American Solutions for Winning the Future (often referred to as American Solutions) was a

527 organization A 527 organization or 527 group is a type of U.S. tax-exempt organization organized under Section 527 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (). A 527 group is created primarily to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defea ...

created by former

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...

. The group first received national attention for its 2008 effort, "Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less", focused on the issue of

offshore drilling Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the te ...

. The organization closed in July 2011. American Solutions was established by Gingrich in 2007.Kendra Narr
Former Gingrich 527 closes
''Politico'' (August 26, 2011). Gingrich served as chairman of the group. The group was a "fundraising juggernaut" that raised $52 million from major donors, such as

Sheldon Adelson Sheldon Gary Adelson (; August 4, 1933 – January 11, 2021) was an American businessman, investor, political donor and philanthropist. He was the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which owns th ...

and the coal company

Peabody Energy Peabody Energy is a coal mining and energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Its primary business consists of the mining, sale, and distribution of coal, which is purchased for use in electricity generation and steelmaking. Peabody ...

. The group promoted deregulation and increased

offshore oil drilling Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the te ...

and other

fossil-fuel A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ma ...

extraction and opposed the

Employee Free Choice Act The Employee Free Choice Act is the name for several legislative bills on US labor law (, , , , , , , , .) which have been proposed and sometimes introduced into one or both chambers of the U.S. Congress. The bill's purpose, as taken from the 200 ...

;Kathryn McGarr & Kenneth P. Vogel
Newt's big cash haul: $8 million
''Politico'' (July 31, 2009). ''Politico'' reported in 2009 that, "The operation, which includes a pollster and fundraisers, promotes Gingrich’s books, sends out

direct mail Advertising mail, also known as direct mail (by its senders), junk mail (by its recipients), mailshot or admail (North America), letterbox drop or letterboxing (Australia) is the delivery of advertising material to recipients of postal mail. The d ...

, airs ads touting his causes and funds his travel across the country." American Solutions closed in 2011 after he left the organization.

Organization

American Solutions was officially launched with an opening presentation on September 27, 2007, before a standing-room only crowd at the Cobb Galleria Center in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, which featured then-Governor

Sonny Perdue George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III (born December 20, 1946) is an American veterinarian, businessman, politician, and university administrator who served as the 31st United States Secretary of Agriculture from 2017 to 2021. He previously served as t ...

. On September 29, 2007, American Solutions held its first "Solutions Day" with more than 2,000 workshops across the United States, designed to help volunteers learn how to get involved with government activism at the state, federal and local level. American Solutions' broad goals include transforming government "from bloated bureaucracy to lean machine." In October 2010, American Solutions Director of Internet Strategy was named at

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

's PoliticsOnline conference as one of the "Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics", joined by fellow winners including President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

''. The same month, ''Politico'' reported American Solutions had raised more than $10 million during the 2010 year.

Initiatives

"Drill Here. Drill Now." is an American political slogan coined on May 20, 2008, by former speaker of the House,

and the organization to advocate for increased use of America's domestic energy resources in a bid to lower the cost of oil. The slogan inspired the title of Gingrich's 2008 book ''Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less: A Handbook for Slashing Gas Prices and Solving Our Energy Crisis''.

Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less

In 2008, American Solutions launched its ''Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.'' campaign, which involved a television ad campaign featuring Gingrich and a petition to Congress in support of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, and expanded

. The petition stated "We ... the undersigned citizens of the United States, petition the U.S. Congress to act immediately to lower gasoline prices (and diesel and other fuel prices) by authorizing the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries."Sarah Wheaton
Gingrich Weighs In on Drilling
''New York Times'' (June 19, 2008).

South Carolina Republican Party The South Carolina Republican Party (SCGOP) is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in South Carolina. It is one of two major political parties in the state, along with the South Carolina Democratic Party, and is the dominant par ...

chairman Katon Dawson was the first state party chair to endorse the campaign. The petition garnered over a million names and email addresses.

Jobs Here. Jobs Now. Jobs First

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker runs for Governor of Wisconsin in October 2010

In August 2009, American Solutions launched its "Jobs Here. Jobs Now. Jobs First" campaign, which promoted five major tax cuts: a two-year, 50 percent reduction in

payroll taxes Payroll taxes are taxes imposed on employers or employees, and are usually calculated as a percentage of the salaries that employers pay their employees. By law, some payroll taxes are the responsibility of the employee and others fall on the em ...

; a 100 percent annual write-off for small businesses' new equipment purchases; a reduction in the

corporate income tax A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities. Many countries impose such taxes at the national level, and a similar tax may be imposed at ...

to 12.5 percent (the Irish rate); elimination of the

estate tax An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an es ...

; and elimination of the

capital gains tax A capital gains tax (CGT) is the tax on profits realized on the sale of a non-inventory asset. The most common capital gains are realized from the sale of stocks, Bond (finance), bonds, precious metals, real estate, and property. Not all count ...

No More Obamacare

On January 6, 2011, American Solutions launched NoMoreObamacare.com, a website encouraging congressional Republican lawmakers to defund and repeal the federal health care legislation passed in 2010. The site included a petition calling for the bill’s repeal as well as tools for activists. As of January 19, 2011, the petition had gathered more than 100,000 signatures.

Dissolution

Gingrich left the organization when he announced his forming an exploratory committee to run for president in March 2011, as required by law. The organization was dissolved in July 2011. Joe Gaylord, who took over after Gingrich's departure, stated: "We had difficulty raising money after Newt left." During its four years it raised $52 million but spent nearly two-thirds of that on fundraising. According to an August 2011 filing with the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

, it raised $2.4 million in the first half of 2011, but spent $2.9 million. On September 14, 2011, the defunct organization's landlord, B.G.W. Limited Partnership, filed a complaint against American Solutions in the landlord-tenant division of

District of Columbia Superior Court The Superior Court of the District of Columbia, commonly referred to as DC Superior Court, is the trial court for the District of Columbia, in the United States. It hears cases involving criminal and civil law, as well as family court, landl ...

alleging that the organization owed $16,000 in back rent on its offices located in the same "K" Street building that houses the other Gingrich Enterprises organizations, and that the office space had neither been vacated nor the keys surrendered. American Solutions failed to enter an appearance at a court hearing held on October 6, and on October 19 Superior Court Judge A. Franklin Burgess Jr. ruled that the organization owed $20,130 in back rent and court fees and authorized the U.S. Marshals Service to evict American Solutions.Benson, Cle
"Gingrich’s Former Political Group Ordered to Pay Delinquent Rent"
Bloomberg News, November 29, 2011

References

External links

AmericanSolutions.com

Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less

Stop the Energy Tax
{{Newt Gingrich 527 organizations Newt Gingrich Non-profit organizations based in Georgia (U.S. state) Organizations established in 2007 Conservative organizations in the United States