American Solutions

They Want Your Money

2010-08-31T21:17:14Z

There's an important new documentary film coming out soon that we had to tell you about.

Called I Want Your Money, it's a no-holds-barred critique of the over-reaching nature of the federal government under the Obama Administration and the current Congress.

Combining in-depth interviews (there's one with Newt), fiery criticism and politically-charged animated sequences, it tells the story in the plainest terms of the choice between the Obama and the Reagan views of the role of the federal government in our society. It also examines how these big government programs have been tried in the past at great moral and financial cost to the nation.

While it won't be playing nationwide until October 15, we wanted to let you know now because organizations and individual citizens across the country are going to be hosting "Private Leader Screenings" in their communities during the week leading up to Constitution Day (Sept. 17).

To see what's involved in a "Private Leader Screening," go to IWantYourMoneyScreenings.net.

If you're not interested in holding a Private Leader Screening and would just like to attend one, you can also check their website next week to see if there will be one in your area.

Americans Across the U.S. to 'Rally for Jobs' in Energy

2010-08-31T14:45:17Z

Starting tomorrow, a new series of rallies will showcase Americans across the country publicly fighting back against job-killing policies, including President Obama's politically-motivated deep water oil and gas drilling moratorium.

The events, known as the Rally for Jobs series, are intended to highlight how vital the energy industry is to the American economy and how affordable energy is necessary for economic growth. According to the official website:

More energy equals more jobs, higher incomes and greater economic growth. We must come together to tell Washington that our livelihoods depend on the oil and natural gas industry and consumers who rely on access to affordable energy will not be overlooked.

Rallies will be held in Texas, Ohio, Colorado, and other locations across the country. Below is the list of cities where rallies will be held (more details, such as time and date for each location, can be found on the Rally for Jobs events page, found here):

September 1
Houston, TX
Port Arthur, TX
Corpus Christi, TX

September 7
Canton, OH

September 8
Farmington, NM
Joliet, IL

September 10
Grand Junction, CO

The events are sponsored by a large and diverse partnership of organizations reflecting the national consensus around encouraging job growth in the energy industry and fighting back against destructive policies from Washington. The partnership includes the American Trucking Associations, the Hispanic Leadership Fund, Citizens Against Government Waste, the National Federation of Independent Business, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The presenting partner is the American Petroleum Institute.

If you live in any of the above-mentioned cities, you should strongly consider attending one of these rallies to help send a message to Washington that Americans support the energy industry and want to create jobs, not destroy them, and a message that Congress and President Obama need to hear now more than ever.

Obama Administration Deliberately Tried to Kill Jobs with Moratorium

2010-08-22T16:37:30Z

For a White House that is supposed to be focused on job creation as its number one priority, this latest news will no doubt call the sincerity of that focus into question.

Previously undisclosed documents, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, show that the Obama administration foresaw its moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico killing 23,000 jobs, but proceeded with the ban anyway:

[The documents] show the new top regulator or offshore oil exploration, Michael Bromwich, told Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that a six-month deepwater-drilling halt would result in "lost direct employment" affecting approximately 9,450 workers and "lost jobs from indirect and induced effects" affecting about 13,797 more. The July 10 memo cited an analysis by Mr. Bromwich's agency that assumed direct employment on affected rigs would "resume normally once the rigs resume operations."

The last line is important because industry specifically warned Salazar in June that the impact of a drill ban could last much longer than the stated six-month time frame, as investment could be redirected to other parts of the world for years due to long-term drilling contracts. Salazar, according to industry, seemed not to care about their concerns.

Predictably, in July one offshore company began sending its rigs overseas to Egypt and the Republic of Congo, taking hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in future revenue with them. The company cited the "uncertainties surrounding the offshore drilling moratorium" as the reason for the relocation.

Furthermore, a district court judge ruled earlier in the summer that the administration's rationale for the ban (preventing another spill) was the foundation of an "arbitrary and capricious" decision to impose the broad moratorium in the first place. The judge further noted that the moratorium had "no parameters" and "seems to assume that because one rig failed and although no one yet fully knows why, all companies and rigs drilling new wells over 500 feet also universally present an imminent danger."

