Think Tanks
Here's a look at documents from think tanks
Featured Stories
The Buckeye Institute to SCOTUS: Hawaii Cannot Restrict Constitutional Rights It Does Not Like
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 24 [Category: Think Tank] -- The Buckeye Institute, an independent research and educational institution that says its mission is to advance free-market public policy, posted the following news release:
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The Buckeye Institute to SCOTUS: Hawaii Cannot Restrict Constitutional Rights It Does Not Like
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The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Wolford v. Lopez, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and tell Hawaii it cannot restrict constitutional rights the government does not like on private property when that property
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COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 24 [Category: Think Tank] -- The Buckeye Institute, an independent research and educational institution that says its mission is to advance free-market public policy, posted the following news release:
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The Buckeye Institute to SCOTUS: Hawaii Cannot Restrict Constitutional Rights It Does Not Like
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The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Wolford v. Lopez, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and tell Hawaii it cannot restrict constitutional rights the government does not like on private property when that propertyis open to public use.
"Imagine an Ohio law banning cars with bumper stickers from That School Up North from filling up at Ohio gas stations during the week of The Game unless the station posts a sign explicitly permitting ichigan fans," said David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute. "Such a law, while understandable during game week, is an obvious violation of constitutional rights. And Hawaii's lawcriminalizing carrying a firearm onto private property unless the owner expressly consentsis no less a violation."
In its brief, The Buckeye Institute argues that 1) the Second Amendment is entitled to the same deference, protection, and respect as all other constitutional rights; 2) that Hawaii's new law exemplifies a troubling trend of state overreach and shows remarkable indifference to Second Amendment rights; and 3) that Hawaii's law encroaches on the right to bear arms.
Hawaii's law not only deems the exercise of a constitutional right as illegal, but it also places a legal burden on property owners to have knowledge of the law and then make it clear to visitors and patrons that they are allowed to exercise their constitutional rights. Such a law is indefensible and an unconstitutional restriction on the right to keep and bear arms.
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Original text here: https://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/research/detail/the-buckeye-institute-to-scotus-hawaii-cannot-restrict-constitutional-rights-it-does-not-like
Novel Drug and Biologic Development: Impacts of Recent FDA Regulatory Efforts
WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 [Category: ThinkTank] -- The American Action Forum issued the following news release:
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Novel Drug and Biologic Development: Impacts of Recent FDA Regulatory Efforts
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a series of new guidance documents and policies intended to optimize the development and approval process of novel drugs and biologics. In a new insight, Health Care Policy Analyst Nicolas Montenegro outlines these reforms and considers their potential impact.
Key Points:
* The FDA's endeavors demonstrate the current agency leadership's commitment
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WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 [Category: ThinkTank] -- The American Action Forum issued the following news release:
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Novel Drug and Biologic Development: Impacts of Recent FDA Regulatory Efforts
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a series of new guidance documents and policies intended to optimize the development and approval process of novel drugs and biologics. In a new insight, Health Care Policy Analyst Nicolas Montenegro outlines these reforms and considers their potential impact.
Key Points:
* The FDA's endeavors demonstrate the current agency leadership's commitmentto address real and perceived regulatory inefficiencies that may have impeded biopharmaceutical innovation and patient access to promising new treatments.
* Specifically, the reforms include updates to translational and clinical research practices, new avenues of communication with therapeutic sponsors, adoption of tools and methods designed to make the agency more efficient, and alignment of FDA operations and regulatory incentives with broader federal health initiatives.
* Although some of the FDA's recent actions offer promising solutions to long-standing challenges faced by both pharmaceutical sponsors and patients -perhaps driving future biopharmaceutical innovation - the near and long-term success of these actions will likely depend on their proper implementation and potentially confounding impacts of conflicting government priorities.
Read the analysis (https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/novel-drug-and-biologic-development-impacts-of-recent-fda-regulatory-efforts/).
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Original text here: https://www.americanactionforum.org/press-release/novel-drug-and-biologic-development-impacts-of-recent-fda-regulatory-efforts/
CPA Applauds Chairman Moolenaar for Advancing America First Investment Policy to Protect U.S. Capital and National Security
WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 [Category: ThinkTank] -- The Coalition for a Prosperous America posted the following news release:
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CPA Applauds Chairman Moolenaar for Advancing America First Investment Policy to Protect U.S. Capital and National Security
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The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today applauded House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) for pursuing a permanent legislative solution to codify President Trump's America First Investment Policy a decisive step to ensure that American capital can no longer fund China's military buildup, surveillance
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WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 [Category: ThinkTank] -- The Coalition for a Prosperous America posted the following news release:
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CPA Applauds Chairman Moolenaar for Advancing America First Investment Policy to Protect U.S. Capital and National Security
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The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today applauded House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) for pursuing a permanent legislative solution to codify President Trump's America First Investment Policy a decisive step to ensure that American capital can no longer fund China's military buildup, surveillancestate, and human rights abuses.
