Dem
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GOP
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FreedomWorks, which was a very Libertarian-leaning but Republican-supporting PAC, was once a rising star in right-wing politics (playing a key role in the tea party movement, in particular). No more. Thanks to anemic fundraising, the group is shutting down, effective immediately.
The leadership of FreedomWorks has no doubt as to who is to blame for the organization's demise: Donald Trump. Pointing out that their key issues are free trade, small government and a robust merit-based immigration system, they note that Trump and Trumpism are about protectionism, big government (at least, when it comes to regulating citizens' private lives), and hostility to immigration. And since Trumpism is where the Republican Party is these days, there's no place left for FreedomWorks. It also did not help that FreedomWorks supported Trump when he did do libertarian-y things, but opposed him when he would do non-libertarian-y things. In the modern Republican Party, someone who is not with you 100% of the time is... the enemy.
We thought this was interesting for one reason, in particular. You know whose political program was, in a nutshell, "free trade, small government and a robust merit-based immigration system"? You know who said "The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally—not a 20 percent traitor"? That's right, St. Ronnie of Reagan. It's another reminder that the Republican Party of 2024 has virtually nothing to do with the Republican Party of 1984, and that the still-venerated Reagan would find no place in the GOP today. And don't even get us started on the nitwits who claim there's zero difference between the Democratic Party of 100 years ago (or the Republican Party of 100 years ago) and their counterparts today. (Z)