The Conservative Caucus, or TCC, is an American public policy organization and

lobbying group In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

emphasizing

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

citizen activism and headquartered in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

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It was founded in 1974 by Howard Phillips, who led until 2012 when he retired due to his health. He was replaced by current chairman, Peter J. Thomas. Most of the organization's $3.8 million budget comes from the efforts of

New Right New Right is a term for various right-wing political groups or policies in different countries during different periods. One prominent usage was to describe the emergence of certain Eastern European parties after the collapse of the Soviet Uni ...

fundraising gurus

Richard Viguerie Richard Art Viguerie (; born September 23, 1933) is an American conservative figure, pioneer of political direct mail and writer on politics. He is the current chairman of ConservativeHQ.com. Life and career Viguerie was born in Golden Acres, T ...

and Bruce Eberle. The organization produced a weekly conservative television program, Conservative Roundtable, which was hosted by Mr. Phillips until his retirement. Howard Phillips was also President of The Conservative Caucus Research, Analysis and Education Foundation (TCCF), a 501(c)3

tax-deductible Tax deduction is a reduction of income that is able to be taxed and is commonly a result of expenses, particularly those incurred to produce additional income. Tax deductions are a form of tax incentives, along with exemptions and tax credits. T ...

organization.

Issues of focus

TCC promotes an uncompromisingly

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

line on a wide range of issues. The following are a few it has emphasized:

Foreign/military

Immigration

TCC opposes

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

and legislation characterized by TCC as an amnesty for illegal immigrants, such as

S. 2611 The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA, ) was a United States Senate bill introduced in the 109th Congress (2005–2006) by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PE) on April 7, 2006. Co-sponsors, who signed on the same day, were Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), ...

. The organization supports measures to secure the Mexican border, including a complete fence.

North American Union

TCC opposes the

North American Union The North American Union (NAU) is a theoretical economic and political continental union of Canada, Mexico and the United States, the three largest and most populous countries in North America. The concept is loosely based on the European Union, o ...

(NAU), which the TCC sees as the merging of the United States with Mexico and Canada. TCC also opposes the

NAFTA Superhighway The NAFTA superhighway is a term sometimes used informally to refer to certain existing and proposed highways intended to link Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Although the term has not been used publicly by governments in an official policy ...

which it sees as facilitating smuggling, terrorist infiltration, and bypassing American port workers by using cheaper Mexican ports. TCC held a news conference on October 25, 2006 announcing formation of a coalition to oppose the NAU, which was featured by Lou Dobbs on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

. The NAU is connected to the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). TCC is a founder of the 'Coalition to Block the North American Union', and held a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in August 2007 at the time of the SPP summit in Montebello, Quebec with the leaders of the United States, Mexico and Canada. Participating were representatives of many United States organizations as well as Connie Fogal, the Leader of the

Canadian Action Party The Canadian Action Party (CAP) (french: Parti action canadienne, PAC) was a Canadian Canadian confederation, federal political party founded in 1997 and deregistered on 31 March 2017. The party stood for Canadian nationalism, monetary reform, mo ...

. The news conference was covered by Fox, CTV, Reuters, the ''Wall Street Journal'' and other U.S. and Canadian media outlets.

Trade

TCC is opposed in principle to what is called excessive or unlimited

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

, seeing such policies as being dangerous to the economic well-being of the American

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

, the manufacturing sector, and of the United States as a whole. TCC also specifically opposes various trade treaties, such as the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...

(WTO),

North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...

(NAFTA),

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its pre ...

(GATT), and others as being threats to US sovereignty.

Cold War

Throughout the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, TCC took a strong

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

stance, favoring active U.S. involvement around the world to undermine or overthrow pro-Soviet governments and bolster anti-Soviet allies. TCC often voiced concerns that the U.S. and its allies had fallen behind the

Eastern bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

in the

arms race An arms race occurs when two or more groups compete in military superiority. It consists of a competition between two or more states to have superior armed forces; a competition concerning production of weapons, the growth of a military, and t ...

to a position of military inferiority, not merely quantitatively but qualitatively as well.

