americans for prosperity

Americans for Prosperity logo Headquarters Washington, D.C. Website http://www.americansforprosperity.org

Americans For Prosperity (AFP) is a supposedly non-partisan Washington D.C.-based political advocacy group which describes itself on its Web site as "... an organization of grassroots leaders who engage citizens in the name of limited government and free markets on the local, state and federal levels." It should be noted that Phil Kerpen (Director of Policy) and Erik Telford (Director of RightOnline) have significant ties to conservative organizations. Contents [hide] 1 History and Mission 2 Activities 2.1 Freedom from Foreign Oil Scorecard 2.2 No Climate Tax Pledge 2.3 Defending the American Dream Summit 2.4 RightOnline 3 Notes 4 External links //

History and Mission

In 2003, an internal rift between Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) and its affiliated Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation led to a split in which the latter organization was renamed as a separate organization, called Americans For Prosperity.[2]

AFP aims to promote a sound economic policy that supports business and regulatory restraint by government, according to its literature. This organization is generally not non-partisan, but conservative.

The organization has chapters in 22 of the 50 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.[1]

Americans for Prosperity is led by President Tim Phillips and other key national staff include Phil Kerpen, director of policy, Daniel Erspamer, director of development, and Erik Telford, director of AFP's RightOnline new media program.

Activities

Freedom from Foreign Oil Scorecard

The Freedom from Foreign Oil Scorecard is a legislative scorecard released by the Americans for Prosperity. The “Freedom from Foreign Oil” scorecard ranks U.S. Representatives based on their support for – or opposition to – policies that Americans for Prosperity believes would lower gas and energy prices by increasing American supplies and making domestic production less expensive.[2]

The “Freedom from Foreign Oil” scorecard ranks lawmakers based on a composite score of eight roll call votes and co-sponsorship of three initiatives. Co-sponsorships of bills that would allow off-shore and ANWR drilling were scored positively, while co-sponsorship of cap-and-trade legislation was scored negatively. Lawmakers received positive marks for votes against tax hikes on domestic oil and energy, and negative marks for a vote to oppose opening the outer continental shelf to natural gas exploration.

In total, 172 U.S. Representatives were designated “Friends of the American Motorist” for achieving scores of 70 percent or higher, and 117 House lawmakers received perfect scores. The 214 Representatives with scores