Astroturf-wars - "The Billionaires of the Tea Party"

Tue, 14 May 2024 08:49:18 +0000

Astroturf war refers to the competition among artificial grass surfaces used in sports and landscaping. "Astroturf Wars" is a documentary film that explores this phenomenon, shedding light on the industry's development, the various products available, and the pros and cons of using them. The film also examines the marketing strategies used by manufacturers to promote their products. This documentary offers an informative look at astroturf and the controversies surrounding it, making it useful for anyone interested in this topic.

The film singles out free-market ‘grassroots’ groups Freedom Works and Americans For Prosperity (AFP), whose million-plus memberships helped create the Tea Party movement and led the uprising against the Democrats reform agenda.

While AFP has been getting a lot of press lately for their ties to billionaire oil man David Koch, (Astro) Turf Wars take this to a whole new level. Of particular note are the revelations that in a previous incarnation, both AFP and Freedom Works were paid by tobacco companies to kill the Clinton healthcare reforms in 1994, mobilizing their grassroots army to fight a ‘government takeover’ and ‘socialized medicine.’

With help from propaganda experts Professor Mark Crispin Miller and DeSmogBlog’s own James Hoggan, Oldham’s film lays bare the blatant use of pro-business propaganda driving the Tea Party movement.

Oldham’s undercover work documents how Tea Party goers are being recruited into this libertarian fight for ‘freedom’ seemingly without any understanding of who is bankrolling the campaign.

Another notable appearance is by Huffington contributor Wendell Potter, a former head of PR for the health insurance providers Cigna and Humana who blows the whistle on the health insurance industry’s use of astroturfing to fool and manipulate citizens.