Freedomworks and MoveOn, Unite!

Victoria McGrane takes stock of the libertarian/liberal coalition against Ben Bernanke getting a second term at the Federal Reserve, reporting out some of the details I heard at last week’s “Tea Party: The Documentary Film” premiere. Not only is Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) teaming up with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to delay Bernanke’s confirmation — free market groups are looking for more points of agreement.

[Max] Pappas [of Freedomworks] recently had dinner with MoveOn.org co-founder Joan Blades after the two appeared on a panel on “transpartisan dialogue” in San Francisco. “I mean, FreedomWorks and MoveOn having dinner together,” he said with mock incredulity. Now the two are looking for other issues the groups could work on together, including corporate welfare, transparency and privacy.

As I noticed during the stimulus fight, spending and government transparency are seen by conservatives as almost always redounding to their benefit — when voters learn what their government is up to, they get angry.