A Conservative Agenda for Strengthening the American Family

Stagnant middle class wages, burdensome student loan debt, rising housing costs and delayed family formation have crumbled the building block of our society. For too long politicians have paid lip service to family values but have done very little to support the bedrock institution that undergirds society from the bottom up. If social conservatism is to have a future in American politics, conservatives must become pro-life for the whole of life. As an appetite for a pro-worker, pro-family agenda grows on the Right, it’s worth considering how we might adopt policies to promote strong families, resilient faith communities and a thriving middle class.

On October 14, The American Conservative, American Principles Project and Plough Quarterly will host a conference in the heart of Washington, D.C. to explore the nature of the crisis and present a winning policy agenda moving forward. This event aims to build a new coalition of conservatives who are committed to advancing pro-family policy and also possess a concrete vision of what it means to make families great again.

The event features two panel discussions:

• Our Cultural Crisis: Why is Pro-Family Policy Needed Now?
• A New Policy Agenda: What Does Pro-Family Policy Look Like in Practice?

Confirmed participants include:

• John A. Burtka, IV, The American Conservative
• Johann Huleatt, Bruderhof Communities
• Rod Dreher, The American Conservative
• Mary Eberstadt, author of Primal Screams
• Samuel Hammond, Niskanen Center
• Marshal Kosloff, The Hudson Institute
• Terry Schilling, The American Principles Project
• W. Bradford Wilcox, The Institute for Family Studies

Light lunch provided.

RSVP Today!

Does Christianity Have a Future in America?

Christians increasingly find themselves in uncharted territory. For centuries, the laws, customs, and mores that shaped American life were deeply and consciously indebted to Christianity. Lately, however, Christians and other religious believers find their most deeply held convictions and practices at odds with those which reign in the public square. For these principled religious believers, a crisis is at hand. What can we do about it?

This crisis has sparked a profound rethinking of how Christians should relate to an increasingly secular society. On the one hand, we have calls for a more assertive politics that reorders the public square to more explicitly Christian ends. On the other, we see arguments that it’s time to reevaluate the extent of our engagement with secular society.

We have convened a dynamic panel to address this crisis which including:

• Rusty Reno, First Things
• Sohrab Ahmari, New York Post
• John A. Burtka IV, The American Conservative
• Joseph Prud’homme,  Washington College

Please join us on September 24 at Washington Colleges as we debate the future of Christianity in America, and grapple with the best path forward for the faithful.

RSVP Today!

Join The American Conservative on October 13, 2020 Gala at The Mayflower Hotel.

The gala features a keynote speech from entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel.  

The evening will also showcase the presentation of TAC’s Conservative Mind Award to Journalist Gracy Olmstead and Lifetime Achievement Award to University of Pennsylvania Professor Dr. Walter McDougall.

Evening Program

• VIP Reception: 5:00-6:30 pm
• Cocktail Reception: 6:30 pm-7:30 pm
• Dinner & Keynote Speech: 7:30 pm-9:30 pm

Click Here  for more information about tickets and sponsorship opportunities.

Healthcare Under Siege: How Industry and Government Collusion Created a Crisis for Consumers

Panel 1: Middle Men, Mark- Ups & Cronyism in the Age of Corona

• Dr. Robert Graboyes, senior research fellow and health care scholar, Mercatus Center at George Mason University
• Joe Lonsdale, founding partner 8VC and co-founder of Palantir
• Ross Marchand, director of policy, Taxpayer’s Protection Alliance
• Avik Roy, president, Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity
• AnneMarie Schieber, research fellow at The Heartland Institute and managing editor of Healthcare News (moderator)

Panel 2: Beyond Obamacare- Will an Expanded Public Option Curb Cronyism or Make a Bad Situation Worse?

• Michael F. Cannon, director of health policy studies, CATO Institute
• Nick Sorrentino, co-founder and editor of AC2NEWS.com and AgainstCronyCapitalism.org
• Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute
• Leonora Cravotta, director of operations,  The American Conservative (moderator)

RSVP Here

Light breakfast and lunch provided.

Matt Gaetz,(R-Florida-First District) who was profiled by The American Conservative’s Senior Writer Curt Mills in Mr. Gaetz Goes to Washington last summer, has built a reputation as an outspoken defender of an “America First” foreign policy arguing that, “Stronger borders, energy dominance and a thriving American economy do more for American security than ill-fated interventionist excursions in the name of regime change and nation-building.” A member of the House Armed Services Committee and the Judiciary Committee, his work in Congress focuses on national security, tax reform, regulatory reform, and adherence to constitutional principles.

Kick off the 2020 presidential year with this timely conversation in Naples, Florida, with Representative Matt Gaetz, a “constitutional conservative champion” who is passionate about making sure government is accountable, transparent and honest.

Your ticket price includes a three course luncheon.

R.S.V.P. today

Limited ticket availability.

Join The American Conservative and The American Prospect for an important discussion about how the left and right can collaborate to confront monopoly power on November 14 at The National Press Club.

The event features FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra, in conversation with The American Prospect’s Executive Editor David Dayen.

Other confirmed speakers include:

• Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor The American Prospect
• Jim Antle, editor, The American Conservative
• Jonathan Tepper, The American Conservative senior fellow and author of The Myth of Capitalism
• Phillip Longman, managing editor, Open Markets Institute and author of Best Care Anywhere
• Sandeep Vaheesan, legal director, Open Markets Institute
• Guy Rolnik , clinical associate professor of strategic management at the Booth School of Business and senior fellow with the Stigler Center.
• Alan Tonelson , founder of RealityChek, a public policy blog focusing on economics and national security, and the author of The Race to the Bottom.
• Liza Lovdahl Gormsen, director of the Competition Law Forum, British Institute of International and Comparative Law

Light lunch provided.

