Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 and is filed under Uncategorized
We saw it a few weeks ago with the IRS cracking down, specifically, on tea party groups across the country and we’re seeing it again. The current administration is using various agencies and branches of government for political means.
As I wrote today at the Daily Caller, Attorney General Eric Holder’s Department of Justice is anything but impartial. From the New Black Panther’s voter intimidation case to the Gibson Guitars snafu to Fast and Furious to the Wire Act, we are seeing Eric Holder and his staff choose which laws to enforce (or in the case of Gibson Guitars, make up variations of laws to enforce) and which ones to ignore.
When the Founders created this democratic republic, the core element in its structure was three branches of government perched in a delicate balancing act known as checks and balances. They felt it was critical for each branch to check the other two to create balance in the United States government.
What we are seeing with Holder’s Department of Justice is a brazen refusal to acknowledge these checks and balances. It is changing interpretations of laws duly passed by Congress under the cover of night (the Wire Act) while filing lawsuits against states that have duly passed Voter ID laws.
This should not be and Congress needs to act and act now to rein in this Department of Justice.
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012 and is filed under Uncategorized
For years I have said that the conservative movement needs to do two things: invest in some high quality PR and marketing for the movement and focus on winning politically before arguing policy.
I think we’re getting there, but as emerging leaders in the movement, AM Action wants to help set the pace, which is why we teamed with The Frontier Lab to create Compass Points. What are Compass Points? Short, concise, nuggets of information crafted to arm conservatives with the right kinds of talking points and the ability to market the movement for what it is: the one that promotes and defends the American Dream.
Today I am excited to be leading off the series with Compass Points, Volume #1, “The 4Ps for Marketing American Exceptionalism.”
Please download the PDF, print it off, read it, share it with friends, post this elsewhere-just don’t let it sit unused.
Tuesday, April 17th, 2012 and is filed under Uncategorized
How do you know reform is working? By the results. And how do we know Scott Walker’s Budget Repair Bill is working in Wisconsin? By the fact that for the first time in 12 years, property taxes are dropping in Wisconsin. That’s huge news for the citizens of Wisconsin who, unfortunately, had grown resigned to big labor bosses (aided and abetted by the Democrats) continuing to push for higher and higher tax rates so that union members would not have to invest any of their money into health care or pension plans.
The response from the unions and the Democrats has been predictable. It’s somewhere between, “Scott Walker is forcing seniors to eat dog food to survive” and “Scott Walker is stealing school childrens’ lunch money” as they claim that his reforms are destroying school districts and the public education system in Wisconsin.
In actuality, the story is quite different (shocker, I know). As FrontPageMag.com reports, Walker’s reforms are freeing up school districts to re-negotiate things like health care for teachers. Instead of a monopoly run by the unions, the school districts are able to open up for bids on health insurance. More bids, more savings. It’s how the free market works.
From FrontPageMag.com:
“The result was savings. Schneider notes that when the Appleton School District put its health insurance contract up for bid, the WEA Trust “suddenly lowered its rates and promised to match any competitor’s price.” Thanks to the lower costs, Appleton is expected to save $3 million in the current school year. Appleton is not an anomaly. According to a report by the MacIver Institute, a free-market Wisconsin think tank, following the reform of collective bargaining, at least 25 school districts in Wisconsin reported switching health care providers or plans or opening insurance bidding to outside companies. The institute found that the measures will save the districts $211.45 per student. And the savings were not hypothetical. The institute found that, as of last September, certain school districts already had savings of $162 million dollars, or approximately $507 per student, as a result of Walkers’ reforms.”
What does this all mean? One, the free market works. Two, Scott Walker is winning in Wisconsin and the results back he and his Budget Repair Bill up.
Monday, April 16th, 2012 and is filed under Uncategorized
Below is the press release from this weekend’s NASCAR race in Texas. We had the privilege of American Majority Racing’s #81 being sponsored by EchoLight Studios. For those of you who don’t know EchoLight, they are the folks behind last year’s NASCAR sponsorship for the hit movie, Soul Surfer. We were thrilled to have them on the car this weekend and looking forward to partnering with them in the future!
