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| A/O Global Intelligence Weekly: The American Opportunity Manifesto |
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After many weeks of commentary on current events, this week’s newsletter is an opportunity to speak directly to our supporters, followers, and donors as to what American Opportunity/Free Congress Foundation (AO/FCF) is doing and why.
This writing is intended to be a restatement of our mission and present a manifesto of our goals and objectives.
After decades of work, and eight years under new leadership AO/FCF seeks to research, find and promote better policy for the United States. This work draws on policy experts and “fellows” to discuss the principle themes we consider to be the most important issues facing our nation.
In 2010, the first initiative of FCF was the identification of the need for economic growth in the United States. During the past ten years, the United States has suffered from slow growth policies and the hard reality of math. The Great Recession drove our standard of living down and real recovery never really happened. Government has done little over the last years to foster growth or private business investment.
To present the evidence for growth and to present a possible solution, AO/FCF consulted with our economists and designed the Growth Code.
The Growth Code was intended to be a template for tax reform to create dynamic growth in the U.S. During the transition from the Obama era to the Trump administration, AO/FCF continues to speak out for a Growth Code style approach -- one intended to create economic growth, new jobs, better careers, wage growth and resulting in even more revenue for national defense and other purposes.
Over the last eight years, the national discussion has changed and economic growth is now emerging as a top priority. Congress is now passing a version of tax reform for economic growth. President Trump’s commitment to growth and the enabling of business activity has led to a renewed sense of investment within the American economy, spurring job growth and inspiring the stock market based on a certain optimism for the future.
This new tax reform initiative from Congress is indeed a step forward, but political compromises have to result in a watering down of the changes needed for maximum economic growth. As such AO/FCF continues to have a role in identifying improvements that will be needed in the years ahead.
In keeping with this theme, AO/FCF has conducted public transportation research and conferences to explain how mass transit enables working men and women a way to get to and from their jobs in an urban setting, with every year seeing more and more members of Congress participating in our conferences. This project also addresses transportation concern of millennials who increasing are living in cities, with solutions carried forward in our Transportation Resource Library.
The second major area of research on advocacy is in the area of foreign policy and national security.
America’s foreign policy has undergone great changes and shifts over the last decades. AO/FCF helps define and crystallize those national goals, which often are lost in the tactics and challenges we Americans face. The goal of American policy ought to be the safety and security of the American people, the ability of Americans to improve their standard of living and quality of life, and the preservation and extension of liberty for all Americans.
Part of our national power is our interaction with others across the world, especially our allies. Our alliances and trading partners add to our national power. By being a beacon of liberty, free enterprise, and entrepreneurship America gains power -- and that power allows us to achieve our goals.
AO/FCF studies all the different approaches to foreign policy America has utilized, and seeks to address the weakness we have seen in the many approaches the United States has conducted.
We seek a new framework for American foreign policy and will better enable us to achieve our national objectives. In doing so we have conducted speeches and conferences on this topic, and consult with Professor Henry Nau of George Washington University on his concept of “Conservative Internationalism”.
This policy, promoted by AO/FCF sees to move away from the passivity and weakness of liberal internationalism, or the still unpredictable damage caused by the neo-conservative assertive use of force in unwise instances.
Above all, AO/FCF seeks to drive home the crux between economic growth and national security -- that both are inextricably linked. Our free market system has allowed us to generate the largest gross domestic product in the world, one that makes us an example to follow and allows us to have the greatest and most enabled military in the world. Our economic power is an essential element of our foreign policy, enabling both our national power (hard and soft) as well as enhancing our national prestige.
As AO/FCF has grown and changed, we are utilizing modern forms of communication to shape policy ideas, and to speak to thought leaders, public officials, and supporters. Our web page thousands of times each day, providing information and clear-sighted policy thinking. We publish this newsletter weekly to our newly developed list of 80,000 and have developed a special VIP list for key individuals and members of our foundation.
This manifesto is intended to state and explain our purpose. For these reasons, we hope you will continue to follow our thought, support our cause, and make a financial contribution when AO/FCF proves valuable to this cause -- and we certainly you will join, contribute and participate.
As always, contributions to AO/FCF are 100% tax-deductible for tax planning purposes. AO/FCF seeks to be your vehicle for thinking and participating in the national discussion even no matter where you are, or what resources you have.
Thank you for reading this, and for being a part of the community of thinkers that helps American Opportunity/Free Congress Foundation play a serious role in our national policy conversation.
More after the jump. . . |
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