America First Caucus Policy Platform The America First Caucus (AFC) exists to promote Congressional policies that are to the long-term benefit of the American nation. The North Star of any policy proposal will be that which serves the American people, and any consequential analysis of policy platforms must be based on this first principle. As this implies a degree of ideological flexibility, a certain intellectual boldness is needed amongst members of the AFC to follow in President Trump’s footsteps, and potentially step on some toes and sacrifice sacred cows for the good of the American nation. Policy areas as far ranging as foreign intervention, economic development, immigration, trade, tech regulation and social policy need to be re-examined from the ground up to ensure that what remains keeps the interest of Americans at heart. It is the firm belief of this Caucus that American policy-making needs to get back to first principles, restore a long-term time horizon amongst our nation’s leaders, and instill a greatly internalized sense of service to the American people on part of our elected leaders. As long as these principles are put and kept in practice, the interests of the American people will be safeguarded.
Election Fraud
The AFC is in support of nationwide systemic electoral reform. Both Democrats and Republicans have pointed out for years the systemic failures in our election tabulation. A Republic that relies on elections must ensure its elections are fair and transparent. There is a growing consensus that both objectives have failed. Recent election results demonstrate a compromised integrity of our elections and made our election system a subject of global mockery. Across the country federal elections have been undermined by using voting machines that are readily compromised and illegally accessed whereby results appear manipulated, voters are disenfranchised, and faith in our system eroded. Mail-in voting, long recognized as subject to fraud, has become normalized. We will work towards an end to mail-in voting, implementation of national voter ID and substantive investigations into mass voter fraud perpetrated during the 2020 election.
Sovereignty
America was founded on the basis of individual and state sovereignty, to ensure that no free American would be lorded over by a Monarch ever again. Unfortunately, bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. and the elites who control them have risen to form a new oligarchy — one that is far more decadent, corrosive and hostile to the will of the people than the Founders could have ever dreamed of. This is why sovereignty is of paramount importance to the AFC. We will work to divest power from the federal government and give it back to the states and the people to restore the balance of federalism. We believe in, and will fight for, the principles of federalism and decentralization of political power; the government closest to the people is the best equipped to handle their concerns. At the federal level, this means exposing deep state actors, shrinking the regulatory state, and eliminating thousands of regulations and indeed entire bureaucracies.
Big Tech
Silicon Valley tech firms have become the most powerful arbiters of information in the history of mankind. The treasure trove of data they have collected from Americans have given them powers that would make a Soviet dictator blush. We have seen these powers weaponized and deployed against conservatives in recent years, even as Big Tech firms continue to allow terrorists and pedophiles to organize and publish on their platforms. This represents an egregious offense against the First Amendment and the values enshrined within it. The America First Caucus is calling for a solution that starts with reform of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Immigration
The America First Caucus recognizes that our country is more than a mass of consumers or a series of abstract ideas. America is a nation with a border, and a culture, strengthened by a common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions. History has shown that societal trust and political unity are threatened when foreign citizens are imported en-masse into a country, particularly without institutional support for assimilation and an expansive welfare state to bail them out should they fail to contribute positively to the country. While certain economic and financial interest groups benefit immensely from mass immigration, legal as well as illegal, and the aggregate output of the country increases, the reality of large segments of our society as well as the long-term existential future of America as a unique country with a unique culture and a unique identity being put at unnecessary risk is something our leaders can afford to ignore no longer. As such, America’s legal immigration system should be curtailed to those that can contribute not only economically, but have demonstrated respect for this nation’s culture and rule of law. America’s borders must be defended, and illegal immigration must be stopped without exception. Moreover, we cannot ignore the impact that mass immigration has on reducing job opportunities and depreciating wages for Americans. Further restricting immigration would ensure that American jobs go to American workers. The econometric evidence and consensus amongst labor economists is that in addition to being a substantial net drain on the public purse, post-1965 immigrants decrease the capital-to-labor ratio within the national economy, thereby causing a massive shift in the gains of the economy from wage earners to the shareholders and owners of large firms. An important distinction between post-1965 immigrants and previous waves of settlers is that previous cohorts were more educated, earned higher wages, and did not have an expansive welfare state to fall back on when they could not make it in America and thus did not stay in the country at the expense of the native-born. Another important point of note is the many pauses in immigration that have taken place in this country following a large intake of immigrants. These pauses have been absolutely essential in assimilating the new arrivals and weeding out those who could not or refused to abandon their old loyalties and plunge head-first into mainstream American society. A measure of a country’s greatness is the value recognized in being a citizen. As such, we cannot tarnish this important designation by rewarding those who failed to follow our laws at the expense of those who have, which is why amnesty must be rejected in all forms. Additionally, we must abolish unnaturalized birthright citizenship, which actively encourages hostile interests to undermine the legitimacy of democratic self-governance by engaging in subversive “birth tourism” and chain migration. Lastly, federally imposed refugee resettlement programs should be rejected due both to disruption to small communities and the corruption rampant within these programs.