EchoLight Studios Announces World Premiere of HEAVEN’S RAIN on GMC TV
Sponsors NASCAR Driver Jason Bowles in Nationwide Series American Majority Car #81
DALLAS, TX… April 13, 2012 – Dallas-based Echolight Studios, the first vertically integrated Christian movie studio to offer production financing, marketing and distribution across all releasing platforms worldwide has partnered with American Majority to sponsor driver Jason Bowles to promote the upcoming film HEAVEN’S RAIN, the true life story of Brooks Douglass. The HEAVEN’S RAIN logo will appear on the American Majority race car which is part of the conservative grassroots organization’s unprecedented effort to encourage NASCAR fans to vote for limited government in order to keep America free.
The film, which will premiere on GMC next Sunday April 22 at 7pm & 9pm, chronicles the life of Douglass, who at 27 became the youngest state senator to be elected in Oklahoma. During his 12 years in the senate he championed the passage of a series of groundbreaking victims’ rights bills. The film’s themes fit well with American Majority’s overall message and mission encouraging people to engage in the political process and teaching them how to run, win and effect real change in government.
”We’re excited to support Jason Bowles in the MacDonald Motorsports Nationwide Series car #81, and be a part of American Majority’s nationwide effort to pledge to vote in this critical election,” says Bobby Downes, President of EchoLight Studios.
“It is terrific to have EchoLight join us in supporting Jason and our American Majority PledgeToVote.com program,” statesNed Ryun, president of American Majority. “Brooks Douglass’ story of courage and principled leadership can serve as an inspiration to others to get involved and make a difference in their communities. That’s how we keep America free.”
Local listings for HEAVEN’S RAIN are available at watchgmctv.com.
ABOUT ECHOLIGHT STUDIOS
Dallas-based EchoLight Studios is a world-class, 21st century studio producing and distributing high-quality faith and family-friendly entertainment.
ABOUT BROOKS DOUGLASS
Brooks Douglass is a film producer and actor, lawyer, businessman, and former state senator in Oklahoma. HEAVEN’S RAIN is his first film and based on his true life story.
ABOUT AMERICAN MAJORITY RACING
American Majority Racing is a national program of American Majority, the nation’s leading conservative grassroots training organization. The program is designed to target millions of NASCAR fans from all political backgrounds in an unprecedented effort to engage them in the electoral process. Having teamed up with NASCAR driver Jason Bowles and car #81 MacDonald Motorsports for the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series racing season, the American Majority Racing program is designed to educate Americans about how smaller government and less spending will “Keep America Free.” Through www.PledgetoVote.com, American Majority Racing encourages all Americans to register and vote in the 2012 elections.
ABOUT GMC TV
America’s favorite channel for uplifting music and entertainment, featuring music and inspiring stories the whole family will enjoy. gmc is the only TV network with every program certified as family safe by the Parents Television Council. gmc is found on DIRECTV channel 338 and DISH Network channel 188 nationally, and many local cable systems.
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 and is filed under Uncategorized
Every week, American Majority Action will highlight a product or a group in our efforts to bring you the best strategies, ideas, and tactics to make your activism more impactful. This week Media Trackers is In The Spotlight. A blend of opposition research, investigative journalism and good old “smash mouth football,” Media Trackers is changing the way news is reported in Wisconsin as it expands into four more states by the end of this month. It’s like nothing the conservative movement has seen before.
Challenging the traditional media’s left-leaning slant to pushing back on the Leftwing blogosphere’s smear campaigns to targeting the unethical behavior of various organizations and elected officials on both sides of the aisle, Media Trackers has put a lot of people on notice in Wisconsin and looks forward to doing the same in Florida (where it launched last week) and other states in the near future.
This week Media Trackers broke the story in Wisconsin regarding improper activities by the assistant district attorneys in District Attorney John Chisholm’s office, the office that is in charge of the John Doe investigation targeting Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Using facts and transparency, Media Trackers has thrown a monkey wrench into the Left’s plans (laid out here in a memo Mother Jones procured, see pages 5 and 6 of the PDF in the story) to roll back the budget repair bill reforms that Walker and his administration enacted the first month of his tenure as governor of Wisconsin.
Keep an eye on this team as they transform how news is reported on the digital platform.
For full disclosure, I launched Media Trackers.
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 and is filed under Uncategorized
I took a call from a leader in the conservative movement recently. His question was, “How can we help Rick Santorum get elected?” My response was, “Who is we and why?”
There was a pause at the end of the line.
“What do you mean? You aren’t helping Romney or Gingrich, are you?”
“I am helping none of them. Nor do I want to.” And then came the “It’s about the judges!” statement that inevitably comes when conservatives grasp for a reason to charge up the hill for folks they have nothing in common with. Well, almost nothing.
