American conservatives and libertarians can get really excited about ideas but aren’t generally known for their enthusiasm about Congress. Among free marketers, “government” can almost sound like a bad word. Yet seeing the ideas of limited government, personal responsibility, and free enterprise put into action means engaging with the legislative process.
DonorsTrust clients support a variety of think tanks and policy groups who work to apply the ideas of liberty to the issues facing America today. We also count among our grantees a number of great organizations that work to take the next step, educating and equipping legislators and Hill staff.
To learn more, Peter recently sat down with some of the folks doing this important work in the latest episode of Giving Ventures.
First, Committee to Unleash Prosperity co-founder Steve Moore, a Heritage Foundation scholar and former senior economist of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, outlines the importance of championing fiscal responsibility and pro-growth economic policy to elected officials.
Next, Paul Winfree, a three-time Heritage alumnus with experience as an economist in the White House and U.S. Senate, tells Peter about his work as president of the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC).
Rounding out the lineup, Senator Jim DeMint, who has himself served as a legislator in both houses of the U.S. Congress and previously led the Heritage Foundation, shares about the powerhouse organization he founded in 2017, the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI).
Educating Policymakers with Sound Economics
“Politicians love to spend money,” says Committee to Unleash Prosperity co-founder Steve Moore. “If we continue on this path, we will have a financial crisis. There’s no doubt about it.”
Recognizing the long-term danger of America’s mounting debt and the encumbrance of government regulation and tariffs on the economy, Steve joined with his friends Steve Forbes, Art Laffer, and Larry Kudlow to instill the importance of free enterprise and limited government in the conservative movement and Republican Party.
Curtailing spending to slow the growth of federal debt is a major priority for Unleash Prosperity. It’s a problem that Steve says keeps him up at night, but it isn’t a Democrats-only issue. Congress is home to many big-spending Republicans, Steve points out, and Donald Trump spent too much in his tenure as president.
To reverse the damage of ballooning federal deficits and a mounting burden of debt, spending cuts must also be paired with a growing economy. Unleash Prosperity champions a tried-and-true policy of supply-side economics: low taxes, minimal tariffs, stable currency, and an end to regulatory excess. This pro-growth agenda will bring long-term prosperity to American families, stability to our economy, and solvency to our government.
To champion these ideas, Unleash Prosperity sends out a daily Hotline newsletter to 100,000 inboxes each morning, including members of the Senate and influential leaders like Newt Gingrich and President Trump. Unleash Prosperity’s efforts ensure the keys to a thriving economy remain on the minds of policymakers.
Bringing Policy Substance to Congress
When school lockdowns and curricula controversies during the pandemic years highlighted the shortcomings of America’s K-12 public education, conservatives were ready with solutions. “If the conservative movement hadn’t invested in school choice for so long,” Paul Winfree tells Peter, “we wouldn’t have been prepared for that moment.”
It’s hard to say which way the political winds will be blowing tomorrow or which policy issues will rise to salience, but Paul’s team at EPIC is laying the groundwork so “when the stars align … we’ll be prepared.” Backed by a staff with extensive experience on the Hill and in White House administrations, EPIC directly engages Senate and House staff to help policymakers do their job more effectively.
Located on Capitol Hill, EPIC’s office runs a number of educational programs like its recent collaboration with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to give senior-level House staff a rundown on the budget reconciliation process. In another initiative, EPIC has gathered conservative members of the House for a retreat to collaborate on policy development over two and a half days of “nothing but policy substance.”
While progress rarely happens overnight, Paul is optimistic that EPIC is seeing targeted influence on the Hill and that its work will help the American government rise to the occasion when looming insolvency of entitlement benefits finally forces us to act.
Capitol Hill Beach Head
Congress is a place with a steep learning curve—something Jim DeMint saw firsthand as a U.S. Representative and Senator. Pushing the ball forward on conservative policy, the Senator observes, requires institutional knowledge that’s slow to build. Thankfully, the Conservative Partnership Institute exists to train and place staff, offer recommendations to new members, and support the conservative movement on Capitol Hill.
CPI’s programs train interns and seasoned staff alike, giving folks on the Hill a network to bond with one another and equipping them with the insider knowledge they need to effectively advance a conservative agenda in Congress. DeMint points to classes on procedures that offer best practices for stopping bad bills or adding amendments, giving staffers the confidence to know how Congress works and also know like-minded peers from other offices.
DeMint describes CPI’s office as a “permanent beach head” for conservatives working in the legislative branch. Its offices are just a few blocks from the Capitol building and offer space for training, events, and operations for kindred organizations, some of them run by Trump administration veterans like Stephen Miller and Ben Carson.
While the conservative movement continues to struggle with fractures and fault lines that make cooperation difficult, CPI sees its offices as a space for groups to meet and work together in order to de-splinter the movement. “The conservative movement tends to go in different directions,” DeMint says. “But there’s so much common ground. Our goal is to get people to come together around the core things that we believe in.”
Interested in the work these groups are doing to advance pro-freedom policy in government? You can listen to the entire episode with the player above, click the iTunes or Spotify icons at the top, or find it wherever you get your podcasts.