Infrastructure
The America First Caucus will work towards an infrastructure that reflects the architectural, engineering and aesthetic value that befits the progeny of European architecture, whereby public infrastructure must be utilitarian as well as stunningly, classically beautiful, befitting a world power and source of freedom. As the Romans demonstrated with aqueducts, walls and roads, function and beauty are not at odds. Federally funded infrastructure, including roads, buildings, airports, seaports, bridges, should demonstrate a pride of workmanship. A bridge is not merely something to cross from side A to side B, it is a connection among peoples. Infrastructure is one of the few areas where the federal government should exercise its constitutional authority. For decades, America has been sending trillions of dollars out the door to support the infrastructure of other nations—even to countries that hate the United—with nothing to show for it. Simultaneously, our domestic infrastructure is failing, crumbling and decaying from within. This Caucus will work to direct as much money as possible to our domestic infrastructure needs. Dilapidated roads and bridges should be rebuilt, dams and wastewater plants must be secured, borders secured, drinking water systems improved, amongst other much needed additional investments. The America First Caucus knows that these projects impact the daily lives of American citizens.
Foreign Aid
Whether it is aid for humanitarian or military purposes, sending taxpayer money outside of the nation is generally an unwise undertaking and an entanglement that rarely provides any benefit to our citizens. Often, these funds end up in the wrong hands, are squandered through corruption, or go toward the pet projects of liberal interventionists. With so many unmet needs in the United States, helping other countries with their infrastructure, their military, their immigration problems and their economies makes no sense. American tax dollars should not go toward teaching gender studies in Pakistan or supporting ideologically subversive non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Taxpayer money should be spent at home, allowing individual Americans to make charitable contributions to those around the world in need. The America First Caucus believes that the American people are the most kind and charitable in the world, and they would be far better at allocating their own money than having corrupt bureaucrats play around with it.
National Security
For far too long, a hawkish neoconservative foreign policy has been the default for the American Right. This has resulted in America being bogged-down in endless conflicts with trillion-dollar price tags in addition to having thousands of American heroes losing their lives as a result. Meanwhile, our nation’s infrastructure and our border security have been traitorously neglected. Decades in Afghanistan have accomplished little except to enrich defense contractors and empower the military-industrial complex. The people of Afghanistan have endured an endless parade of violence typically with one side funded by our tax dollars. Regime change operations in Iraq and Libya have proved disastrous, while doing nothing to keep Americans safe. Indeed, after the Obama Administration used our military to topple Libyan President Qadafi, Libya has turned into a failed state where there are open slave markets, lawlessness and chaos. What was once a functioning state is now a failed state, because of Obama’s intervention. This is not what our military was meant for. The America First Caucus recognizes that America can no longer afford to be the world’s policeman. Instead of endless interventions, bold diplomatic endeavors must be undertaken with countries such as Russia and North Korea to ensure a more peaceful and stable world. America should not be sacrificing blood and treasure while our so-called allies refuse to pull their weight in contributing toward neutralizing threatening actors in the world. America must remain a free and independent Republic, not a globalist watchdog.