Let’s be honest, as a guy who handled government affairs for the best Constitutional law outfit on our side (the American Center for Law and Justice), I get the judges angle. I was in the thick of the Roberts and Alito nomination battles. It is time that we stop settling and accept the vicious cycle where suspect candidates are foisted upon us under the guise of “He really means it this time!”
Back to my conversation with the conservative leader.
“So let me get this straight-you are going to support a guy in Rick Santorum who is a big government Republican, the antithesis of everything you preach day in and day out about fiscal responsibility?” I asked.
“Well, yes. It’s about the judges and if Obama wins he’s going to get two nominations.”
I confess, I take a less panicked view on that argument. If (I stress if) Barack Obama wins a second term and gets two nominations, this is how it will play out. Ruth Bader Ginsburg will retire or die, giving Obama his first nomination. Who will replace her? Someone equally as liberal and someone who makes statements like the ones Ginsburg made about international law. So, that one’s a wash with a younger liberal taking her place. And then comes the Washington, DC parlor game of “Who’s next?” None of the above, actually. Take a look at the current make-up of the court. Who do you think would possibly step down or die on the bench? Which means Obama will not get two nominations. If he gets any, he’ll get one.
So to all the conservative leaders out there tying yourselves in knots, making excuses for voting records and trying to project your hopes and dreams onto candidates with long track records-please stop. It’s time to break the vicious cycle and start holding candidates’ collective feet to the fire. Walk the talk.
And for those of your in the tea party movement asking, “Well, who do we charge up the hill for?!” I point you to your local candidates, your House and Senate races. If the Supreme Court does toss ObamaCare out in toto, then guess what? We need a heck of lot more conservatives in the US House and Senate that will fight against any attempt the Obama Administration makes to re-create socialized medicine.
Monday, April 2nd, 2012 and is filed under Uncategorized
Every week, American Majority Action will highlight a product or a group in our efforts to bring you the best strategies, ideas, and tactics to make your activism more impactful. This week the new Gravity database system is In The Spotlight. Call it the fusion of old school tactics and 21st Century technology. A product of American Majority Action and Political Gravity, the Gravity system is unlike anything the conservative movement has ever seen.
For the first time the conservative movement, not some party entity, sits on the best technology and has the tools to actually ID voters correctly. What makes Gravity so unique? First is the ranking of voters. Want to talk to high intensity Independents? Gravity provides the ability for you to filter a voter file, heat map it with the specific filters you want (party affiliation, gender, age, voting intensity score) and then create an optimized walk route-on your smart phone. From your smart phone you can survey voters and pollinate their voter profile in real time. How cool is that? The more specific answers you get from voters, the more specific your Get Out The Vote plan can be. And in the day and age of over saturation on TV and radio (and even robo-calls), it is this fusing of old school tactics (door to door work) with technology that gives conservatives the edge.
For more on Gravity, watch this brief demo video. To find out more about Gravity, go to www.PowerOfGravity.com.
Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 and is filed under Uncategorized
Every week, American Majority Action will partner with a different group to bring you the best strategies, ideas, and tactics to make your activism more impactful.
This week, we’ve joined forces with
The Frontier Lab, a two-woman not-for-profit whose mission is to “manifest marketing” among citizen activists and civic leaders. Partners Yvonne Ralsky and Anne Sorock have been thought
and action leaders inside the free market–and free-market movement–for years. They bring forward new opportunities for selling our ideas, principles, and values based on cutting-edge marketing science.
One of their organization’s goals is to use marketing research to identify new audience segments that will respond to the free-market message. For instance, at the inception of the Tea Party Movement they demonstrated this new breed of activists was behaving much like Early Adopters to technology. Just last fall, they were able to scientifically prove that Occupy protesters’ superficial slogans like opposing ‘crony capitalism’ were not a bridge to collaboration, and that the largest segment among them cared more about the community they had found in OWS than about the political ideals they were shouting about.
Most important to AM Action’s mission of citizen engagement, The Frontier Lab team provides specific marketing directions for selling American Exceptionalism to the vast American Majority that shares these values. Be on the lookout in the coming weeks for product and program ideas, strategies for generating demand for Exceptionalism, and ways to reach our fellow America lovers.
