Coming off two great lame duck wins, American Commitment is eager to build on its recent momentum as we head into 2017 – with the start of a new administration in Washington.
In the final weeks of November, we caught wind of numerous attempts to sneak last-minute giveaways to lobbyists and special interests during the final budget negotiations of the Obama era.
While liberal activist groups were eager to defend and expand upon the gains they made during the last eight years, American Commitment stood ready as a taxpayer watchdog. Our demand was simple: Congress should pass a continuing resolution that gave D.C. just enough money to keep the lights on until Trump is sworn in, and not a penny more.
And that’s exactly what we got.
But as we were working to stop Obama’s cronies from sneaking any final spending deals into the budget, we discovered that we would have to fight a second battle on another front – the FCC.
We were tipped off that the Senate was planning to reconfirm Democratic FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, potentially giving Democrats a 3-2 majority long into the Trump administration.
Such a move would have been a massive roadblock to Trump’s pro-jobs agenda, and it would have significantly stifled our ability to rollback net-neutrality and its accompanying broadband tax as it neared implementation.
At the time, we were warned Rosenworcel’s confirmation was a “done deal” and could not be stopped. But American Commitment members had other ideas.
Together, we flooded Capitol Hill with over 17,900 letters in a little over one week which led to significant backlash against this scheme. And when the dust settled, our efforts played a critical role in blocking Jessica Rosenworcel’s confirmation and ensuring that Democrats will no longer control the FCC in 2017!
Suffice to say – our holidays are off to a pretty good start so far.
As we turn the page to 2017, we look forward to building on our momentum to reverse the outrageous Obama regulatory agenda not just at the FCC but at the EPA and the rest of the federal agencies, as well as repealing Obamacare, enacting pro-growth tax reform, and permanently fixing the broken regulatory process with reforms including the REINS Act.
Thank you for your support during these critical public policy battles, and we look forward to fighting alongside you in 2017!
American Commitment Gears Up for a YUGE 2017