Coronavirus
Ever since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus originating from China and the first known case of coronavirus in the United States on Jan 21, 2020, the United States government and health organizations issued guidelines and policies that would hinder and destroy the American economy in many ways. These guidelines, which includes mask mandates and social distancing rules, are socially conditioning the culture and behavior of Americans. Additionally, to truly enforce social distancing and hopefully diminish the spread of the disease, many state governors have decided to lockdown their states, meaning that businesses deemed ‘non essential’ are not allowed to open and provide service. Together, these policies and guidelines have ruined many businesses to bankruptcy such that many Americans are left unemployed and potentially destitute. Social problems, including suicide and divorce, have escalated because state governors, which the encouragement of the CDC, have locked down families. At the time the virus landed in the United States, there was not a lot known about the new disease. Now, a year later, there is much research and data. It is essential to discontinue the lockdowns, remove capacity restrictions and allow businesses to continue operations. Now that the damage is done, many Americans are in need of assistance to pay their bills: the government should thus effectively provide direct financial support to improve the livelihood of Americans. The America First Caucus will work to make sure we do not overreact to a pandemic in this same way again.
Trade
Ever since the end of the Second World War, the sine qua non of being a conservative has been to support unrestricted international trade. The main intellectual justification of this has been The Theory of Comparative Advantage, which was first proposed by David Richardo over two centuries ago. One key flaw that has been overlooked by establishment Republicans and Democrats alike is that the theory assumes negligible movement of capital and labor across borders. The absence of such a condition today, combined with the shift in commercial priorities from productivity and innovation to cost cutting, has meant that free international trade simply serves to homogenize living standards around the world. It should hardly come as a surprise that the transfer of wealth to millions in the Western Pacific has resulted in millions being kicked out of the middle class in the North Atlantic. Free trade accomplishes many of the same nefarious economic goals that mass immigration does. Essentially, it allows capital to search for markets with the lowest capital-to-labor ratios that will allow it in, which in turn allows this capital to exact higher returns by exploiting the relative excess of labor that exist in the third world, transforming these countries into essentially industrial plantations run by semi-slaves. At the same time, workers in capital-exporting countries such as America have less bargaining power because of the decrease in capital, which puts massive downward pressure on their wages and benefits, assuming they even manage to hold on to their jobs. Not only is this devastating to their standard of living, but the lack of meaningful work in the production of tangible goods serves to eviscerate any sense of dignity and worth these workers and their families had, resulting in the myriad of social ills we see in rural America today, such as the opioid epidemic. There are also non-economic considerations that have been neglected in the debate on trade, namely the issue of national security. In such a globalized economic system, supply chains for even the most basic and essential goods are spread to the four corners of the globe. This only makes sense from a purely short-term monetary point of view. While this form of production might be profitable to specific firms in the short-run, it is an unmitigated disaster to the long-term interests of many countries, including our own. Any hiccup in the global supply chain can result in massive supply shocks around the world, a reality that was glaringly exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The fact that any section of our food and medical supply chains are located in China, our greatest geopolitical adversary, would have been considered treasonous not too long ago. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have outsourced America’s manufacturing for decades, offshoring jobs, deflating wages and destroying communities, particularly in rural America. Under these bad ‘free trade’ deals, other countries have also placed strict restrictions on U.S. exports entering their borders. The America First Caucus believes it is time to stop worshipping at the altar of idealized free trade, and actually deliver for American workers. We call for a new approach to trade that prioritizes American workers, treats U.S. exporters more fairly, imposes tariffs and import restrictions where necessary to protect our vital industries, and holds malevolent state actors—especially China—accountable for violating our trade laws on issues ranging from intellectual property left to forced technology transfers. Every new free trade agreement considered by Congress should be thoroughly assessed in order to ensure it benefits our country’s manufacturers and workers. We also cannot forget that jobs are personal—they impact individuals and families in unique and specific ways. Pretending that rising GDP or faster access to higher-quality products is always better than meaningful work for American workers and their families is a betrayal of our values and demonstrates complete ignorance of long-term consequences.
