Tag: China

Domestic Policy, Foreign Policy, Politics

Victory or Stalemate?

Bob Claude |

Due to family and medical reasons, my posts have been few and far between since the mid-term election last year.  I am deeply grateful and honored by those of you who have nevertheless continued to read, share and subscribe to this website and its versions on Substack, Facebook and Twitter (or X, as Elon Musk now calls it). Your loyalty led to New Nationalism being recently named by the Feedspot e-zine  as one of the top 80 WordPress political blogs in the world. Now that we are approaching a potentially pivotal presidential election, the need for this kind of unifying debate on the real issues American voters will face next year is urgent.  This debate begins, as TR said above, with a look back at the past year and where we are going.

It is tempting to survey the current state of America and feel both secure and, indeed, triumphant. We enjoy record low unemployment and the inflation rate has come down, though is still higher than it was over the past few decades.   Overseas, American assistance has enabled Ukraine to expose Russian military weakness and Chinese ambitions are being challenged by an Asian coalition led by the United States.  So, why are Americans so glum? What could go wrong?

In fact, quite a lot.  Americans care not just about the present, but even more about the future of their children and, as a result, of the nation they will live in. They survey the public landscape and see rising tensions leading to talk of war, lagging wages, continuing economic inequality, and a warming climate. Meanwhile, the response of the American political system is a stalemate at best on these issues and at worst, divisive and irrelevant personal vendettas. Worse, the two major parties in next year’s presidential election appear poised to offer a only a choice between the increasingly feeble and increasingly deranged.  

The mission of this site is to offer a third way that Americans can rally around based on the nationalist philosophy of Theodore Roosevelt. We believe America is exceptional not because of ethnicity, but because of its values of liberty, equality and the pursuit of the American Dream. We also recognize the reality of a world in which other nations are embracing and acting on their own nationalist traditions and ambitions, whether in the form of Russian revanchism, Ukrainian heroism or Chinese threats.  Relying solely on an ideology of globalist liberal hegemony essentially amounts to a form of unilateral disarmament and threatens the survival of our values not just abroad, but here at home as well. 

Over the next year, our goal will be to continue to challenge the conventional wisdom of both parties and develop a progressive nationalist platform that voters can use to challenge the candidates. It will highlight the new, real political debate between globalism and nationalism without condemning those who take the opposite side. All Americans will have to work together if we are to succeed and accomplish our mutual goal of remaining free and prosperous at home and the beacon of liberty abroad. I invite all of you to join in this journey over the next year on any of these platforms:

Main website: www.newnationalism.com

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/newamericannationalism

Substack: https://robertclaude.substack.com/?utm_source=discover_search

Twitter (X) : @nationalismnew

2022 Election, Domestic Policy, Infrastructure, Politics

2022 American Nationalist Voting Index – A Strong America

Bob Claude |

The USS Theodore Roosevelt is a proud symbol of American strength and the selfless service of our armed forces in preserving our freedom. However, a nation’s true strength is found in the commitment of its people to their fellow citizens and their nation as a whole. This is doubly true of the America of TR, who stood for both democracy and equal opportunity for all. While it was often an ugly process, Congress actually considered and occasionally passed legislation consistent with TR’s ideals and deserved the support of American nationalists.

Congressional Gold Medals for Capitol Police

This Congress convened amidst an attack by a rebellious mob that came perilously close to overthrowing a newly elected president during the certification of the electoral count. The Capitol Police bore the brunt of the attack and defended congressmembers with conspicuous bravery. The House and Senate recognized their service to the nation by voting to award them Congressional Gold Medals.The Senate vote was unanimous and the House roll call vote can be found here:

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2021161

Every true American nationalist should agree and salute them as well.

Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

We have lived with the decline in our national transportation infrastructure for decades. As I discussed in this previous post, Congress finally took action when it passed the Infrastructure and Jobs Act (HR 3684) more commonly known as the Bipartisan infrastructure bill. The links to the House and Senate Votes are

House Vote : https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2021369

Senate Vote: https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1171/vote_117_1_00314.htm

CHIPS Act

The COVID pandemic exposed dangerous gaps in the supply chains of our basic industrial materials and human needs products.  The shortage of domestically produced computer semiconductor chips that are key components of almost every product led to the passage of the CHIPS Act (HR 4346), which will jump start the production of them in the US. The bill also makes important investments in research and technology education. Here are the links to the votes in the House and Senate:

House Vote ; https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2022404

Senate Vote – https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00271.htm

Economic Security

Congress voted on several other bills to address supply chain shortages threatening our economy. HR 4476 would have created an Office of Trade & Economic Security in the Department of Homeland Security charged with monitoring critical supply chains and coordinating a response to potential issues.  It passed the House but died in the Senate. The House vote can be found here:

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2022112

Finally, the House and Senate considered a bill called the America COMPETES Act, a predecessor to the CHIPS Act which would have created a Committee on National Critical Capabilities to monitor and prevent the transfer of vital American technology to China and other foreign adversaries. The bill passed in both Houses of Congress, but differences in the text were never resolved. The two votes can be found here:

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/202231

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00109.htm

Conclusion

Theodore Roosevelt was a paragon of personal resilience and knew America needed to be resilient to be a truly strong (see this previous post). As we head to the polls, let us reject many politicians calls to division and ease and, instead, recommit ourselves to building the nation and the people that TR envisioned. Remember to vote and God bless America!

2022 Election, Foreign Policy, Politics, Uncategorized

2022 American Nationalist Voting Index – Speaking Softly

Bob Claude |

The foreign policy debate has been dominated by the reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its effect on our relations with the rest of the world. As I mentioned here, TR’s heart, soul and perhaps body would have been with the Ukrainians as they defend their independence against Vladimir Putin’s brutal attack. However, a realist foreign policy would recognize that the US and the world have other important interests as well (see this previous post). It is not appeasement to keep the door open to the potential for negotiations for a peaceful end to the war, if simply because this is how almost all wars end. Meanwhile, the challenge of China and Central American stability potentially impact the American future as much, if not more, than the outcome of the war in Ukraine.

The most important foreign policy issue, though, arises here at home.  TR was a strong proponent of presidential power, but the abuse of the war power by recent presidents has led us into forever wars far afield from our core interests. Our continued involvement in Iraq is a classic example.  The House has considered a resolution to finally repeal the Bush Administration’s 2003 Authorization for use of Military Force under the War Powers Resolution.  The only record vote occurred in the House of Representatives and can be found here

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2021172

The resolution needs to be strengthened to prevent further abuses (see here), but cleaning up the past excesses is at least a start. 

Not much further from home lies the instability in Central America, which has fueled the immigration crisis. Congress passed a bill to address one aspect of the crisis through strengthening the fight against corruption in Nicaragua, which the former Sandinista guerrilla leader Daniel Ortega has turned into a family dictatorship. Those votes can be found at

S 1064 – Reinforcing monitoring of corruption & Human rights in Nicaragua

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2021354

The oppression of China’s Uighur minority is just one example of Chinese President Xi Jin-Peng’s increasingly dictatorial rule. Indeed, it is not only a symbol of the brutality of the regime, but also its cynical mercantilist economic policy to monopolize the solar power and clean energy industries (see my previous post on the subject here).  HR 6256 imposes importation limits on goods produced using forced labor in China, especially in the Xinjiang Uighur Region, and imposes sanctions related to such forced labor. It was passed by a unanimous voice vote in both the Senate and the House and has been signed by the President. It is one of the few examples of when politics did stop at the water’s edge, enabling Congress to act across party lines to defend both human rights and our own economic strength.