With the economy still in shambles and the unemployment rate stuck at near double-digits, Americans deserve better than an administration willing to play politics in a manner that they know will jeopardize tens of thousands of jobs.

National School Choice Week

2010-08-19T18:56:44Z

National School Choice Week is coming up from January 23 - 29, 2011, but for now, watch the above video of Newt Gingrich, Jeb Bush, John McCain and others talk about the important of school choice.

Citizen Solutions

2010-08-18T16:58:49Z

"What can we do?!"

You hear that question a lot these days. It is often a frustrated response to the socialist direction of our federal government...or liberal schemes in a City Hall or Statehouse.

Millions of Americans are new to the conservative movement. They have become more intensely concerned about politics because of reckless deficit spending, unemployment, corruption and scandal.

We need to turn their frustration into activism.

Remember the joke about the teacher asking a student, "Which is worse -- ignorance or apathy?" The student replied, "I don't know and I don't care." It's funny, but it raises a serious point. It's not enough to know that America is heading in the wrong direction. And it's not enough to just care. We need to effectively act.

Newt's new book sums up the challenge: "To Save America." And he proposes specific solutions. But we must campaign for solutions at every level - local, state and national.

Community organizers have been training liberal activists for years, and they succeeded in electing one of their own as President. We conservatives must do more to beat them at their own game: organizing, protesting, persuading... Complaining isn't enough.

How can one citizen make a difference? Here are some of the ways.

1) GET INVOLVED IN A CAMPAIGN. I urge you to read my new book, Campaign Solutions, available for free at the Solutions Academy. It explains, "How challenger candidates maximize Money, Media, Message and Management." You will learn how to help a campaign in fundraising, organizing, publicity, advertising, speech-writing, strategy, research, debate... These are skills you can use for any conservative cause.

2) SENDING A DONATION. Money speaks louder than words. If you support a candidate or organization, (yes, like American Solutions), making a donation has a real impact. Any vehicle needs energy to run. And money helps fuel an advocacy campaign.

3) CREATIVE PROTEST. There are many ways citizens can express their grievances, and that's part of "the American way." With the proliferation of media, it's not difficult to make your case to a big audience. The trick is to stand out and get attention. The second trick is to do it in a way that opens minds, rather than just reinforces the views of those who already agree with you. For example, some protesters turn their anger into vitriolic signs that attract TV coverage, but for the opposite reason they wish -- because it allows a reporter to depict the protesters as crazy or bigoted. When you protest to get attention, be sure it is in the right spirit. Don't just vent -- be inventive.

4) POWER OF TEN. The secret to successful organizing is the realization that you only need a few believers to start a chain reaction that can change the world. If you convince ten people - friends, neighbors, relatives, colleagues - to join you in an effort, and get them to sign up ten other people, and so on, soon you could have hundreds on your side. And now you can do community organizing online. You look at Facebook instead of faces, but you still use strategy and tactics to connect with people, helping them understand self interest and public interest, and persuading them to join you in taking action. You're probably networking and socializing anyway. It doesn't take much more effort to connect with people politically.

5) PERSONALLY CONTACT PUBLIC OFFICIALS. In this age of email and texting, your handwritten letter, phone call or even drop-in visit to the office of a public official, can have more impact than you think. You will stand out as a concerned, active citizen. And officials will view you as having more influence because you are proving that you will go out of your way to make your opinions known to others. To an official, that means you are "an opinion leader." You have "citizen clout."

6) VIRAL VIDEOS. If you have a digital camera, editing software, and talent, you can turn your issue into an interesting video. Put it on YouTube and e-blast a link to friends. If it's good, they'll e-blast it to their contacts, and on it goes... But make sure you do it right. Once it's being forwarded around the world, you don't want to regret mistakes made in haste. First test it on some people you trust -- revise if necessary, then launch.

