The Free Congress Foundation (more formally the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, and Free Congress or FCF for short), is a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. founded and led by Paul Weyrich. Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ... This article is about the institution. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the... Paul M. Weyrich (born October 7, 1942 in Racine, Wisconsin) is a US conservative political activist and commentator. ...

Origin

In the 1960s and 1970s the labor union-backed National Committee for an Effective Congress was highly influential. In 1974, in part to counteract its influence, Weyrich founded the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress (CSFC), implying that Congress was dominated by labor and other liberal-leaning interest groups and that this situation needed to change. Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around the world. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers... Founded by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1948, the National Committee for an Effective Congress (or NCEC for short) is a political committee that provides voter-research resources to progressive political campaigns throughout the United States. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ...

The CSFC focused on elective politics, but Weyrich wanted an organization that also emphasized conservative social values, unlike the Heritage Foundation (which he had also founded). The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank located in Washington, D.C., is considered one of the worlds most influential public policy research institutes. ...

So the CSFC became a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation. It also has a sister organization, Coalitions for America, which, as a 501(c)(4), is permitted to lobby, and a political action committee, the Free Congress PAC, that is permitted to directly endorse and contribute to political candidates. The name "Free Congress" no longer directly refers to an effort to free Congress from liberal influence; it is now the equivalent of a brand name that has outgrown its origin and refers only to the organization that bears it. In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group organized to elect or defeat government officials in order to promote legislation, often supporting the groups special interests. ...

Broadcast efforts

Like many conservatives, Weyrich has long believed that the mainstream news and entertainment media have a liberal bias. In an attempt to help counteract this, in 1993, FCF launched a Washington, D.C.-based satellite television station called National Empowerment Television (NET). Its logo featured a square of nine dots, referring to a puzzle that cannot be solved without drawing lines "outside the box".

NET served in part as a platform for FCF and Weyrich's distinctive views and interests. For example, Weyrich is a supporter of rail, and Amtrak had a program on the channel called "America on Track"; another program, "The NEW New Electric Railway Journal", covered light rail. There were even programs about wine and music. Other programs focused on FCF activity: Endangered Liberties discussed privacy issues; Legal Notebook emphasized judicial nominations, and Next Revolution covered FCF's take on social conservatism. The most popular program was Direct Line with Paul Weyrich, in which the host interviewed lawmakers and other prominent figures live, and permitted the public to call in directly with questions and comments. Amtrak is the trademark name of the intercity passenger train system created on May 1, 1971 in the United States. ... This article is about light rail systems in general. ... A glass of red wine This article is about the beverage. ... Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Music Wikicities has a wiki related to this article: Music Look up Music in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Music City : a collaborative music database All Music Guide: includes a comprehensive and flexible Genre and Style system MusicWiki: A Collaborative Music-related...

NET was also a broader resource for the conservative movement. Many organizations bought the rights to air programs on the channel, including the National Rifle Association, the Christian Coalition, the Cato Institute, Accuracy in Media, and others. The National Rifle Association, or NRA, is an organization for gun owners advocacy in the United States. ... This article is about the organization presently operating in the United States. ... The Cato Institute is a non-profit public policy research foundation (think tank) with strong libertarian leanings (despite wide public perception that it is a conservative think-tank), headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is named after Catos Letters, a series of early 18th century British essays expounding the... Accuracy In Media (AIM) is an American conservative organization, founded in 1969, which monitors the U.S. media. ...

The channel featured high production values and cost a great deal, and in response to donor and investor pressure, FCF later retooled it, dropping all programs not directly related to public policy and conservative activism, and rebranding the channel as NET: The Conservative NewsTalk Network, with the initials NET no longer standing for anything, and the nine-dot logo replaced with one evoking the US Capitol dome. It also began news reports and updates. FCF planned to make the channel self-sustaining and fully commercial, but it was unsuccessful.

In a decision he later came to regret bitterly, Weyrich turned over day-to-day operation of the channel to an industry veteran who had been successful with other startups. After a power struggle which Weyrich lost, NET was rebranded again into "America's Voice", and the channel abandoned all conservative identity, marketing itself merely as a non-ideological way for the public to make its views known to policymakers. FCF had to pay to retain its four programs on the channel, and after controversy over their content, even those were removed. Viewer support collapsed, and Dish Network dropped it. Eventually the channel was sold, becoming "The Renaissance Network", airing on a few broadcast stations, mainly UHF and low-power channels. Facing ruin, TRN brought back FCF content, but it was too little, too late, and the channel folded. The Dish Network is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that broadcasts digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, owned by Echostar. ...

Although NET and its successors failed, Weyrich had seen a market opportunity among conservative viewers disenchanted with the media, one which the Fox News Channel reaped rich rewards from soon later. The FOX News Channel is a US cable and satellite news channel. ...

FCF has also experimented with radio broadcasting, airing weekly taped programs on the Liberty Works Radio Network and other outlets.

Today, it offers interviews, soundbites, and commentary readings on its website, FCF News on Demand (http://www.fcfnewsondemand.org).

External Links

Official website (http://www.freecongress.org)