Environment
Conservation of the nation we live in is an important aspect of American nationalism. Since the 1980s, climate change, formerly known as global warming, has become a hot button political issue. The America First Caucus supports conservation of the environment and our national lands for the benefit of our nation. Having said that, we should not cripple our country’s manufacturing sector through agreements such as the Paris Climate Accords. We oppose the globalist, vague, and irrelevant policies being pushed under the guise of combating climate change. If Americans want to conserve the environment, they should push for better waste management and other substantive remedies, not wasteful social justice programs like the Green New Deal. Environmentalism also includes proper allocation of resources. Fishermen and hunters have legitimate, and culturally deep, ties to the land. Gold mines, copper mines and oil wells contribute to our modern lifestyle. All of these are to be balanced with preserving opportunities for hiking, camping and enjoying the visual beauty of our lands. On federal lands where the impact on local farmers and ranchers would be minimal, rewilding initiatives, including megafauna reintroductions, should also be explored, creating new opportunities for business and tourism
Energy
While it is vital to preserve our environment, we should not use it as an impetus to destroy the energy industry that hires millions of hard-working Americans. Our elected officials should stand proudly with America’s struggling coal country against job-killing regulations, and welcome the ongoing shift towards clean coal. In addition, the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines will promote North American energy independence and allow the United States to more easily extricate itself from the conflicts of the Middle East. Moreover, hydraulic fracking technology, when used appropriately, can provide more affordable oil and gas for Americans, and therefore any attempts to ban this practice on a national level should be resisted. The America First Caucus supports innovation in green energy, such as in the form of nuclear energy. However, it is important to closely scrutinize and reduce taxpayer subsidies for wasteful green energy projects that fail to deliver the required return on investment for the American people.
Protecting the Value of American Savings
Since the 1940s, the American dollar has been the global reserve currency, a position which has greatly benefitted the real American economy by strengthening the purchasing power of wages and savings. Unfortunately, the strength of America’s monetary position has been under attack for decades by Keynesian economists domestically, and by globalist institutions looking to enhance China’s position on the global stage. We must oppose international currency manipulation and its detrimental long-term impacts for the American economy and U.S. dollar. We must protect the rights of Americans to best position themselves for a changing economy by promoting the development of cryptocurrency companies domestically, and defend the rights of Americans to hold private stores of wealth – including gold, silver, and other blockchain-based currencies like Bitcoin.
America First Education
The 20th Century saw the decline in many vital American institutions. None has been more damaging to the United States than our education system. The increased consolidation of educational spending came with it the ability for powerful left-wing special interest groups to redirect the focus away from preparing future generations of national talent to progessive indoctrination and enrichment of an out-of-control elite oligarchy. Even worse, our education has worked to actively undermine pride in America’s great history and is actively hostile to the civic and cultural assimilation necessary for a strong nation. The future of America’s position in the world depends on addressing the crisis in education, at both the primary and secondary level.