Together, these two bring three decades of private-sector and political marketing and p.r. experience. Ralsky has worked for Fortune 100 CEOs, cabinet secretaries, and presidential hopefuls. Sorock has applied her Ivy League MBA to the challenge of marketing freedom and is a pioneer of the Deep Values Research approach in the civic space.
Thursday, October 13th, 2011 and is filed under Uncategorized
As many are aware of, American Majority Action has come out publicly against HR 1380, the NAT GAS Act. It is also known as the Pickens Bill for the Texas billionaire who is pushing Members of Congress to give him anywhere from $5 to $10 billion in subsidies so the American taxpayer can shoulder the burden up front and he can make all the profit on the back end. For a quick recap, we agree on two things with T. Boone Pickens. We should end our dependence on foreign oil and we should be lifting the regulations domestically so we can explore our own natural resources.
However, as believers in the free market, we believe for there to be a whole scale change to natural gas, the markets here in the United States will create the demand. It should not take $5-10 billion in subsidies to do so and right now, there is no demand, so Pickens has asked Washington, DC to create an artificial demand. This, in my mind, is the status quo in Washington, DC, the collusion between Big Business and Big Government. It was described to me one time as a match between the Washington Generals and the Harlem Globetrotters. Everything is pre-arranged before the ball is even tipped and the take at the door split, but there still has to be a game to entertain folks and make them think there is actually something at stake. However, the entire thing is a sham. There is no real game.
So we have the party perceived as friendly with Big Business (the Republicans) versus the party of Big Government (the Democrats). For years, the American voter actually thinks it matters who wins and loses elections. In rare instances, it does matter. I think of the few dozen Members of the House and the handful of US Senators who are actually making a difference in Washington, DC (most of which is simply stopping bad legislation). But for the most part, there is no whole scale change. Government and its intrusion into our lives has continued to grow.
Then came April 2009 and the tea party movement. It was a reawakening of the silent majority. I have described it as a three stage process. One, the awakening (something is wrong!). Two, outrage and frustration (the rallies). Now we are in the third stage: action. That action is two fold in my mind. The first part is engaging in overt politics and actually winning campaigns. The second part is what the conservative movement has long been awful at and that is holding elected officials accountable once they get to either their state capitols or Washington, DC.
A perfect case in point is Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-8). As an incumbent, he lost to Democrat up and comer Patrick Murphy in 2006. But in 2010, with the support of the tea party in his area, the Kitchen Table Patriots, and American Majority Action, he won in a district that is heavily slanted towards Democrats in voter registration. Step One accomplished and an election won.
Then came Step Two-holding him accountable. A few months ago, it came to our attention that Fitzpatrick was a co-sponsor of the NAT GAS Act. We alerted the Kitchen Table Patriots to this as well as the inherent problems with the bill and they met with Fitzpatrick and asked him to get off the bill. Over several weeks, they kept the pressure on him and one month ago, he dropped his sponsorship of the bill. For that, the Kitchen Table Patriots and Fitzpatrick deserve congratulations (and thanks). Tea Party Movement-1, Pickens-0. And this morning we received more good news. Congressman Mike Turner (OH-3), after receiving pressure from the tea party umbrella group in Ohio, the Ohio Liberty Council, removed his name from HR 1380. This is real progress.
There is still a lot more work to do, not just on the NAT GAS Act, but on other pieces of legislation that need to be stopped. Then, as a movement, we conservatives can actually send Members to Washington, DC not just to stop the growth of government, but to be proactive in pushing great legislation that renews the American promise.
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011 and is filed under Uncategorized
I have been intrigued for quite some time by the subject of China’s buying of foreign nations’ debt, especially that of the United States (China currently owns $907 billion of our treasury bonds, Japan $877 billion.).
To me the most obvious reason of why this is a problem is the 1956 Suez Canal Crisis. Moving “unilaterally” France and England, teaming with Israel, seized the canal from Egypt. Not wanting to push the world into another war (as the Soviet Union and Egypt were allies), President Eisenhower demanded that England remove its troops. England refused and the nation holding the majority of its debt, the United States, gave England two options: remove your troops or we will call your debt. England removed its troops in a seminal event many think signaled the end of the British Empire.
It is not a stretch to think that China wields that same power over the United States right now.
So this article caught my eye this morning: China’s Debt Pileup Raises Risk of Hard Landing. This, however, is not an external buying of debt problem. It is local governments in China attempting to leverage the money Beijing has loaned them. I have to confess, this scenario worries me. A trickle down (up?) affect is primed and ready to happen that could have international implications.