CPA strongly supports Chairman Moolenaar's leadership and echoes his call to bar Chinese firms, including Alibaba, from accessing U.S. capital markets and technological innovation. As Chairman Moolenaar stated, "Alibaba shouldn't have access to U.S. markets and innovation." The company has been tied to the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) intelligence apparatus and has helped enable state surveillance and censorship across China as well as shared U.S. customer data and cyber vulnerabilities with the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
"Chairman Moolenaar is taking the necessary steps to protect the American people and U.S. investors from funding our adversaries," said Zach Mottl, Chairman of CPA. "China's corporations are not independent businessesthey are arms of the CCP's military and intelligence operations. The America First Investment Policy rightly seeks to ensure that Wall Street can no longer channel hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars into companies that build China's military, commit human rights atrocities, and threaten our national security. CPA strongly supports Chairman Moolenaar's effort to codify this policy into law."
CPA previously praised President Trump's America First Investment Policy memorandum, issued in February 2025, which directed U.S. agencies to restrict capital flows to Chinese entities tied to the CCP and PLA, including those linked to military modernization, surveillance, and forced labor. Together, these actions represent a historically important correction to decades of failed economic and financial engagement that allowed U.S. capital to fuel China's rise at the expense of American workers, manufacturers, and investors.
"The CCP's economic warfare depends on access to American money and markets," said Jon Toomey, President of CPA. "Chairman Moolenaar and President Trump understand that we cannot build a secure America while our financial institutions, index providers and retail investors are bankrolling Beijing's malevolent ambitions. Congress should move swiftly to pass legislation to codify the America First Investment Policy as the permanent foundation of U.S. capital market security."
CPA has long warned that U.S. index funds and asset managers have funneled trillions of dollars into Chinese firms over the past two and a half decadesmany of them officially sanctioned or blacklisted for ties to the People's Liberation Army and human rights abusesthrough passive investment vehicles and opaque exchange listings. Companies like Alibaba, Tencent, and Hikvision have benefited enormously from this access, raising billions of U.S. dollars to fund technologies to be used for military purposes and internal repression.
The America First Investment Policy and Chairman Moolenaar's proposed legislation mark a critical shift toward decoupling U.S. capital markets from funding Chinese corporate bad actors, ensuring that American savings and retirement funds are no longer weaponized against our nation.
CPA has released a series of three case-study reports to Congress exposing the growing influence of the Chinese Communist Party over major U.S. asset manager and other financial institutions. Together, these reports detail how leading Wall Street firms, asset managers, and index providers including BlackRock, Vanguard, FTSE Russell, Goldman Sachs, and MSCI have formed deep financial ties with CCP-controlled entities and funneled billions of dollars annually in U.S. investor capital into Chinese companies linked to human rights abuses, the military, and companies sanctioned by the U.S. government. Collectively, the findings show a pervasive and dangerous pattern: the CCP has secured unprecedented leverage over U.S. financial giants, creating serious risks to America's economic and national security.
* Read: " Inside the Wire: Wall Street's Joint Ventures with the Chinese Communist Party "
* Read: " Case Study for Congress: Vanguard & FTSE Russell - How Wall Street Funds the CCP & PLA with U.S. Investor Capital "
* Read: " Case Study for Congress: BlackRock & MSCI: How Wall Street's Offshore Companies Fund the CCP & PLA "
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Original text here: https://prosperousamerica.org/cpa-applauds-chairman-moolenaar-for-advancing-america-first-investment-policy-to-protect-u-s-capital-and-national-security/
Ceres CEO and President Mindy Lubber testifies on Beacon Hill to support the creation of a climate bank in Massachusetts
BOSTON, Massachusetts, Nov. 24 [Category: ThinkTank] -- Ceres, a non-profit organization that is mobilizing companies and investors to take stronger action on climate change, water scarcity and global sustainability challenges, posted the following news release:
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Ceres CEO and President Mindy Lubber testifies on Beacon Hill to support the creation of a climate bank in Massachusetts
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Ceres CEO and President Mindy Lubber testified last week in support of proposed legislation to create a climate bank designed to foster financial innovation to invest in climate mitigation and resilience projects
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BOSTON, Massachusetts, Nov. 24 [Category: ThinkTank] -- Ceres, a non-profit organization that is mobilizing companies and investors to take stronger action on climate change, water scarcity and global sustainability challenges, posted the following news release:
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Ceres CEO and President Mindy Lubber testifies on Beacon Hill to support the creation of a climate bank in Massachusetts
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Ceres CEO and President Mindy Lubber testified last week in support of proposed legislation to create a climate bank designed to foster financial innovation to invest in climate mitigation and resilience projectsand accelerate the deployment of clean energy projects across the Commonwealth. Lubber urged members of the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Committee on Financial Services, in both written and oral comments, to advance the legislation, known as the Act Creating a Climate Bank in Massachusetts (H.3937 / S.786).