The Chinese Communist Party
Not since the fall of the Soviet Union has America faced a civilizational challenge from another state actor quite like the modern Chinese Communist Party (CCP). While the liberalization of the Chinese government in the 90’s and early 2000s gave hope that the CCP was moving in the direction of being a peaceful and beneficial actor on the world stage, the Xi-era has been one defined by the dangerous resurrection of Neo-Maoist thinking. Unfortunately, American corporations – following federal policies that have actively incentivized investment outside of the US – have chosen to place short-term financial interests at the expense of basic human decency. In doing so, we must confront a dangerous new reality where much of America’s soft power is actively siding with an increasingly hostile-global actor, at the same time America’s military has been mismanaged into overextending itself in the sands of the Middle East. We must also check against any globalist institutions that increasingly laud the authoritarian nature of the CCP as a model for future governance, and not a terrifying rejection of civilized society. Furthermore, we understand that the rise of China means that the United States must be prepared militarily and economically to compete with a peer-competitor
Election Fraud
The AFC is in support of nationwide systemic electoral reform. Both Democrats and Republicans have pointed out for years the systemic failures in our election tabulation. A Republic that relies on elections must ensure its elections are fair and transparent. There is a growing consensus that both objectives have failed. Recent election results demonstrate a compromised integrity of our elections and made our election system a subject of global mockery. Across the country federal elections have been undermined by using voting machines that are readily compromised and illegally accessed whereby results appear manipulated, voters are disenfranchised, and faith in our system eroded. Mail-in voting, long recognized as subject to fraud, has become normalized. We will work towards an end to mail-in voting, implementation of national voter ID and substantive investigations into mass voter fraud perpetrated during the 2020 election.
Sovereignty
America was founded on the basis of individual and state sovereignty, to ensure that no free American would be lorded over by a Monarch ever again. Unfortunately, bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. and the elites who control them have risen to form a new oligarchy — one that is far more decadent, corrosive and hostile to the will of the people than the Founders could have ever dreamed of. This is why sovereignty is of paramount importance to the AFC. We will work to divest power from the federal government and give it back to the states and the people to restore the balance of federalism. We believe in, and will fight for, the principles of federalism and decentralization of political power; the government closest to the people is the best equipped to handle their concerns. At the federal level, this means exposing deep state actors, shrinking the regulatory state, and eliminating thousands of regulations and indeed entire bureaucracies.
Big Tech
Silicon Valley tech firms have become the most powerful arbiters of information in the history of mankind. The treasure trove of data they have collected from Americans have given them powers that would make a Soviet dictator blush. We have seen these powers weaponized and deployed against conservatives in recent years, even as Big Tech firms continue to allow terrorists and pedophiles to organize and publish on their platforms. This represents an egregious offense against the First Amendment and the values enshrined within it. The America First Caucus is calling for a solution that starts with reform of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Immigration
The America First Caucus recognizes that our country is more than a mass of consumers or a series of abstract ideas. America is a nation with a border, and a culture, strengthened by a common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions. History has shown that societal trust and political unity are threatened when foreign citizens are imported en-masse into a country, particularly without institutional support for assimilation and an expansive welfare state to bail them out should they fail to contribute positively to the country. While certain economic and financial interest groups benefit immensely from mass immigration, legal as well as illegal, and the aggregate output of the country increases, the reality of large segments of our society as well as the long-term existential future of America as a unique country with a unique culture and a unique identity being put at unnecessary risk is something our leaders can afford to ignore no longer. As such, America’s legal immigration system should be curtailed to those that can contribute not only economically, but have demonstrated respect for this nation’s culture and rule of law. America’s borders must be defended, and illegal immigration must be stopped without exception. Moreover, we cannot ignore the impact that mass immigration has on reducing job opportunities and depreciating wages for Americans. Further restricting immigration would ensure that American jobs go to American workers. The econometric evidence and consensus amongst labor economists is that in addition to being a substantial net drain on the public purse, post-1965 immigrants decrease the capital-to-labor ratio within the national economy, thereby causing a massive shift in the gains of the economy from wage earners to the shareholders and owners of large firms. An important distinction between post-1965 immigrants and previous waves of settlers is that previous cohorts were more educated, earned higher wages, and did not have an expansive welfare state to fall back on when they could not make it in America and thus did not stay in the country at the expense of the native-born. Another important point of note is the many pauses in immigration that have taken place in this country following a large intake of immigrants. These pauses have been absolutely essential in assimilating the new arrivals and weeding out those who could not or refused to abandon their old loyalties and plunge head-first into mainstream American society. A measure of a country’s greatness is the value recognized in being a citizen. As such, we cannot tarnish this important designation by rewarding those who failed to follow our laws at the expense of those who have, which is why amnesty must be rejected in all forms. Additionally, we must abolish unnaturalized birthright citizenship, which actively encourages hostile interests to undermine the legitimacy of democratic self-governance by engaging in subversive “birth tourism” and chain migration. Lastly, federally imposed refugee resettlement programs should be rejected due both to disruption to small communities and the corruption rampant within these programs.