7) STARTING A PETITION. You can turn an issue into a news story by creating a petition of support for an issue position. You can put it into circulation by posting it on bulletin boards and blogs, sending out a news release, setting up tables outside stores, canvassing door to door... Once you have an adequate number of signatures, you can present the petition to a public official or group and announce the results of the petition drive in another news release.

8) ASKING OFFICIALS TO MAKE A PLEDGE. Politicians often like to take both sides of an issue, and procrastinate in taking a definitive position until it is sufficiently popular. You might find it useful to try and pin them down by asking them to sign a pledge of support. First, you need to make sure the pledge is reasonable. You don't want would-be signers to point out that there are glaring loopholes or that the pledge would require them to violate a law. So take your time in crafting it, and consult with experts. Once you are sure that it is a fair and constructive pledge, be assertive in presenting and promoting it.

9) SETTING UP DEBATES. Any group can try to set up a debate. You don't have to wait for the League of Women Voters to do it. And if you can arrange for a radio station or cable TV outlet to carry it, you'll have all the more credibility in trying to stage one. The news potential for a debate is great, of course. And it doesn't have to be between public officials or candidates; it can just be a debate between advocates. You can also make it very interactive - for example, asking audience members (including people watching online at home) to cast a ballot as to which side they think won the debate.

10) ADVERTISING. You don't need to be a political candidate to advertise your views about a particular issue. It's a free country. And you don't need to spend a lot of money to get attention. There are many inexpensive media outlets - weekly newspapers, news sites, TV and radio stations - that would welcome your money. To get the most bang for your buck, be imaginative. Read the chapter on Advertising in Campaign Solutions. Advertising is not rocket science, but it does allow you to launch new ideas.

Joe Gaylord is the CEO of American Solutions and author of the new book, Campaign Solutions: How challenger candidates maximize Money, Media, Message and Management.

Debating Energy Policy

2010-08-17T19:32:17Z

Our very own energy guru Steve Everley (pictured, fittingly, on the right) participated in a debate on energy policy recently in Chicago. The event pitted Steve against David Roberts of Grist.org and was moderated by Mark McGrath from the band Sugar Ray. The debate was sponsored by Lexus and was the last of six debates they held across the country to discuss America's energy future.

Although we're a little biased on who won (hint: Steve), we hear it was light-hearted affair between two very well informed people. Somehow, even Snooki made its way into the conversation.

The in-person debate in Chicago was an outgrowth of a substantive three-day debate hosted by Salon.com between Everley and Roberts over cap and trade. Check out day 1 here, day 2 here, and day 3 here.

Challenging Obama's Agenda

2010-08-16T18:27:43Z

Since taking office President Obama and his liberal allies in Congress have promised to create jobs, even as their destructive policies are killing jobs and stifling economic growth, particularly with America's small businesses.

In the 10 year period from 1996 to 2006, small businesses accounted for nearly 40 percent of total U.S. employment, according to a survey conducted by American Solutions, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., that we co-founded. Workers employed by small businesses increased by 4.2 million or approximately 11 percent.

But small firms are bearing the brunt of the current recession. David Altig and Melinda Pitts of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta report that job losses for American businesses with fewer than 50 employees reflect 45 percent of total job loss in the current recession compared to just 9 percent in the 2001 recession.

Small business owners are voicing their concerns. Respondents in American Solutions' monthly small business survey in July cited high compliance costs related to OSHA, EPA and IRS reporting regulations as "a significant strain." One in five small business owners estimated that reducing these restrictions by half could save their company as much as $50,000 annually.

Making matters worse, consumer confidence and orders for durable goods both dropped last month. Along with the Obama administration's spending spree and a $13 trillion national debt, consumers are clearly heading for the exits. Meanwhile, small business owners have stopped hiring, according to American Solutions' research, as they worry about possible tax increases.

The survey also found that Obamacare continues to be a main source of heartburn. The small business owners in the sample said they never believed a government takeover of health care would reduce costs, and they are holding on to the limited extra capital they have for fear that the cost curve will bend upward in the future, not downward as the administration promised.

To this group, at least, the $862 billion stimulus, Obamacare, and the prospect of a new national energy tax have only weakened American job creators.

