Ripon Society
The Ripon Society is an American center-right Republican public policy organization and think tank based in Washington, D.C.[2] It publishes The Ripon Forum, the U.S.'s longest running Republican thought and opinion journal,[3] as well as The Ripon Advance, a daily news publication.[4]
Founded in 1962 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Society's name comes from the 1854 birthplace of the Republican Party—Ripon, Wisconsin. The Society's goals include protecting national security, lowering taxes, and shrinking the size of the government.[5]
The Ripon Society was the first major Republican organization to support passage of the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s. In 1967, it advanced the concept of a negative income tax.[6] In the early 1970s, it called for the normalization of relations with China, and the abolition of the military draft.[7]
Journals and publications[edit]
Ripon Society and Federal Election Commission[edit]
In 2004, the Ripon Society requested a legal advisory opinion from the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Ripon wanted to pay for a TV campaign commercial in favor of the re-election of Congresswoman Sue Kelly (R-NY). Ripon's argument in favor of being allowed to run the commercial was that the commercial would promote homeland security policies that the Ripon Society, and Congresswoman Kelly, supported.[52]
The requested advisory opinion amounted to a request for an interpretation of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 as it applied to the specific details of the proposed campaign advertisement.[52]
The FEC responded by saying that the law prohibited Ripon from paying for the ad if it was televised within Congresswoman Kelly's congressional district. However, the FEC said that Ripon could pay for the ad if it were televised outside of her district and only if the Ripon Society did not coordinate with Republican Party officials.[52]
In FEC Advisory Opinion 2004-33, the FEC said the Ripon Society could not legally pay for a political TV commercial for a congressional candidate if it was aired in the candidate's district immediately before an election (30 days before a primary election or 60 days before a general election). At that time (2004), the law prohibited corporate funds from paying for "electioneering communication", an umbrella term that includes campaign TV commercials.[53]
Republican of the Year Award[edit]
In addition to George H. W. Bush, other Republican of the Year recipients have included former Senator Bob Dole and former Senator Howard Baker[54]
Programs[edit]
Lecture series[edit]
The Ripon Society hosts a series of lectures known as their "Policy & Politics Dialogue Series", which in 2011 has consisted of over 40 idea-based forums. Speakers have included: Speaker of the House John Boehner, Representatives Kevin Brady and Greg Walden, Senators Rob Portman and John McCain, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. At a Ripon event in January 2013, shortly after President Obama's second inaugural address, Boehner told the audience that President Obama was trying to "annihilate the Republican Party."[55]
Rough Rider awards[edit]
Between 1999 and 2004, the Society gave what was known as the Rough Rider Awards to recognize public officeholders who have "'stood in the arena, and pushed for innovative policy solutions on a range of issues." Notable recipients included former Wisconsin Governor and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, future House Speaker John Boehner, and White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card.[60]
Legal information[edit]
The Ripon Society is a 501(c)(4) incorporated non-profit social welfare organization.[52][53] The current Ripon Society logo is trademarked. The trademark describes the logo: "The mark consists in part of a stylized depiction of an elephant." Ripon filed the trademark application on May 9, 2002, with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.[64]