Infrastructure
The America First Caucus will work towards an infrastructure that reflects the architectural, engineering and aesthetic value that befits the progeny of European architecture, whereby public infrastructure must be utilitarian as well as stunningly, classically beautiful, befitting a world power and source of freedom. As the Romans demonstrated with aqueducts, walls and roads, function and beauty are not at odds. Federally funded infrastructure, including roads, buildings, airports, seaports, bridges, should demonstrate a pride of workmanship. A bridge is not merely something to cross from side A to side B, it is a connection among peoples. Infrastructure is one of the few areas where the federal government should exercise its constitutional authority. For decades, America has been sending trillions of dollars out the door to support the infrastructure of other nations—even to countries that hate the United—with nothing to show for it. Simultaneously, our domestic infrastructure is failing, crumbling and decaying from within. This Caucus will work to direct as much money as possible to our domestic infrastructure needs. Dilapidated roads and bridges should be rebuilt, dams and wastewater plants must be secured, borders secured, drinking water systems improved, amongst other much needed additional investments. The America First Caucus knows that these projects impact the daily lives of American citizens.
Foreign Aid
Whether it is aid for humanitarian or military purposes, sending taxpayer money outside of the nation is generally an unwise undertaking and an entanglement that rarely provides any benefit to our citizens. Often, these funds end up in the wrong hands, are squandered through corruption, or go toward the pet projects of liberal interventionists. With so many unmet needs in the United States, helping other countries with their infrastructure, their military, their immigration problems and their economies makes no sense. American tax dollars should not go toward teaching gender studies in Pakistan or supporting ideologically subversive non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Taxpayer money should be spent at home, allowing individual Americans to make charitable contributions to those around the world in need. The America First Caucus believes that the American people are the most kind and charitable in the world, and they would be far better at allocating their own money than having corrupt bureaucrats play around with it.
National Security
For far too long, a hawkish neoconservative foreign policy has been the default for the American Right. This has resulted in America being bogged-down in endless conflicts with trillion-dollar price tags in addition to having thousands of American heroes losing their lives as a result. Meanwhile, our nation’s infrastructure and our border security have been traitorously neglected. Decades in Afghanistan have accomplished little except to enrich defense contractors and empower the military-industrial complex. The people of Afghanistan have endured an endless parade of violence typically with one side funded by our tax dollars. Regime change operations in Iraq and Libya have proved disastrous, while doing nothing to keep Americans safe. Indeed, after the Obama Administration used our military to topple Libyan President Qadafi, Libya has turned into a failed state where there are open slave markets, lawlessness and chaos. What was once a functioning state is now a failed state, because of Obama’s intervention. This is not what our military was meant for. The America First Caucus recognizes that America can no longer afford to be the world’s policeman. Instead of endless interventions, bold diplomatic endeavors must be undertaken with countries such as Russia and North Korea to ensure a more peaceful and stable world. America should not be sacrificing blood and treasure while our so-called allies refuse to pull their weight in contributing toward neutralizing threatening actors in the world. America must remain a free and independent Republic, not a globalist watchdog.
