AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE CURRENT PRESIDENT OF THE ACLP

Dear friends,

Now that we are through the summer and the labor day holiday and intent on getting back to blogging at the ACLP, I feel an explanation for the recent months long sabbatical from regular blog postings is in order, (and in fact, long overdue).

First of all, allow me to apologize to any readers who had come to appreciate our blogging and analysis on issues of import to our republic. Initially, our absence from the public debate over these last few months has been partially due to distinctly personal reasons, (e.g., my six year old daughter visiting with me almost the whole summer and my need to meet many personal obligations), but not entirely. Pertinently, we have been engaged in contemplation over the direction and structure of the ACLP as an organization.

As most of you who follow the ACLP blog know, as President of this non-profit organization since its founding I have almost single-handedly been responsible for the regular postings on the blog since its creation and worked tirelessly to expand our outreach, (sometimes in the face of withering criticism and personal attack, indeed, the vitriol I have endured has been one reason I felt it necessary to post semi-autonomously, a time-honored tradition in our country dating back to Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay collaborating to publicly write articles in the “The Independent Journal” and “The New York Packet” between October 1787 and August 1788 under the pseudonym “publius” in favor of the newly proposed American Constitution).

As many of you are also aware, I have done so without a salary or renumeration of any kind, (though as those who know me personally will attest, this endeavor has never been about money, but an idea and desire to make a difference in this greatest experiment in liberty on earth which we call America!)

Indeed, in discharging what I consider to be a solemn duty, I have striven for excellence and in-depth analysis in the goal of educating and informing the citizenry and general body politic on issues of broad import and concern to our great nation in accord with our mission of advancing and defending our constitutional Republic and its founding values of limited government, personal liberty and the rule of law, (all in a somewhat academic way which attempts to focus on ideas rather than personalities or politics, not always an easy task especially when examining/reporting on often politically-related matters!)

Nevertheless, the need to effectively reach the ACLP's goals as well as more broadly share the duties of the organization in a way so as to better enable me to meet my own many personal obligations have become increasingly clear.

Accordingly, although discussions over the weeks ahead will undoubtedly continue on several matters under consideration, including how to grow and/or monetize the site and even changing our corporate structure to allowing infusion of capital and/or replacing/expanding the number of board members to bring in “fresh blood” by those who will support a more active organization with the goal on expanding our impact and/or becoming self-supporting, (including resignation of this party as President), are on the table. However, several things seem increasingly clear.

We must find a way to independently fund our organization.

In addition to co-branding and/or linking with other sites and/or organizations which philosophically share our views, in order to continue we will need to find ways to more directly fund the ACLP's mission. In addition to our goal of applying for and receiving federal tax-exempt status and ultimately receiving foundation underwriting and grants as appropriate, in the interim we are seeking monthly financial support from like-minded business partners, and will need much more involvement of individual readers who support our mission. Indeed, this organization is, and has always been intended as, an organization of those who believe in its principles. To that end, we will be implementing a “member dues” format for those who want to put their “money (freedoms?) where their mouth is,” (see below).

Also to that end, in the coming weeks we will be placing a “donate now” button on the site, and would ask those who believe in our cause to contribute by clicking on this button to proceed to the secure portal and follow the prompts in order to financially support our mission. Although donations are not currently tax deductible, we promise to spend your donations in an ethical and careful manner in accord with standard practices for the purpose of purchasing business supplies and other needed services, expanding our outreach, creating web and other promotions, and paying salaries of full time employees, and will conform with all reporting and/or all applicable annual reporting requirements per law.

 And while we realize many in society are now facing difficult financial times, no donation, even a few dollars, is insignificant.  To the contrary, at this time critical time in our nation's history, support from you, our readers, would be greatly appreciated and is critical to the success of our ongoing mission.
Please send all gifts payable to the American Center for Law and Policy, Inc. to: Box 11408, Fort Wayne, IN. 46858.   