"Private capital is one of the last largely untapped financial resources in Massachusetts for funding the transition to a cleaner energy economy and building resilience," Lubber wrote in her written testimony. "The Climate Bank would leverage public and private investments to provide low-interest loans, credit enhancements, and other financial products. Homeowners, small businesses, and other beneficiaries across Massachusetts could use this innovative financing to combat climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote clean energy, and facilitate climate resilience across the state."
Lubber also underscored that the proposed climate bank follows a well-established model. There are 40 other state and local climate banks in the United States. By using public seed monies to leverage much larger sums of private capital, these state and local climate banks collectively invested $10.6 billion into clean energy projects in 2023 alone. She also offered recommendations to the proposed legislation to ensure that environmental justice communities, as defined by Massachusetts state law, should be a priority for lending, in addition to the rural and coastal communities already identified.
Read Lubber's full written testimony here. It will be submitted for the record later this week.
About Ceres
Ceres is a nonprofit advocacy organization working to accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more just, and resilient economy. With data-driven research and expert analysis, we inspire investors and companies to act on the world's sustainability challenges and advocate for market and policy solutions. Together, our efforts transform industries, unlock new business opportunities, and foster innovation and job growth - proving that sustainability is the bottom line. For more information, visit ceres.org.
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Original text here: https://www.ceres.org/resources/news/ceres-ceo-and-president-mindy-lubber-testifies-on-beacon-hill-to-support-the-creation-of-a-climate-bank-in-massachusetts
Capital Research Center: Where Do Leftist Networks Go When They Die?
WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 -- The Capital Research Center issued the following commentary on Nov. 21, 2025:
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Where do leftist networks go when they die?
The death of ACORN, and its afterlife
By Michael Watson
In 2010, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, better known by the acronym ACORN, declared bankruptcy and dissolved. It was a moment of triumph for conservative activists who had implicated the left-wing network in controversial voter registration practices and who had caught network employees appearing to condone illegal activities on surreptitiously recorded videos.
But
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WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 -- The Capital Research Center issued the following commentary on Nov. 21, 2025:
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Where do leftist networks go when they die?
The death of ACORN, and its afterlife
By Michael Watson
In 2010, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, better known by the acronym ACORN, declared bankruptcy and dissolved. It was a moment of triumph for conservative activists who had implicated the left-wing network in controversial voter registration practices and who had caught network employees appearing to condone illegal activities on surreptitiously recorded videos.
Butbankruptcy does not mean the underlying assets cease to exist, and dissolving the network does not mean that the local organizers will sit idle forever. In the case of ACORN, those local organizers ensured the network continued its work supporting left-wing politicians, labor union organizing campaigns, and radical low-income housing policies.
The stiff
Despite the election of ACORN ally Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008, the organization had an unhappy time from around then through its official dissolution in 2010. Conservatives had long suspected ACORN of engaging in voter registration fraud, and numerous ACORN-affiliated activists faced charges for their work with the group. ACORN had relied on federal funds for a substantial amount of its network operations, and faced Congressional action to strip future funds.
And then two right-wing undercover activists with a hidden camera started showing up at ACORN regional office to make ACORN's life even worse. The series of undercover stings conducted by James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles showed ACORN staff appearing to aid the two in creating a prostitution ring, and increased the public pressure on ACORN as an organization. By the end of 2010, its position had become untenable, and ACORN filed for bankruptcy and ceased to exist.
