Action Archive

The American Dream is slipping out of reach for more and more families. Yet instead of addressing the root crises, our national debate has been hijacked by pigs, lipstick and tabloid gossip.

In response, the Institute for America's Future launched a 7-week campaign to demand a debate worthy of a great nation in trouble. It started with a New York Times ad series demanding a debate worthy of America. We then stepped up pressure for the debate we need by launching a petition drive aimed at the moderators of the presidential and VP debates: Tom Brokaw, Gwen Ifill, Jim Lehrer, and Bob Schieffer. By the end of our campaign nearly 13,000 progressives signed our petition, which helped us send a clear signal to the moderators: we deserve a debate worthy of a great nation in trouble. more »

When the Bush administration sent a request to Congress for a $700 billion blank check for Wall Street Campaign for America's Future jumped into action, and so did progressives all across the country. Within days, progressives sent over 80,000 emails to members of Congress demanding that any bailout measure passed through Congress must contain strict oversight, new regulations, and help for Main Street, not just Wall Street. more »

We went right into the lion's den and aired this TV ad for conservatives and media members gathered at the 2008 Republican National Committee Convention. The ad broadcasts unforgettable moments from conservatives’ last eight years in power -- memories they now wish the country would forget.

Thanks to the generous support of Campaign for America's Future supporters, we raised over $20,000 -- enough to saturate the airwaves with this ad throughout the convention host city -- which in turn attracted the national media exposure needed to broadcast the ad across the country. more »

In response to repeated attacks on the patriotism of progressives by right-wing media outlet Fox News, Campaign for America's Future launched the "Tell Fox News – They Don’t Own Patriotism" campaign. The goal of the campaign was to send a clear message to Fox News team in a format to which they'd be receptive: namely, personalized declarations of patriotism, each attached with a genuine Made-In-the-USA flag pin. The thrust of these personal declarations was that progressives are patriotic Americans too, and that no one holds a monopoly on patriotism. more »

The Failure of Conservatism Conference more »

The Campaign for America's Future delivered 85 pages of signatures from people across the country demanding the resignation of the acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Nancy Nord. The organization also produced a controversial YouTube video to highlight the failures of the CPSC and the conservative ideology governing the agency.

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During the 110th Congress, progress on key issues was repeatedly obstructed in the Senate by the conservative minority. We launched a petition encouraging the Senate Majority Leader to not back down from the filibuster threats, and nearly 20,000 people signed on. Pressure from our campaign and progressives across the country pushed Senator Reid to force the Republicans to filibuster in a headline-grabbing move.

Unfortunately Reid only forced the filibuster for one day--and after that returned to letting the conservative minority have its way. We stepped up our pressure on Reid by publicizing the conservative obstruction with this video, which received over 100,000 views. Unfortunately, Reid failed to stand up against the obstruction, which cost the 110th Congress precious opportunity for progress. more »

In January 2007, we successfully called upon the new House of Representatives to serve the public interest and not the special interest — to raise the minimum wage, cut student loan rates, empower Medicare to negotiate for lower prices and redirect Big Oil subsidies into renewable energy. Through multiple letter-writing campaigns, more than 15,000 emails were sent to members of the House. And they got the message, passing every item in House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi's "First 100 Hours" package. more »

President Bush's 2007 State of the Union address was, true to form, divorced from reality. We made sure the public knew the real State of the Union. We published "State of the Union -- By The Numbers," encouraged our supporters to write letters to the editor, and we developed an online video, "State of Delusion." more »

From September to November 2006, we exposed some of Washington's worst pay-to-play politicians. Through TV and print ads, online videos, direct mail and phone calls, we informed more than one million voters about how their representatives were responsible for Iraq war profiteering, the Part D drug disaster, and outsourcing American jobs.

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