In fact, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council's Small Business Survival index in 2009 says the biggest hurdle for investment and entrepreneurship is "public policy gone awry." The index continues: "While most politicians talk a good game about entrepreneurs and small business, public policy too frequently raises costs, creates uncertainty, and diminishes incentives for starting up, investing in, and building a business."

While politicians in Washington, D.C., consider new taxes and new regulations on America's job creators, states like North Dakota and Texas stand out as examples of how leaders can actually create jobs and attract businesses.

North Dakota has the lowest jobless rate in America, thanks to a significant reduction in the state's corporate income tax and a two-year tax exemption to encourage natural gas drilling. Its credit rating was recently upgraded and the state government in Bismarck has no general obligation debt.

Texas ranks as the third friendliest state for small business and entrepreneurship according to Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, in part because it has no personal income tax, no state capital gains tax, and no state corporate income tax. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Texas employers added nearly 400,000 jobs between 2006 and 2008, while states with high taxes such as Michigan and California were shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs. Between 2004 and 2009, Michigan alone lost more than half a million jobs.

Small business owners deserve relief, but our country's current economic policies are likely to result in more taxes, more regulations, and more obstacles to growth.

Going forward, there are several steps Congress must take if they are serious about helping America's small businesses.

First and most important, Congress should not raise taxes on small businesses. If President Obama and Congress follow through with their plan to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire at the end of this year, small businesses will face dramatically higher costs and have even less of an incentive to start hiring. Every member of Congress should pledge to his or her constituents not to raise taxes on America's job creators.

Second, Congress should embrace meaningful reform that will actually encourage economic growth. The Economic Freedom Act introduced by Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio would provide a temporary 50 percent reduction in payroll taxes and a 100 percent expensing provision for new equipment purchases. If passed, this bill would immediately offer hope and optimism to small business owners across the country.

It's time for politicians in Washington, D.C., to stop threatening job creators with new taxes and higher costs.

It's time to stop putting the screws to small businesses.

Newt Gingrich is the General Chairman of American Solutions. This piece was co-authored with Dan Varroney, Chief Operating Officer of American Solutions. It was originally published on Inc.com.

Heed the Will of the People

2010-08-16T18:20:53Z

The father of the U.S. Constitution and future President, Virginia's James Madison once said, "The people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived."

Many of the Federalist legislators were voted out office in the election of 1800. Despite their losses, they reconvened in a "lame duck" session during the winter for a last-ditch effort to enact partisan legislation. The Federalists, who held the majority in Congress as the Democrats do today, refused to abide by Madison's principle and paid dearly for it.

During the winter lame-duck, John Adams and the Federalists passed the Judiciary Act of 1801. The Judiciary Act more than doubled the number of federal judges, which President Adams promptly filled with his Federalist allies. These appointments were an explicit and ultimately futile attempt to hamstring the newly elected President, Thomas Jefferson, and Congress because the Jeffersonians simply reversed the Act with the Judiciary Act of 1802.

For their arrogance, the Federalists never again regained control of Congress and disappeared completely in the 1820s, all because they tried to overrule the views expressed at the ballot box.

Since gaining control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, Democrats have imposed a $1 trillion health care program, an $862 billion stimulus package that has failed to create jobs, and a new financial regulatory apparatus that enshrines in law future taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street. Despite the Democrat leadership trumpeting "accomplishments", public opinion polls assert that they have forced redistributionist policies upon the American people and small business owners.

The Obama-Pelosi-Reid team passed all of these despite clear majorities of Americans opposing their big-government, high-tax, anti-jobs agenda.

Democrats know they are facing tough elections this year and can't vote for more enormously unpopular, budget-busting bills if they want to get reelected. But they are also bracing for major losses in the House and Senate this November, and they will never be able to advance their agenda under realigned House and Senate majorities.

Faced with this reality, Democratic leaders are raising the specter of passing their unfinished job killing agenda during a lame duck session of Congress. At a recent conference with left-wing bloggers, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) assured the audience about the Left's unfinished priorities, saying, "We're going to have to have a lame duck session, so we're not giving up."