China

TCC sees the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

as a major military threat to U.S. security and interests. It suspects China of seeking to gain strategic control of the Panama Canal through a front company,

Hutchison Whampoa Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) was an investment holding company based in Hong Kong. It was a Fortune Global 500 company and one of the largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. HWL was an international corporation with a dive ...

. It also opposes

Permanent Normal Trade relations The status of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) is a legal designation in the United States for free trade with a foreign nation. The designation was changed from '' most favored nation'' (MFN) to ''normal trade relations'' by Section 5003 of ...

with China and China's membership in the

Panama Canal

TCC opposed the

Panama Canal Treaties Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

which transferred control of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

from the U.S. to

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. To this day, it lobbies to return a limited American military presence to protect the Canal due to its strategic importance in trade and defense. TCC also fears that the Canal is vulnerable to terrorism.

United Nations

TCC supports a U.S. withdrawal from the UN, perceiving the organization as having ambitions to be a

world government World government is the concept of a single political authority with jurisdiction over all humanity. It is conceived in a variety of forms, from tyrannical to democratic, which reflects its wide array of proponents and detractors. A world gove ...

hostile to US interests and sovereignty, and which routinely votes against American interests.

Domestic

Constitutionalism

TCC supports

strict constructionism In the United States, strict constructionism is a particular legal philosophy of judicial interpretation that limits or restricts such interpretation only to the exact wording of the law (namely the Constitution). Strict sense of the term ...

and

original intent Original intent is a theory in law concerning constitutional and statutory interpretation. It is frequently used as a synonym for originalism; while original intent is indeed one theory in the originalist family, it has some salient differenc ...

when it comes to

constitutional interpretation A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

. In its view, the majority of federal agencies and activities are unconstitutional. Through its "Constitutional Education Program", TCC seeks to educate citizens on the Constitution and its importance in protecting the liberty of all Americans. TCC sponsors an annual 'Constitution Day' educational event on the anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution (September 17, 1789), which in 2006 was televised on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

Health care

A major focus of TCC activism in 2009 and 2010 was opposing President Obama's

health care reform Health care reform is for the most part governmental policy that affects health care delivery in a given place. Health care reform typically attempts to: * Broaden the population that receives health care coverage through either public sector insur ...

bills and any greater government involvement in health care. Following passage, TCC is campaigning for the repeal of the enacted reform bill.

Washington, DC Congressional seat

TCC opposes efforts to create a full voting seat in the House of Representatives for the District of Columbia, based upon the Constitutional provisions that only states can have Congressional representation, and the Founding Fathers' intention to keep the nation's capital a neutral territory where all states may meet without fear of undue influence. TCC also opposed efforts to make the city into a state.

Taxes/IRS

TCC favors abolishing the

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

and replacing it with a low revenue tariff. This would eliminate the need for the

Internal Revenue Service 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 ta ...

Social issues

TCC is strongly

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

and opposes

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. It favors school prayer and championed former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice

Roy Moore Roy Stewart Moore (born February 11, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer, and jurist who served as the 27th and 31st chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2013 to 2017, each time being removed fro ...

for his stance favoring the display of the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

Conservative Roundtable

''Conservative Roundtable'' was a nationally broadcast weekly conservative television program produced by The Conservative Caucus beginning in 1991. Each episode featured Howard Phillips conducting "in-depth interviews of key news makers, including authors, members of Congress, candidates for office, policy experts, inventors and academics". By 2004, over 400 episodes had aired on television across the country. The show continued until 2012, when Howard Phillips stepped down from the Conservative Caucus due to health reasons. The show's producer, Art Harman, commented that during the show's two decades in production it had reached "20 million households on 125 cable channels nationwide".

References

External links

Howard Phillips' Blog

* ttps://www.youtube.com/tcctv Official Video Channel
TCC's Healthcare Website

TCC's Space Issues Website

a "web search resource for conservative activists" {{DEFAULTSORT:Conservative Caucus, The Organizations established in 1974 Political organizations based in the United States New Right organizations (United States) Conservative organizations in the United States