 RSVP Here

The American Conservative and The Wethersfield Institute present

Till We Have Rebuilt Notre Dame: A Conversation on the Future of Architecture, Faith, and Civilization in the West

Last spring, the wide outcry at the fire at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris seemed to indicate that many people care about the West’s cultural inheritance from Christendom. Yet with so many Christian traditions threatened by both architectural and religious decay, is there hope for civilization? The French government has insisted it will rebuild, but will it be restored in a way that respects the cathedral’s Christian and Western heritage?

Join University of Notre Dame Professor of Architecture Duncan G. Stroik, Michael Brendan Dougherty, author of My Father Left Me Ireland., and The American Conservative’s senior editor Rod Dreher in a wide-ranging discussion of this watershed moment for Notre Dame, Western civilization, and more.

About the speakers:

Duncan G. Stroik is a practicing architect, author, and Professor of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame. His award-winning work includes the Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel in Santa Paula, California, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. A frequent lecturer on sacred architecture and the classical tradition, Stroik authored The Church Building as a Sacred Place: Beauty, Transcendence and the Eternal and is the founding editor of Sacred Architecture Journal. Professor Stroik is the 2016 winner of the Arthur Ross Award.

Rod Dreher, The American Conservative’s senior editor writes about social and cultural conservatism, with a particular interest in religion in the public square. He has written and served as editor for the New York Post, National Review, Dallas Morning News, and other publications. He is the author of four books, Crunchy Cons, The Little Way of Ruthie Leming, How Dante Can Save Your Life and The Benedict Option .

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online and the author of My Father Left Me Ireland.

Event Schedule:

Cocktail Reception: 6-7 pm
Program: 7-8 pm

The American Conservative was proud to be a co-sponsor of the Committee for Responsible Foreign Policy’s July 19 conference: The Impact of War on Religious Freedom, 9 am-12 pm, The Museum of The Bible.

The event featured a keynote speech from Senator Rick Santorum (Republican-PA)

And a roster of speakers on this important topic including:

W. James Antle III, Editor, The American Conservative
Kristina Arriaga, President, Oxford Society for Law and Religion
Rev. Dr. Andrew P. W. Bennett, Senior Fellow and Director, Religious Freedom Institute
Nadine Maenza, Commissioner, United States Commission on Religious Freedom

Red State=Clean Energy:How Market-Driven Clean Energy Is Transforming the Texas Electrical Grid

 March 8, 2018. Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2045, Washington, DC.

Thanks to past actions by state leaders, Texas is in the midst of a clean energy transition driven primarily by market forces. Over the last 20 years, the deregulation of the Texas electricity market and other initiatives, such as adopting one of the first Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and investing in the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) to bring renewable power to Texas cities, have laid the foundation for today’s market-driven transition away from coal and toward cleaner fuels like natural gas and renewable energy.

What can federal lawmakers learn from the Texas example? TAC co-hosted a discussion of how these trends are playing out in the Texas electric market, how conservative leaders are embracing the economic benefits of clean energy, and what the “Texas story” can teach us about current energy debates in Washington and around the country.

Watch the full discussion here. This event was co-sponsored by the R Street Institute, Texas Clean Energy Coalition (TCEC), and The American Conservative.

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U.S. Foreign Policy in the Trump Era: Can Realism and Restraint Prevail?

November 3, 2017. Jack Morton Auditorium, George Washington University, Washington, DC.

Since its founding in 2002, The American Conservative has advocated for a truly

conservative foreign policy: one that rejects neoconservatism not in favor of “isolationism,” but in the great American traditions of realism, prudence, and restraint.  This fall, TAC convened leading scholars, policy experts, and journalists to make the case for realism and restraint in the Trump era. Speakers included Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), John Mearsheimer, Paul Kennedy, former Ambassador Jack Matlock, Jr. and many more. Read our recap and watch full video of the conference here.

The Curbside Chat: Charles Marohn of Strong Towns on Building Better Places

October 25, 2017. Hillsdale College Kirby Center, Washington, DC.

How can our towns get stronger—not weaker—when our economy changes? How can we repopulate our empty streets and empty storefronts? What can we learn

from the earliest days of city building about building better places tomorrow? And how can active citizens, local officials, and ordinary people make it happen today, no matter how badly we’re starting off? The American Conservative was proud to co-host Charles Marohn’s answers to these questions with Strong Towns and the Congress for the New Urbanism.

Revitalizing a historic Main Street is part art, part science. On September 28, The American Conservative and the Jackson Anchor Initiative hosted a conversation with two national experts to cast a vision for urban renewal in downtown Jackson.  Click here for highlights of the event.

Why should conservatives care about cities?  While urbanist ranks are admittedly liberal, the ideas underlying New Urbanism are

decidedly conservative: traditional designs, close community, and the preservation of historical modes of living. The American Conservative and the R Street Institute hosted a series of discussions to explore the conservative case for traditional urbanism, and outline the way forward for responsible development of our cities and towns.  Watch the full discussion, which was broadcast live on C-SPAN, here.

Is “pro-business” the same as “pro-market”?  The American Conservative hosted a discussion to explore the cozy relationships between government and business that pervade much of the American economy, and make the case that the growth of crony capitalism–and the policies that feed it–runs counter to a truly conservative approach to economic policy.  Watch the full discussion here.

March 16, 2017. The Union League Club, New York, NY.

In the face of an increasingly hostile culture, how should Christians approach participation in public life? What kinds of communities can foster true discipleship? To mark the launch

of Rod Dreher’s new book The Benedict Option, The American Conservative co-hosted a wide-ranging discussion with Plough and First Things in midtown Manhattan. Watch the full discussion here.