiser at the Oregon Zoo featuring Steve Forbes. Forbes, you might remember, is most famous for being a failed Presidential candidate who was pro-choice until right after the 1996 Republican presidential primaries started when he wasn’t. He also supported a tax plan that even Mitt Romney called “a tax cut for fat cats.” [Salon.com, 5/17/99; New York Times, 2/4/16]
But we digress…
The irony of this fundraiser is not lost on us that this anti-worker extremist group would try to raise money to
attack public employees while having their food prepared and served at a public facility by the very union workers they are targeting. We can take solace in the fact that they likely didn’t take home much of that money. Between being forced to advertise ticket sales on talk radio up until a few days before the fundraiser, flying Steve Forbes in from the East Coast (Probably in first class seats) and even hiring private security to make sure that none of their fat cat donors were exposed to real, actual workers, there probably wasn’t much left for frivolous lawsuits and targeted harassment campaigns no matter what they claim.
Because, while the Freedom Foundation talks a big game, they aren’t very good at what they do and they hold dangerous beliefs and spew dangerous rhetoric all while putting public servants at risk by trying to get their personal information
That’s why working families from around the state came out to greet the attendees, to remind them of who they were actually supporting: an out-of-state organization who have anti-LGBT and anti-worker beliefs.
As you can see, Jeff Rhodes, Freedom Foundation managing editor and senior staff, greeted working families with a clear message.
To sum it all up, here is just a list of all the things you should know about the Freedom Foundation and their staff:
1) Complaints have been filed challenging their charitable status;
2) Seeks to put the personal information of public employees, including addresses and birth dates, in the hands of a convicted felon;
3) Opposes equal rights for all Americans;
4) The Murdock Charitable Trust, a major Freedom Foundation funder, has also donated to a Portland group that tries to turn gay people straight with gay conversion therapy;
5) Have stated human-influenced climate change is “junk science” and has sued to block climate change legislation;
6) Consistently attacks Planned Parenthood, having called it a “baby-killing, body-part brokering, government money consuming machine;”
7) Opposes increases in the minimum wage; and
8) Opposed paid sick days.
Wherever the Freedom Foundation goes, working families will be there to greet them and educate folks about who the Freedom Foundation actually is.