The diet scammer, "Huge Wads of Money," and GlennBeck.com

Another adaptation/excerpt from "The Backlash," now looking at some of high-def hucksters looking to make a quick buck of the swirl of fear and anxiety surrounding the rise of the so-called Tea Party movement. This guy was a fed-nailed diet scammer of the early 2000s who found a new and lucrative line of work -- selling "survival seed banks" and solar generators to readers of GlennBeck.com and his radio listeners (along with conservative sites likeWorldNetDaily.)

But the best part is where Bill Heid brags about how he does it, on a website called HugeWadsofMoney.com (the source of the picture at top):

Of course, some experts question whether the seeds that Heid and his Solutions from Science are peddling are really that unique or worth $149.99. The same kind of questions have been raised about the other major project that Solutions from Science promotes on GlennBeck.com, an "'Amazing' Solar Generator" which "Is Like Having A Secret Power Plant Hidden In Your Home.",a 1,800-watt solar generation that Solutions From Science sells for $1,597, plus a $95 shipping charge. Critics say the amount of power generated by this device could run a household appliance such as a freezer for a short period of time but 1,800 watts is not nearly enough to power an entire house, as the ad implies. (The ad also shows a line of police in riot gear on a burning city street, noting that "Civil Unrest Might Even Cut Your Power.")

Beck fans might have been less likely to buy in the first place if they had seen another Web site operated by Heid -- the one called Hugewadsofmoney.com. It is here that this major sponsor of GlennBeck.com -- in searching for marketing affiliate partners -- reveals his plans for making, well, huge wads of money off the economic crisis.

"It doesn't matter whether you share the same world view as these customers or not ... but you'd be a fool to ignore the birth of a massive new industry right before our eyes!" writes Heid, who also mentions his partnership with the late direct-mail legend Gary Halbert, who served prison time in the early 1980s on a mail fraud conviction related to his marketing activities. "And the worse things get, the better you'll do, because many consumers are just now becoming aware of their dependence on a way of life which may be gone forever and which will require a dramatic process of education and preparation."

You can read the whole thing here.