American Principles Project

The American Principles Project (APP) is a conservative 501(c)(4) think tank founded in 2009 by Robert George, Jeff Bell, and Frank Cannon.[2] It is chaired by Sean Fieler.[3] The organisation has campaigned against same-sex marriage, access to abortion, and transgender rights.[4] They have also led efforts opposing the Common Core standard and advocated for monetary reform by suggesting a return to the gold standard.[5][6][7]

American Principles Project
AbbreviationAPP
Formation2009
FounderRobert George
Legal statusNon-profit
Headquarters1130 Connecticut Ave. NW, S-425
Washington, DC 20036
Coordinates38.9046°N 77.0412°W / 38.9046; -77.0412
Chairman of the Board
Sean Fieler
President
Francis P. Cannon
Executive Director
Terry Schilling
Budget
Revenue: $2,072,613
Expenses: $1,964,657
(FYE December 2014)[1]
Websiteamericanprinciplesproject.org

History

In 2009, the American legal scholar Robert P. George and political strategist Frank Cannon formed APP in order to promote a message of human dignity that they believed was absent in the politics of both parties. By combining high level academic study with effective political strategy, George and Cannon achieved a number of early successes, even with an initially small budget. In 2010, Jeff Bell became the policy director at APP, alongside Cannon providing significant political experience.

In 2011, APP served as the lead sponsor of the Palmetto Freedom Forum, a Republican presidential primary debate televised nationally by CNN. They choose the panelists (Sen. Jim DeMint, Rep. Steve King, and Prof. George) in an effort led by APP program director Emmett McGroarty.

Following the Republican Party's post-2012 election review, in which the GOP suggested de-emphasizing social issues, APP published a report detailing the importance of social issues to the Republican Party. The report pointed out that Republicans ran almost exclusively on economic issues during the 2012 election to lackluster effect.[9]

Four years later, during the 2016 primary, APP created scorecards on a variety of issues and a pledge to sign the First Amendment Defense Act into law that was subsequently signed by the vast majority of Republican candidates (including Donald Trump).

APP also led the charge opposing the Common Core in Indiana, the first state to legislatively repeal it.

Policy initiatives

Family Policy

APP believes that the family stands as the most fundamental unit of society, and supports policy that protects and promotes the welfare of American families. In 2018, APP’s sister organization released a “Contract with American Families” detailing a number of specific policy proposals the organization supports to help strengthen the family.[8]

Education

The American Principles Project describes its education initiative as an effort to "promote policies and actions that protect children and secure their future."[9] It has been critical of the Common Core standards.[10]

In 2012, Jane Robbins, Senior Fellow at the American Principles Project, and Emmett McGroarty, Executive Director of APP Education, co-authored a report for the APP and the Pioneer Institute called Controlling Education From The Top: Why Common Core Is Bad For America.[11] Both McGroarty and Robbins have published numerous articles discussing what they perceive as flaws in Common Core, both in its contents and in the way it was enacted. APP staff members have testified before state legislatures, encouraging states to withdraw from the Common Core standards.[12] APP argued that the Republican Party would suffer in the 2016 presidential election if it fielded a pro-Common Core candidate.[13]

The American Principles Project launched an effort to expose what it calls a "radical new Advanced Placement U.S. History framework," charging that the new AP U.S. History framework teaches a "biased, leftist" version of the traditionally objective curriculum.[14]

Economics and monetary policy

The American Principles Project has been critical of Federal Reserve System monetary policy and has advocated a return to the gold standard.

In November 2014, Steve Lonegan, Director of Monetary Policy at the American Principles Project, sent a public letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen requesting a meeting to discuss how current monetary policy is "reducing" the standard of living for "average working Americans."[15]

Jackson Hole Summit 2015

In 2015, American Principles Project funded a conference on economic policy held from August 27–29, 2015, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to advocate for hard money monetary policies and an end to government involvement in the money supply.[16] According to associates of hedge fund CEO Robert Mercer interviewed by Bloomberg, Mercer was the main financial backer of the Jackson Hole Summit.[17]

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gollark: I'm beginning to think that it might be easier to just hand-write SVGs.
gollark: Here's an incredibly bad diagram. I need an image editor for Linux which actually works.
gollark: Take each pixel of the input and its X/Y coordinates, divide the circle up into an equal amount of "pixels" using polar coordinates, and map them on.

References
  1. "Quickview data" (PDF). GuideStar. See also "Charity Rating". Charity Navigator.
  2. Fuller, Jaime (June 4, 2014). "Jeff Bell was the New Jersey GOP Senate nominee in 1978. Also, in 2014". Washington Post. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  3. Gillman, Todd (February 5, 2015). "Rick Perry embraces idea that Texas is "crazy" at American Principles Project gala". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  4. Peters, Jeremy W. (3 November 2019). "A Conservative Push to Make Trans Kids and School Sports the Next Battleground in the Culture War". The New York Times.
  5. "Two Moms vs. Common Core". National Review. 2013-05-12. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  6. "Gold standard insures the dollar has more buying power: Opinion". NJ.com. 26 October 2014.
  7. "Conservative Think Tank Tries to Tie Gold Standard to Hitler And The Nazis". Townhall.com. 30 September 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2014-10-30.
  8. O'Brien, Cortney. "Sen. Rubio Helps Unveil New 'Contract with American Families'". Townhall. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  9. "APP Education". 2 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-07-04.
  10. "Common Core motives, costs being questioned". Telegraph Herald. 3 December 2013.
  11. Brown, Emma (February 5, 2015). "La. Gov. Bobby Jindal rails against Common Core State Standards". Washington Post. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  12. "WV Against Common Core to host second town hall forum". The State Journal. 14 October 2014. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  13. McLaughlin, Seth (March 1, 2015). "Common Core opposition unites 2016 hopefuls at CPAC, with Jeb Bush lone outlier". Washington Times. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  14. "How Low Will They Go?". TownHall.com. 19 November 2014.
  15. "APIA Letter to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen Requesting Meeting". FixTheDollar.com. 17 November 2014. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  16. "Official site". Jackson Hole Summit. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  17. Mider, Zachary (20 January 2016). "What Kind of Man Spends Millions to Elect Ted Cruz?". Bloomberg. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
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