Coronavirus
Ever since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus originating from China and the first known case of coronavirus in the United States on Jan 21, 2020, the United States government and health organizations issued guidelines and policies that would hinder and destroy the American economy in many ways. These guidelines, which includes mask mandates and social distancing rules, are socially conditioning the culture and behavior of Americans. Additionally, to truly enforce social distancing and hopefully diminish the spread of the disease, many state governors have decided to lockdown their states, meaning that businesses deemed ‘non essential’ are not allowed to open and provide service. Together, these policies and guidelines have ruined many businesses to bankruptcy such that many Americans are left unemployed and potentially destitute. Social problems, including suicide and divorce, have escalated because state governors, which the encouragement of the CDC, have locked down families. At the time the virus landed in the United States, there was not a lot known about the new disease. Now, a year later, there is much research and data. It is essential to discontinue the lockdowns, remove capacity restrictions and allow businesses to continue operations. Now that the damage is done, many Americans are in need of assistance to pay their bills: the government should thus effectively provide direct financial support to improve the livelihood of Americans. The America First Caucus will work to make sure we do not overreact to a pandemic in this same way again.
Trade
Ever since the end of the Second World War, the sine qua non of being a conservative has been to support unrestricted international trade. The main intellectual justification of this has been The Theory of Comparative Advantage, which was first proposed by David Richardo over two centuries ago. One key flaw that has been overlooked by establishment Republicans and Democrats alike is that the theory assumes negligible movement of capital and labor across borders. The absence of such a condition today, combined with the shift in commercial priorities from productivity and innovation to cost cutting, has meant that free international trade simply serves to homogenize living standards around the world. It should hardly come as a surprise that the transfer of wealth to millions in the Western Pacific has resulted in millions being kicked out of the middle class in the North Atlantic. Free trade accomplishes many of the same nefarious economic goals that mass immigration does. Essentially, it allows capital to search for markets with the lowest capital-to-labor ratios that will allow it in, which in turn allows this capital to exact higher returns by exploiting the relative excess of labor that exist in the third world, transforming these countries into essentially industrial plantations run by semi-slaves. At the same time, workers in capital-exporting countries such as America have less bargaining power because of the decrease in capital, which puts massive downward pressure on their wages and benefits, assuming they even manage to hold on to their jobs. Not only is this devastating to their standard of living, but the lack of meaningful work in the production of tangible goods serves to eviscerate any sense of dignity and worth these workers and their families had, resulting in the myriad of social ills we see in rural America today, such as the opioid epidemic. There are also non-economic considerations that have been neglected in the debate on trade, namely the issue of national security. In such a globalized economic system, supply chains for even the most basic and essential goods are spread to the four corners of the globe. This only makes sense from a purely short-term monetary point of view. While this form of production might be profitable to specific firms in the short-run, it is an unmitigated disaster to the long-term interests of many countries, including our own. Any hiccup in the global supply chain can result in massive supply shocks around the world, a reality that was glaringly exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The fact that any section of our food and medical supply chains are located in China, our greatest geopolitical adversary, would have been considered treasonous not too long ago. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have outsourced America’s manufacturing for decades, offshoring jobs, deflating wages and destroying communities, particularly in rural America. Under these bad ‘free trade’ deals, other countries have also placed strict restrictions on U.S. exports entering their borders. The America First Caucus believes it is time to stop worshipping at the altar of idealized free trade, and actually deliver for American workers. We call for a new approach to trade that prioritizes American workers, treats U.S. exporters more fairly, imposes tariffs and import restrictions where necessary to protect our vital industries, and holds malevolent state actors—especially China—accountable for violating our trade laws on issues ranging from intellectual property left to forced technology transfers. Every new free trade agreement considered by Congress should be thoroughly assessed in order to ensure it benefits our country’s manufacturers and workers. We also cannot forget that jobs are personal—they impact individuals and families in unique and specific ways. Pretending that rising GDP or faster access to higher-quality products is always better than meaningful work for American workers and their families is a betrayal of our values and demonstrates complete ignorance of long-term consequences.
