Christian Coalition

Founded in 1989 by Marion Gordon “Pat” Robertson, Christian Coalition (CC) is a grassroots political movement comprised of conservative EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS. Robertson, a religious leader who first became a candidate for the 1988 Republican nomination, was defeated by Vice President George H. W. Bush.

After the demise of Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority in 1989 and the apparent foundering of the Christian Right, Pat Robertson, along with his associate Ralph Reed, proposed the formation of an organization for Christian grassroots activism and an “American Congress of Christian Citizens” at an organizational meeting held in Atlanta on September 25, 1989. Under the name “Christian Coalition,” the group decided to follow both proposals, but by March 1990, the Congress approach was dropped, and the group focused solely on grassroots action.

Christian Coalition’s organizing mission was to represent evangelical and “pro-family” Roman Catholic Christians at the local, state, and federal levels, to speak publicly and issue media statements, to train leaders for political and social action, to provide political information to constituents, and to protest alleged anti-Christian bias and defend the legal rights of Christians. Specific goals include anti-ABORTION and anti-PORNOGRAPHY legislation, support for local control of EDUCATION, tax reform, and protecting religious freedom. Initial membership figures in 1990 claimed 25,000 Christian Coalition members. This figure climbed to 57,000 by the end of 1990, with 125 local chapters and an annual budget of $2.8 million. By December 1996 the organization reported receipt of $24.9 million in donations from supporters. In October 2000, the organization purported to represent more than 2 million members and supporters, had an affiliate in every state, and more than 2,000 local chapters.

Christian Coalition utilizes TELEVISION broadcasts and maintains its own Internet site. Here interested persons can participate online in citizen activism, be alerted to pending legislative information, and respond to the national organization, various members of Congress, the MEDIA, or their local chapter.

The CC regularly produces three publications. The Congressional Scorecard is published semiannually, and shows the voting records of senators and representatives on conservative issues chosen by the Christian Coalition. State affiliates produce similar materials regarding voting in the state legislatures. Religious Rights Watch, published monthly, is a single-page announcement that reports violations of the legal rights of Christians. Christian American, initiated in 1990 as a quarterly newsletter, is the principal vehicle of communication from the national organization. In 1991 the newsletter format was changed to a monthly tabloid newspaper featuring a section by Robertson, as well as syndicated columnists like Phyllis Schlafly and Cal Thomas. The publication changed again in 1995 to a magazine format published six times a year with content similar to its predecessor, but less confrontational in its delivery.

The Christian Coalition opened a lobbying office in 1993 in Washington, D. C., to keep track of legislation, influence administration officials and Congress, work in association with other lobbying groups, and represent the CC before the national media. The CC reportedly spent $5.9 million on Washington lobbying activities in the first half of 1996. Through this office, information is disseminated to constituents through Christian Coalition Live, the Internet, e-mail, fax, and direct mail.

Most of the CC constituency identifies with the platform of the Republican Party. At the 1996 Republican National Convention, the Christian Coalition maintained a sophisticated communication system that connected floor whips to the CC members among the delegates. For the 2000 presidential election, the coalition published a goal of recruiting 100,000 volunteers to serve as liaisons between their churches and local CC chapters and to distribute 70 million voter guides to have information in every congressional district. These actions have not gone unnoticed by watchdog groups, and in 1996 the Federal Election Commission (FEC) filed a civil lawsuit against the Christian Coalition for illegally aiding the 1990, 1992, and 1994 Republican campaigns. After losing this lawsuit in 1999, the Christian Coalition reorganized.

See also political action committee; political parties; religion.

Further reading: Robert Boston, The Most Dangerous Man in America? Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition (Amherst, N. Y.: Prometheus Books, 1996); Justin Watson, The Christian Coalition: Dreams of Restoration, Demands for Recognition (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997).

—Michele Rutledge

Christianity See religion.

Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act (1979) In 1979 Chrysler Corporation was on the verge of bankruptcy, and the U. S. government agreed to provide the company with $1.5 billion in federal loan guarantees under the Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979. This bailout, which was passed by Congress in December 1979 and signed into law by President James Earl Carter, Jr., on January 7, 1980, was the largest amount of direct federal assistance ever given to a private corporation.

Chrysler, along with Ford and General Motors, had deteriorated as costs of meeting federal regulations governing emission controls and fuel economy increased, while the economy suffered the recessions of the 1970s, and the cost of oil rose due to the OPEC embargoes. Chrysler argued that government regulations had affected Chrys-ler unfairly because it produced fewer cars than Ford and General Motors, making the extra cost per vehicle higher. Chrysler’s new chairman, Lee lacocca, who joined the company in 1978 from Ford, also admitted that Chrysler had a record of bad management. It had left the company unprepared to meet its commitments, as foreign automobile imports, especially from Japan, entered the country to meet consumer demand for fuel-efficient cars following the oil price increases. In the third quarter of 1979 Chrysler reported a net loss of $460.6 million and a projected loss for the year of $1.5 billion, more than any business had lost at that time.

Chrysler approached Congress for federal aid, sparking an intense debate on the role of the government in a free-market economy. The resulting act provided Chrysler with $1.5 billion in loan guarantees on condition that the company could raise another $2 billion. In granting assistance, proponents in Congress argued that the cost to taxpayers of a Chrysler bankruptcy, in the form of substantial unemployment, economic distress, worker compensation, and the loss of tax revenues, necessitated government intervention. Proponents further stressed the importance of maintaining a strong national auto industry in the face of increasing overseas competition.

Opponents of the act argued that the government should not be in the business of bailing out a private company, in effect, its wealthy stockholders. At this time a fierce public debate over the role of government in the marketplace arose, as business groups and conservative organizations called for further economic deregulation (started in the Carter administration), increased fiscal responsibility in Congress, and downsizing of government in general. At the same time, some economists, such as Robert Reich, were calling for increased government planning along the lines of the “Japanese” model, in which the government subsidized private corporations and industrial development.

Following the federal bailout, Chrysler used the $3.5 billion to drastically reduce operating costs, develop a new range of fuel-efficient vehicles, and mount an aggressive advertising campaign. In 1981 Chrysler showed a small profit and by 1984 announced record profits of more than $2.4 billion, having paid off the federal loan guarantees seven years early.

See also automobile industry; business;

Economy.

—Stephen Hardman