The afterlife
But that was not the end of the ACORN network. The national structure may have dissolved, but the local roots were well established and lived on after ACORN died. Local-level constituent parts of the network continued operating much as they had been, with funding from institutional leftist donors like the Service Employees International Union to conduct union organizing campaigns. This is not disputed: By the mid-2010s, liberal outlets were enthusiastic about how the "successors" were continuing ACORN's work despite right-wing efforts to shut it down.
Striking with SEIU
The successor groups rose to national prominence as the grunts in the Service Employees International Union's "Fast Food Strikes" in the "Fight for $15" campaign. The SEIU has long sought to organize quick-service restaurants like McDonald's, seeking a foothold toward a potential billion-dollar windfall in dues revenues.
In late 2012, the union adopted an aggressive public relations strategy to pressure the company to agree to a "card check" unionization, to encourage the Obama administration to make regulatory changes favorable to union organizing, and to persuade left-wing local governments to enact substantial increases to minimum wages. Under the management of liberal political public relations firm BerlinRosen, the SEIU would stage-manage what it called "fast food strikes" for "$15 and a union."
But workplace-level organizing is hard. Drawing on existing activist allies is easy, and if the media is on one's side (and for Big Labor, it almost always is) activists in different shirts can be portrayed not as 'filling out the bodies' but as 'a broad-based grassroots coalition of community groups.' So the SEIU shoveled millions of dollars out the door to ACORN successor groups, among them New York Communities for Change (NYCC), Chicago's Action Now, Missourians Organized for Reform and Empowerment, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, and the Black Institute, run by former ACORN head Bertha Lewis, to ensure that the ACORN successors were ready to support a multi-year national campaign.
In Heaven with Bill: When ACORN's successors ruled New York
In 2013, the New York City-based ACORN successors like NYCC and the Black Institute (alongside the campaign consultants at BerlinRosen) helped put a very good friend in that city's mayoral office: then-Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. The "Mayor from ACORN" invited former ACORN head Lewis to his victory stage to celebrate his securing the Democratic nomination, and reporting noted that de Blasio had worked closely with ACORN as a city and federal housing official.
De Blasio was also closely allied with labor unions, especially the 1199SEIU division of the SEIU. Not surprisingly, the union-tied mayor was intimately involved with the union-tied formerly-ACORN activist network.
Lessons
The ACORN successors continue their work, and continue morphing into the street-level grunts of whatever campaigns the radical left are conducting at any given time. They participated in the "summer of love" in 2020; through the ACORN-linked (but not lineally descended) Working Families Party, they helped bring socialist New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (D) to power.
As Arabella Advisors goes to meet its reward and breaks into the Sunflower Services and Vital Impact networks, the lessons of ACORN are clear. The end of a network does not mean the end of its work--and Capital Research Center's work watching these networks does not end with their deaths.
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Michael Watson
Michael is Research Director for Capital Research Center and serves as the managing editor for InfluenceWatch.
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Original text here: https://capitalresearch.org/article/where-do-leftist-networks-go-when-they-die/
[Category: ThinkTank]
Capital Research Center: InfluenceWatch Friday - Nov. 21, 2025
WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 -- The Capital Research Center issued the following wrapup:
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InfluenceWatch Friday
By Jonathan Harsh
InfluenceWatch, a project of Capital Research Center, is a comprehensive and ever-evolving compilation of our research into the numerous advocacy groups, foundations, and donors working to influence the public policy process. The website offers transparency into these influencers' funding, motives, and connections while providing insight often neglected by other watchdog groups.
The information compiled in InfluenceWatch gives news outlets and other interested parties
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 -- The Capital Research Center issued the following wrapup:
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InfluenceWatch Friday
By Jonathan Harsh
InfluenceWatch, a project of Capital Research Center, is a comprehensive and ever-evolving compilation of our research into the numerous advocacy groups, foundations, and donors working to influence the public policy process. The website offers transparency into these influencers' funding, motives, and connections while providing insight often neglected by other watchdog groups.
The information compiled in InfluenceWatch gives news outlets and other interested partiesresearch to use in reporting on significant topics that are often overlooked by the American public.
CRC is pleased to present some of the most significant additions to InfluenceWatch in the past week:
* Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a United Nations (UN) agreement for member nations to promote biodiversity conservation. It is partnered with other UN institutions such as the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the United Nations Development Program. Partners listed on the Convention's website include the World Wide Fund for Nature (also known as the World Wildlife Fund), Friends of Ecosystem-based Adaptation, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and The Nature Conservancy.