Membership-based format

To help fund the mission of the ACLP, we are also asking all those who believe in our principles and organizational mission to pay an annual membership “dues” fee of 40.00, a small price to pay in exchange for the work we do in defending limited government and the constitutional principles so many take for granted. These funds will be used to help pay organizational expenses and/or salaries of corporation employees, including the CEO and President of the ACLP, (in accordance with law and appropriate corporate resolutions enacted by the board), in order to continue apace the work of this organization and/or pay for expenses incurred in promoting the activities and mission of the ACLP.  If you are gifted in the area of web site/ html creation and would like to help us build our main site and/or have suggestions on how to increase donations to our cause we would love to hear from you!  Just drop us a line at aclpsuggestions@gmail.com!

We must increase our web exposure and impact

We plan to do this through an expanded internet presence through social media, building a stand-alone web site, and partnering with other blogs and non-profit organizations who will agree to place link(s) to our blog and web site(s) on their site(s) in exchange for the same on ours. We also plan on utilizing such proven programs as Google AdSense, and other web advertising and promotions. You, our readers, can also help by placing a link to our site on your blog, web site, or social media site or referring/linking to our site in any posts of yours on reputable like-minded sites.  And of course, we are open to any suggestions on how to improve our presence on the net and placement in internet search rankings.  Again, we would love to hear any feedback and/or suggestions at aclpsuggestions@gmail.com.

We must successfully recruit other content contributors and guest editorialists.

Equally important to our success as the above factors, and perhaps directly related to them, will be broadening our content, (i.e., number of contributors, including “guest editorialists,” who are published on the blog). Of course, unanimity is neither possible nor desirable on every legal/policy issue in our society, indeed, open debate on such matters is one of the things that makes America a great country, but any such “guest” writers must agree to abide by our standards of decency and general mission. We also anticipate starting a new column feature, “The Other Side,” in accord with our dedication to the principle of free speech, to allow opposing points of view and foster the lively public debate that is a core part of our mission. We are also considering how to best recruit and encourage such “guest editorials” and “Other Side” contributors, including potential minimal compensation for pieces that we publish from twenty to fifty dollars, depending on length. We of course reserve the right to edit or ask for revision to any pieces we agree to publish in accord with our high grammatical/academic standards and purpose, and ask that our guest editorialists refrain from personal attack or profanity. Send all suggested guest editorials to aclpsuggestions@gmail.com.

We must change our format and/or frequency of substantive posts and commentary.

This is a virtual fait acompli as we speak, as on my own I can no longer carry the entire burden of writing ten to twenty in depth and exhaustively documented articles a month. Instead, and absent drastic change in the level of others' involvement, we are considering either moving to a “digest” format with short headlines and summaries and linking primarily to other blogs and news sources, or reducing postings to a monthly “newsletter” or just 2-3 in-depth posts a month on substantive issues and/or court decisions. Reader input and/or financial support will be critical to the eventual way we go on this matter, so please send your suggestions to aclpsuggestions@gmail.com.

Possibility of changing format of corporate organization entirely as a last resort.

Harkening back to our roots as founded (technically) by JP Andreas Enterprises, Inc., a private corporation, as a last result we will consider changing our corporate structure and/or disbanding as a “non-profit” organization entirely. Although this is by no means our first choice, absent greater contributions by others and/or successful progress towards our corporate goals we are forced at this time to consider this option as a last resort. Consequently, and absent drastically increased input and support of others to this organization, this would have the benefit of personally freeing up my time to pursue other business or political pursuits that might better utilize my abilities in aid of our country. (This may especially become necessary if I go back to school or procure employment in a field in which I feel I can make a difference, i.e., law, public policy, etc.). Much of this will depend on the response of readers and others to this post and our efforts/success at executing the above plan.

Regardless of the outcome, it has been a pleasure to serve you for this time in the “fight for freedom” in this greatest nation on earth. It has been a privilege to do so, and we thank you for your past (and hopefully future) continued support of the ACLP and its mission.

Sincerely,

'JP' Andreas, President