FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey Addresses Conservative Opportunity Society

Business Wire, April 9, 2008

Former Majority Leader talks to group about 'Subprime Socialism'

WASHINGTON -- Today FreedomWorks Chairman and former Majority Leader Dick Armey addressed a meeting of the Conservative Opportunity Society; a group founded by Newt Gingrich and others to bring together conservative Members of Congress on a variety of issues in advance of the Republicans' 1994 takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Armey talked to the group on the topic of "Subprime Socialism" and specifically, the need for free-market conservative members of Congress to resist legislative attempts to bailout homeowners and lenders who took unwise risks during housing boom and are now feeling the pinch in the current downturn. Some of the more egregious proposals now moving in both the House and Senate carry hefty price tags (upwards of $33 billion) and threaten to undermine recovery and do long-term harm to homeowners and mortgage lending markets. In addition, popular public opinion opposes a bailout. A recent poll conducted on behalf of FreedomWorks found that calls for a federal bailout were opposed by a two-to-one margin.

Armey commented: "It's easy for politicians to try and play the role of 'economic savior' during turbulent economic times, but given the current climate, more government interference in the housing market is the last thing we need. Tinkering in the market place threatens the sanctity of contracts and will only produce uncertainty for borrowers and lenders alike, driving interest rates up, rewarding risky behavior, and doing nothing to help those negatively affected by the current crunch."

FreedomWorks recruits, educates, trains, and mobilizes ordinary Americans to fight for less government, lower taxes, and more freedom. Founded in 1984, FreedomWorks has hundreds of thousands of members nationwide. Dick Armey serves as Chairman.