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) recently stated, "A lot of things can happen in a lame-duck session, too."

Senator John Kerry wants to press ahead with a new national energy tax: "I have to tell you, [cap and trade] is not dead...if it is after the election, it may well be that some members are free and liberated and feeling that they can take a risk or do something."

The Declaration of Independence states that legitimate government derives its power "from the consent of the governed." That means that elected representatives are only legitimately empowered when the American people support their agenda, not when they are "free and liberated" from the opinions of the voters they represent. Likewise, a lack of support from voters ought to inspire a lack of boldness in legislators.

Voters intend to press their case on Election Day as they reinforce one of James Madison's pillars of government: "The people are the only legitimate fountain of power." Some Congressmen and Senators may insist that a lame duck session is necessary to complete work on a budget. This is not the case.

Congress only needs to pass a clean, pork-free, continuing budget resolution through March that will fund the government at current levels. That will leave it up to the new Congress - one that reflects the will of the American people - to develop a new budget based on the mandate given to them by the "consent of the governed."

Georgia Congressman Tom Price is forcing the lame duck issue in the U.S. House. Through his work, 236 members are on the record as supporting a lame duck Congress. At American Solutions, over 90,000 concerned citizens have signed the petition opposing the lame duck session and are demanding that every member of Congress take a pledge not to overrule the American people. We urge you to take action and ask your Member of Congress to take the No Lame Duck pledge so we can stop a last minute power grab.

This Congress should heed the lesson that the Federalists learned the hard way: in America, it is the people, not the politicians who govern.

Newt Gingrich is the General Chairman of American Solutions. This piece was co-authored with Dan Varroney, Chief Operating Officer of American Solutions. It was originally published on Real Clear Politics.

The Anti-Youth Agenda

2010-08-13T20:07:22Z

President Barack Obama has betrayed my generation. In 2008 millions of young Americans rallied behind Obama's challenge to be "the change that we seek." President Obama swept the 18-29 year old voting bloc by 34 percentage points and promised Generation Y a better, brighter tomorrow. Instead, he reneged on his campaign promises and delivered massive federal deficits that jeopardize our financial futures.

Young Americans must face facts: we've been had. The Left used us to galvanize their 2008 campaign and used us again through future taxes to finance massive government programs which aren't working The Obama-Pelosi-Reid team has spent trillions in future taxes - our future incomes - to fund the liberal agenda under the guise of reform.

In direct opposition to campaign promises, the Left has either exacerbated or flatly ignored the looming federal budget deficit problem at every opportunity. As the future leaders of America, Generation Y cannot tolerate Obama's anti-youth, anti-opportunity agenda that breaks campaign promises, subverts our economic wellbeing, and limits our future choices. Generation Y cannot afford to ignore this issue while the ruling class spends our future incomes like Monopoly money. The Left does not support the long-term interests of young Americans; we must return to the polls in November and move forward in a different direction.

Where are the liberal deficit hawks of the 2006 and 2008 elections? President Obama and his allies in Congress criticized Bush-era budget shortfalls and promised to cut the federal deficit in half by 2013. In reality, the Obama-Pelosi-Reid 2010 spending spree created a $1.5 trillion deficit - tripling Bush's record $458 billion from 2008. They have squandered a rare opportunity to reform government entitlements and trim the ballooning bureaucracy with a Congressional supermajority. Instead, they have increased government liabilities with an ineffective stimulus package, expensive health care reform, and new financial sector regulations, which will all kill jobs at a time when they are desperately needed. It is a sordid state of affairs when partisan agendas take precedence over the needs of citizens.

It is time for young Americans to wake up and take control of their futures. The longer we permit politicians to commit generational theft the heavier our financial burden becomes.

Government entitlements are a national Ponzi scheme and America's youth are the next victims. We are conditioned to shoulder the costs of government entitlements. "You are part of the system" we are told, "You will receive Social Security benefits when you retire." This is a lie.