Environment
Conservation of the nation we live in is an important aspect of American nationalism. Since the 1980s, climate change, formerly known as global warming, has become a hot button political issue. The America First Caucus supports conservation of the environment and our national lands for the benefit of our nation. Having said that, we should not cripple our country’s manufacturing sector through agreements such as the Paris Climate Accords. We oppose the globalist, vague, and irrelevant policies being pushed under the guise of combating climate change. If Americans want to conserve the environment, they should push for better waste management and other substantive remedies, not wasteful social justice programs like the Green New Deal. Environmentalism also includes proper allocation of resources. Fishermen and hunters have legitimate, and culturally deep, ties to the land. Gold mines, copper mines and oil wells contribute to our modern lifestyle. All of these are to be balanced with preserving opportunities for hiking, camping and enjoying the visual beauty of our lands. On federal lands where the impact on local farmers and ranchers would be minimal, rewilding initiatives, including megafauna reintroductions, should also be explored, creating new opportunities for business and tourism
Energy
While it is vital to preserve our environment, we should not use it as an impetus to destroy the energy industry that hires millions of hard-working Americans. Our elected officials should stand proudly with America’s struggling coal country against job-killing regulations, and welcome the ongoing shift towards clean coal. In addition, the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines will promote North American energy independence and allow the United States to more easily extricate itself from the conflicts of the Middle East. Moreover, hydraulic fracking technology, when used appropriately, can provide more affordable oil and gas for Americans, and therefore any attempts to ban this practice on a national level should be resisted. The America First Caucus supports innovation in green energy, such as in the form of nuclear energy. However, it is important to closely scrutinize and reduce taxpayer subsidies for wasteful green energy projects that fail to deliver the required return on investment for the American people.
Protecting the Value of American Savings
Since the 1940s, the American dollar has been the global reserve currency, a position which has greatly benefitted the real American economy by strengthening the purchasing power of wages and savings. Unfortunately, the strength of America’s monetary position has been under attack for decades by Keynesian economists domestically, and by globalist institutions looking to enhance China’s position on the global stage. We must oppose international currency manipulation and its detrimental long-term impacts for the American economy and U.S. dollar. We must protect the rights of Americans to best position themselves for a changing economy by promoting the development of cryptocurrency companies domestically, and defend the rights of Americans to hold private stores of wealth – including gold, silver, and other blockchain-based currencies like Bitcoin.
America First Education
The 20th Century saw the decline in many vital American institutions. None has been more damaging to the United States than our education system. The increased consolidation of educational spending came with it the ability for powerful left-wing special interest groups to redirect the focus away from preparing future generations of national talent to progessive indoctrination and enrichment of an out-of-control elite oligarchy. Even worse, our education has worked to actively undermine pride in America’s great history and is actively hostile to the civic and cultural assimilation necessary for a strong nation. The future of America’s position in the world depends on addressing the crisis in education, at both the primary and secondary level.
The Chinese Communist Party
Not since the fall of the Soviet Union has America faced a civilizational challenge from another state actor quite like the modern Chinese Communist Party (CCP). While the liberalization of the Chinese government in the 90’s and early 2000s gave hope that the CCP was moving in the direction of being a peaceful and beneficial actor on the world stage, the Xi-era has been one defined by the dangerous resurrection of Neo-Maoist thinking. Unfortunately, American corporations – following federal policies that have actively incentivized investment outside of the US – have chosen to place short-term financial interests at the expense of basic human decency. In doing so, we must confront a dangerous new reality where much of America’s soft power is actively siding with an increasingly hostile-global actor, at the same time America’s military has been mismanaged into overextending itself in the sands of the Middle East. We must also check against any globalist institutions that increasingly laud the authoritarian nature of the CCP as a model for future governance, and not a terrifying rejection of civilized society. Furthermore, we understand that the rise of China means that the United States must be prepared militarily and economically to compete with a peer-competitor
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