The American Principles Project is a 501 think tank founded in 2009 by Robert George, Jeff Bell, and Frank Cannon. It is chaired by Sean Fieler. APP promoteshuman dignityin public policy, supporting the respect for human life from conception to natural death, marriage between one man and one woman, the idea that human beings are divided into two complementary biological sexes, religious freedom, and the thorough preservation of constitutional values. They have also led efforts opposing the Common Core standard and advocated for monetary reform by suggesting a return to the gold standard.
History
In 2009, the American legal scholar Robert P. George and political strategist Frank Cannon formed APP in order to promote a message of human dignity that they believed was absent in the politics of both parties. By combining high level academic study with effective political strategy, George and Cannon achieved a number of early successes, even with an initially small budget. In 2010, Jeff Bell became the policy director at APP, alongside Cannon providing significant political experience. In 2011, APP served as the lead sponsor of the Palmetto Freedom Forum, a Republican presidential primary debate televised nationally by CNN. They choose the panelists in an effort led by APP program director Emmett McGroarty. Following the Republican Party's post-2012 election review, in which the GOP suggested de-emphasizing social issues, APP published a report detailing the importance of social issues to the Republican Party. The report pointed out that Republicans ran almost exclusively on economic issues during the 2012 election to lackluster effect.American Principles Project#cite note-10| Four years later, during the 2016 primary, APP created scorecards on a variety of issues and a pledge to sign the First Amendment Defense Act into law that was subsequently signed by the vast majority of Republican candidates. APP also led the charge opposing the Common Core in Indiana, the first state to legislatively repeal it.
Policy initiatives
Family Policy
APP believes that the family stands as the most fundamental unit of society, and supports policy that protects and promotes the welfare of American families. In 2018, APP’s sister organization released a “Contract with American Families” detailing a number of specific policy proposals the organization supports to help strengthen the family.
Education
The American Principles Project describes its education initiative as an effort to "promote policies and actions that protect children and secure their future." It has been critical of the Common Core standards. In 2012, Jane Robbins, Senior Fellow at the American Principles Project, and Emmett McGroarty, Executive Director of APP Education, co-authored a report for the APP and the Pioneer Institute called Controlling Education From The Top: Why Common Core Is Bad For America. Both McGroarty and Robbins have published numerous articles discussing what they perceive as flaws in Common Core, both in its contents and in the way it was enacted. APP staff members have testified before state legislatures, encouraging states to withdraw from the Common Core standards. APP argued that the Republican Party would suffer in the 2016 presidential election if it fielded a pro-Common Core candidate. The American Principles Project launched an effort to expose what it calls a "radical new Advanced Placement U.S. History framework," charging that the new AP U.S. History framework teaches a "biased, leftist" version of the traditionally objective curriculum.
Economics and monetary policy
The American Principles Project has been critical of Federal Reserve System monetary policy and has advocated a return to the gold standard. In November 2014, Steve Lonegan, Director of Monetary Policy at the American Principles Project, sent a public letter to Federal Reserve ChairmanJanet Yellen requesting a meeting to discuss how current monetary policy is "reducing" the standard of living for "average working Americans."