The 2010 Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees Annual Report confirms the inevitable collapse of American entitlement programs. The Medicare and Social Security trust funds will exhaust their resources in 2029 and 2037, respectively, and Generation Y will pay the price. Future American taxpayers owe $74 trillion in unfunded Medicare liabilities and trillions more for Social Security, Medicaid, and Obamacare entitlements we already know to be financially unsustainable. The Congressional Budget Office's Economic and Budget Issue Brief released last month recommends immediate cuts to the federal deficit to avert "significant negative consequences" for the U.S. economy. CBO analyst Jonathan Huntley admits, "The later actions are taken to address persistent budget imbalances, the more severe they will have to be." Our generation will endure decades of increasing taxes to cover the budget gap only to be denied our own retirement coverage.

America's youth can expect higher taxes, less opportunity, and a lower standard of living for every dollar added to the national debt. According to CBO projections, the Obama-Pelosi-Reid big government spending spree will add $9.8 trillion dollars to the federal debt this decade. The CBO warns that, "unless offsetting actions are taken to [pay off the debt]...people's future incomes will tend to be lower than they otherwise would have been." The CBO's Economic and Budget Issue Brief confirms the real threat of our growing federal debt. American international influence, national security, and household wealth will diminish when an unsustainable debt increases interest rates and weakens the dollar. The Obama Administration articulates concern for the debt problem, but actions speak louder than words.

For the first time in 36 years, the House failed to pass an annual budget resolution - a political maneuver by Speaker Pelosi whose reelection agenda takes preference over America's financial health. In the words of James Freeman Clarke, "A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation." Young Americans must replace self-serving politicians with principled statesmen to ensure our country's future in the tumultuous years ahead.

The Founding Fathers understood the threat of long term government debt. In 1816 Thomas Jefferson wrote, "I sincerely believe...that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity under the name of funding is but swindling futurity on a large scale." Generational theft is not just an inherited debt; it is an assault on individual liberty. A crippling national debt undermines my generation's unalienable right to pursue happiness. American children are born into a binding contract with the federal government to pay off the surging debt.

The liability Generation Y will inherit is so large, so consuming, it will dictate our personal financial decisions and the future policies of government. Our actions and decisions will be restricted by the financial needs of the country. We are not truly free when bound by the fiscal irresponsibility of politicians.

Every generation has its challenges. Our predecessors endured two World Wars, the Great Depression, and Soviet aggression; how will we be remembered? As the overweight, over-educated generation that never signed conscription papers and enabled the decline of American civilization? History will hold us in contempt as the spoiled generation that took America's blessings for granted and gave nothing in return.

By 2015 Generation Y will constitute a third of the electorate. We have the knowledge, resources, and numbers to reverse America's historical pattern of financial malfeasance before it consumes another generation.

To quote President Obama, "Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time." We must reclaim this country from the political charlatans that promised change but perpetuated corruption.

Rangel: 'I Am Not Going Away'

2010-08-10T19:10:17Z

No analysis needed, this must watch video of Rep. Charlie Rangel's (D-NY) floor speech today speaks for itself. If you don't have time to watch the full 30 minutes, ABC News has cut it down to the best five minutes. Click here for the 13 counts of ethics violations Rangel faces.

Ducking the American People

2010-08-09T19:26:27Z

Is a Lame Duck session of Congress going to happen? In the likely event their policies are repudiated at the polls this November, would Democrats in Congress really risk damaging their future electoral prospects by subverting the will of the American people and ramming through unpopular bills in a Lame Duck session?

Such has been the topic of considerable debate.

For an answer, one need to look no further than the very words of five key Democrats.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV): "We're going to have to have a lame duck session, so we're not giving up."
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA): 'A lot of things can happen in a lame-duck session, too."
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA): "I have to tell you, [cap and trade] is not dead...if it is after the election, it may well be that some members are free and liberated and feeling that they can take a risk or do something."
White House Energy Advisor Carol Browner: On Meet the Press, Browner said there was "potential" for cap and trade to come up during a lame duck session.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs: During a press briefing, Gibbs said of the prospect of bringing up cap and trade during a lame duck: "I certainly wouldn't rule it out."