* Western North Carolina Workers Center (WNCWC) is a labor-aligned advocacy group that helps organize workers around Asheville, North Carolina, particularly regarding health and safety issues in the poultry-processing industry. It is a participant in the AFL-CIO's Worker Center Partner Program which connects worker centers with state and regional labor union federations and labor councils. Funders of WNCWC have included the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), the Ford Foundation, Interfaith Worker Justice, the Southern Vision Alliance, the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, and the NEO Philanthropy Action Fund.
* Nonprofit Information Networking Association (NINA) is a nonprofit that runs Nonprofit Quarterly (NPQ), which publishes stories on nonprofits and civil society. Among other things, NPQ covers "equity-centered leadership, philanthropy, racial equity, economic justice, and nonprofit advocacy and public policy." NINA has received funding from the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the National Philanthropic Trust, the Kresge Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
* Maynard Institute is a media education nonprofit that promotes the "national, collaborative drive for equity, belonging, and diversity in news media." It has worked with the Associated Press, the Ida B. Wells Society, the Nieman Foundation, the Online News Association, Open News, Politico, and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. The Maynard Institute has received funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Democracy Fund, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the New Venture Fund.
* Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) is a South Africa-based legal advocacy group that promotes left-of-center policies regarding migration, housing, environmentalism, and penal reform. Between 2007 and 2024, LHR received over $3 million in funding from the Ford Foundation. Other funders include the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, the International Institute for Environment and Development, and the European Commission.
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Jonathan Harsh holds a master's degree in political science from James Madison University and a bachelor's degree in political science from Beloit College. He edits entries and content of the InfluenceWatch website and contributes new content.
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Original text here: https://capitalresearch.org/article/influencewatch-friday-11-21-2025/
[Category: ThinkTank]
AFPI, Benny Johnson Launch 'Make Housing Great Again' Initiative
WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following news release on Nov. 21, 2025:
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AFPI, Benny Johnson Launch 'Make Housing Great Again' Initiative
New Partnership Aims to Restore the American Dream for Young Americans
The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) today announced "Restoring the American Dream: Make Housing Great Again," a national initiative led by Benny Johnson, an award-winning media personality and host of "The Benny Show", which has garnered more than 5 billion views worldwide.
Under Johnson's leadership, the initiative will focus on improving
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following news release on Nov. 21, 2025:
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AFPI, Benny Johnson Launch 'Make Housing Great Again' Initiative
New Partnership Aims to Restore the American Dream for Young Americans
The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) today announced "Restoring the American Dream: Make Housing Great Again," a national initiative led by Benny Johnson, an award-winning media personality and host of "The Benny Show", which has garnered more than 5 billion views worldwide.
Under Johnson's leadership, the initiative will focus on improvingthe lives of young Americans by working to make homeownership and family life accessible and affordable once more.
For generations, strong families, homeownership, and economic stability have defined the American Dream. However, recent polling shows that most Americans, especially Gen Z and Millennials, believe that they will never be able to own a home or afford to build a stable family.
This new initiative aims to reverse these trends with bold, pro-family, pro-growth policies. As national spokesperson, Johnson will bring a powerful voice to the partnership by engaging Americans who feel forgotten.
"Homes are too expensive and totally out of reach for young people. The slow death of the American Dream is happening before our eyes. It is a generational betrayal and we must reverse this trend by Making Housing Great Again," said Johnson. "Today, the average homebuyer in America is 40 years old. That is well past the optimal age for marriage and family creation. The battle for home ownership is a battle for our cultural and civilizational survival. We need more young people to get married and start families and that cannot happen without a culture of homeownership. We must deliver on this promise for our young people. The American Dream hangs in the balance."
"Rising costs, stagnant wages, regulatory burdens, and a culture that too often diminishes traditional aspirations have left millions feeling directionless and forgotten," added Greg Sindelar, AFPI's Interim President and CEO. "AFPI is committed to reversing this trend by advancing meaningful, actionable policy solutions rooted in the principles of the America First movement."
"A home is where families grow strong and the American Dream comes alive," said Ashley Hayek, AFPI's Executive Vice President and Co-Chair of the Initiative. "Young Americans have been told they can't build a future, but under President Trump's leadership and America First policies, anything is possible again. As a mom, I refuse the Left's defeatist narrative and with partners like Benny Johnson, we're fighting to restore hope, opportunity, and a future our kids can believe in."
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Original text here: https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/issues/afpi-benny-johnson-launch-make-housing-great-again-initiative
[Category: ThinkTank]