If you're still not convinced, The Hill obtained an internal memo from Senator Reid's office scheduling the Lame Duck session to begin on November 15.

When you consider the cheap tricks the Reid-Pelosi machine used during the health care debate, we have no choice but to take them at the word and do everything we can to stop a Lame Duck session.

To that end, tomorrow the House is voting on a resolution offered by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) that would stop a Lame Duck session by prohibiting Congress from meeting between Nov. 2 and Jan. 3.

Please click here and join over 70,000 Americans who have sent a letter to their member of Congress asking them to support Rep. Price's No Lame Duck resolution.

Their strategy looks like a Lame Duck and quacks like a Lame Duck, but they need to be told to stop ducking the will of the American people.

$26 Billion Nail In The Coffin

2010-08-06T21:42:51Z

Today's Washington Post editorial on the Senate's recent $26 billion bailout for state government, surprisingly, hits the nail on the head.

It's not a jobs or education bill, as its proponents claim, it's a payoff for the teachers unions. Or, as the Washington Post puts it, "an election-year favor for teachers unions."

The House will vote on the bill next Tuesday in an emergency session, but if it passes, it might be the final nail in the coffin for this big spending, bailout loving Congress. Simply put, this stimulus/bailout strategy is not creating jobs.

Here's a key excerpt from the editorial:

The crusade for an education jobs bill, led by the Obama administration and Democratic leaders in Congress, has always struck us as more of an election-year favor for teachers unions than an optimal use of public resources. Billed as an effort to stimulate the economy, it's not clearly more effective than alternative uses of the cash. Yes, school budgets are tight across the country, but the teacher layoff "crisis" is exaggerated. In fact, as happens each year, many teachers who got pink slips in the spring have been notified that they'll be hired after all. Many layoffs could have been -- and indeed have been -- avoided by modest union concessions.

As of last school year, the money for 5.5 percent of the 6 million K-12 jobs nationwide came from Washington through the 2009 stimulus; the new money reinforces this dangerous dependency.

Nor does the legislation target areas with the most projected teacher layoffs; Maryland, for example, is slated to get $179 million, yet officials have no estimate of layoffs for the school year that begins in a few weeks. The Baltimore Sun noted in May that "most of [the state's] school systems are not planning to lay off teachers," and that several were hiring new ones. No matter: The bill allows school systems to use the money to expand their teaching staffs or even to raise teacher salaries.

It's not often the Washington Post takes the Democratic leadership in Congress to task.
Read the whole thing here.

Small Businesses Scared By Bad Washington Policies

2010-08-05T15:19:53Z

According to our latest small business survey, America's small business owners are scared by the bad policies coming out of Washington, DC, which is impeding economic growth and the creation of much-needed new jobs.

The survey found that only 5% of small business owners plan to hire new workers in the next six months, signaling sparse optimism among job creators that Washington politicians will cut spending and put forth a real pro-growth agenda.

Here are a few more highlights from the survey:

The federal government (83%) is the #1 culprit when it comes to imposing the most burdensome taxes or fees.
27% of small businesses lose more than 10 hours a month complying with state or federal government requirements or regulations.
More than half of respondents estimate they will save between $1,000 and $50,000 annually if regulations were cut in half.
For the third straight month, entrepreneurs said they would rather bolster savings with any extra capital (48%) if they had extra income.

Download the full survey here.

Help Stop the Lame Duck Session

2010-08-04T12:50:57Z

Image via Wikipedia

Congressional Democrats are plotting right now to subvert the will of the American people. You have the power to stop them.

Leading Congressional Democrats are dead set on passing controversial and unpopular legislation in a special Lame Duck session of Congress, after the November 2nd Election. It's the only way they can succeed, because they know they do not have the support of the American people to act now. You, along with thousands of citizens like you, can stop Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in their tracks.

At American Solutions, we have developed the No Lame Duck Pledge. Click here to join Newt Gingrich in asking you member of Congress to stop the Lame Duck session:

I, undersigned Member of the 111th Congress, pledge to the citizens of the State of _____________ I will not participate in a Lame Duck session of Congress. I believe reconvening the Congress after the November 2nd election and prior to the seating of the new 112th Congress, smacks of the worst kind of political corruption. Attempting to pass unpopular legislation subverts the will of the American people and is an abusive power grab.

There is good reason to act. Look at what these recent comments from U.S. Senators:

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV): "We're going to have to have a lame duck session, so we're not giving up."

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA): 'A lot of things can happen in a lame-duck session, too."

Senator John Kerry (D-MA): "I have to tell you, [cap and trade] is not dead...if it is after the election, it may well be that some members are free and liberated and feeling that they can take a risk or do something."

We know Democrats are capable of using cheap tricks. We saw it during debate of health care reform. We know they are willing to ignore the will of the people. They ignored the town hall meetings last year and the clear signal Massachusetts voters sent by electing Scott Brown and passed the health care bill anyway.

Given the Democrats track record during this current session of Congress, the American people have the right to know where their elected representatives stand.

We believe this pledge will stop the Democratic machine from passing the unfinished and unpopular items on their agenda.

A Tax-Free Energy Renaissance

2010-07-29T16:32:52Z

Almost everyone supports the development of new sources of energy. However, differing personal and political opinions on what constitutes "safe" or "economical" mean the requirements that these energy sources must meet are far from uniform. For example, many liberals focus on new energy technologies that emit less carbon while conservatives focus more on sources that would give our nation the ability to produce our energy domestically.

Both of these goals can be attained, but the question remains: what is the best path forward?

Many on the left want to see a tax levied on carbon, arguing that this will force the development of greener technologies.But at least one environmental researcher, highlighted in the July 2010 edition of Popular Science magazine, thinks that technology innovation, rather than government policies, will lead to new and greener energy sources.

Part of what alarms his critics is how un-alarmist his conclusions have turned out to be. For example, instead of using policy to change how people will behave in the future, [Jesse] Ausubel prefers exploring technological responses to what he believes people are going to do regardless. His favorite defense of this laissez-faire approach is to explain that, absent any policy dictating that it should happen, energy consumption over the past 100 years has steadily "decarbonized." That is, humankind has moved to fuel sources with progressively better ratios of carbon atoms to hydrogen atoms--wood at 10:1, coal at 2:1, oil at 1:2, natural gas at 1:4 and, eventually (in the future Ausubel envisions) 100 percent hydrogen. He thinks technology inevitably improves things. "That's not to say I don't worry about the downsides of technology," he says. "A lot of my work is about that. But my general interest is new and high-tech ways of dealing with problems."

Ausubel rightly argues that over the years, technology has steadily been advancing and decarbonizing largely without government intervention, a concept that should continue in the future.

For examples supporting Ausubel's argument, one does not have to look any further than the nuclear industry, where a trend of innovation can be seen with companies like Babcock & Wilcox looking to bring a smaller nuclear reactor to market. Their goal is to create a modular reactor that can easily be shipped to its destination for final assembly. The smaller size means using one-fifth of the staff a regular size reactor requires, a benefit that will significantly lower operation costs, which in turn means these reactors will allow smaller utilities to diversify their energy profiles.

That means more utilities may look into using nuclear energy, carbon-free technology that produced enough energy around the clock to serve as baseload power.

Additionally, recent technological innovations in the algae biofuel industry could lead to major advances in the hydrogen field. An algae biofuel technology company recently announced that they had developed a method to cheaply 'harvest' hydrogen from algae, a method that scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory called "the 'Holy Grail' of the hydrogen economy."

Examples of innovations like these in the energy industry are happening frequently and largely without government intervention. With talk about a new climate/energy bill being written, Congress needs to remember that it should not try to force technological advances but instead should focus on creating a climate where innovation is encouraged.

Ultimately, instead of the heavy hand of the government steering the development of our energy technologies by artificially affecting the price of energy through carbon taxes or selective subsidies, we should let the private sector do what it does best: innovate and commercialize, two things that will benefit everyone in the process.