Fifty Years of the Phyllis Schlafly Report: Johnson Amendment Recalls the "Determined Drive Against Churches"

The Founding Fathers recognized that the U.S. Constitution should not be easily amended. That is why they determined that amendments must pass both houses of Congress and be approved by three-fourths of the state legislatures, the most stringent majority requirement since the Articles of Confederation. This notion of a “living” constitution is a complete non sequitur to the actions taken by the Framers. Because of this great weight placed on the passage of constitutional amendments, there is an equally great weight placed behind the authority of amendments when they are passed. The authority of amendments is paramount to understanding the implications of what the Equal Rights Amendment would have done to the American system of government. Phyllis Schlafly understood this gravity better than most, which equipped her to write about the implications of ERA on religious freedom in the March 1975 Phyllis Schlafly Report.

Fifty Years of the Phyllis Schlafly Report: Taking Education From "The Hands Of The Professionals"

Education is a critical part of Phyllis Schlafly’s legacy. Between stopping the Equal Rights Amendment, fighting for America First foreign policy, and securing military superiority, Phyllis always brought the dialogue back home to the most basic issues families face every day. She valued education policy because she knew the pro-family movement means nothing if young minds are indoctrinated to turn away from traditional American values and reject the principles a family is supposed to instill. From this closely held passion, Phyllis Schlafly pioneered a number of education-related endeavors, such as founding the monthly Education Reporter in 1986, writing her First Reader and Turbo Reader books, and leading the fight against Common Core. In May 1974, Phyllis was just beginning her fight for education.

Fifty Years of the Phyllis Schlafly Report: Liberal “Freedom of Choice” Doesn’t Protect Women From The Draft

With a name like “Equal Rights Amendment,” it’s not too hard to frame the debate to make conservatives look like the bad guys. The rallying cry of feminists was the same as it is today: “Freedom and choice!” They argued that ERA would open new doors for women by giving them more choices in their supposed new-found equality. However, looking below ERA’s surface revealed legislation much more focused on forced compliance than on “choice.” That was the theme of the March 1973 Phyllis Schlafly Report, which explored the question “Should Women Be Drafted?” Of course, this is still a matter of contention to this day, so it is just as important to arm ourselves with the facts to fight the forces of political correctness and social engineering.

Radio Live: 4/7/17 | 50 Years of Phyllis Schlafly Report, Beltway Report

Ed Martin and Cherilyn Eagar talk with Jordan Henry about this week's 50th Anniversary PS Report: Communists Still Use the “Trick Called Trade." View the full PSR 50 article and reissue here: bit.ly/2plVhcT. Rebekah Gantner comes in studio to talk about goings-on with Congress and other agencies inside the beltway.

Fifty Years of the Phyllis Schlafly Report: Communists Still Use the “Trick Called Trade”

All conservatives agree that we need to “drain the swamp,” but it is much harder to agree on how to do that. Ultimately, draining the swamp means removing the corrupt influence of Washington bureaucrats from an otherwise superior system of constitutionally limited government based on personal rights and free enterprise. To most, trade policy might seem irrelevant to this goal. However, Phyllis Schlafly understood that politicians use trade policy as a way to broker their power and pick winners and losers in a blatantly uncapitalistic fashion. She saw the importance of the trade issue when she wrote her August 1972 Phyllis Schlafly Report entitled “Subsidizing the Soviets with a Trick Called Trade.”  In order to truly drain the swamp, we must seize this unconstitutional power wielded by Washington bureaucrats who offer financial and commercial aid to those acting in aggression to American interests.

Fifty Years of the Phyllis Schlafly Report: What’s Still Wrong with “Equal Rights” For Women

Tornadoes are created by a unique collision between systems of warm and cold air in only the most select of circumstances. Likewise, February 1972 created the ideal conditions for a “perfect storm” that would alter the course of American history forever. Standing in the eye of that storm was a dynamic woman named Phyllis Schlafly. When she wrote the February 1972 issue of the Phyllis Schlafly Report, she did not know that she was going to lead a movement against an overwhelming congressional majority, several acting presidents and their wives, the media, big donors, and a horde of “radical women’s libbers.” However, she still wrote her very first article on the subject as though it would be her last. Each point in the article was a point that she would employ throughout her campaign, and that we can still employ today. Just because the ERA was declared dead by the courts on December 23, 1981 does not mean we do not have to deal with the same ol’ liberal lines today.

Celebrating Fifty Years of the Phyllis Schlafly Report: We Want “Pledges Kept,” Not “Promises Broken”

The Constitution of the United States serves many purposes in our republic. One of the main advantages of a written constitution is that it protects Americans from the whims of changing elected officials. A written constitution gives us an anchor on which to base our expectations for our federal government. Similarly, the long-lost art of the party platform should be an anchor by which we place reasonable expectations on elected officials of a political party. If the party claimed by a politician is conservative, it is a reasonable expectation that the politician himself should be conservative. Phyllis Schlafly turned this concept from analogy to reality with her June and September 1971 Phyllis Schlafly Reports. When an elected official turns his back on the party platform he campaigned on, he puts himself at incredible risk of alienating his voting base.

Celebrating Fifty Years of the Phyllis Schlafly Report: “Hard Hats” Still Beat “Soft Heads”

Phyllis Schlafly knew what it was like to work hard in college. She did not get through college with “privilege.” She got through college by working nights full-time at a munitions plant. Her job was to test the rifles and machine guns being sent to the boys fighting on the front lines in World War II. Simultaneously, she attended classes at Washington University in St. Louis, where she graduated with honors. Needless to say, she wasn’t exactly sympathetic to the plight of campus rioters and draft dodgers in 1970. However, what sets her apart from some of the other voices of the Greatest Generation is that she did not write off all youth as being beyond hope, either. That realistic optimism makes the June and December 1970 PS Reports exceptionally insightful and applicable to today.

Celebrating Fifty Years of the Phyllis Schlafly Report: Remembering the “Name of the Game” in 2017

Let me paint a picture for you. America is suffering under the weight of eight years of failed liberal policies. Government has expanded and the people are ready for change. A liberal Democrat president is replaced by a candidate running as a strong conservative Republican. If you were to guess what time I’m talking about, you might guess February 2017, and you would be right. However, you could say the same about February 1969, when the Phyllis Schlafly Report headlined with “Patronage Is the Name of the Game.” Phyllis knew electing the right people is only the first step to real change. The next step is to surround the right person with a strong and competent team of staffers and advisors who turn the presidency from a one-man crusade to an unstoppable war machine for the conservative cause.

Celebrating Fifty Years of the Phyllis Schlafly Report: Making America “Safe – Not Sorry”

No one would dispute the fact that Phyllis Schlafly did not fit into the mold of Washington politicians. She knew that the issues facing Americans were not fuel for empty campaign promises. To Phyllis, they were real problems that she had to face like everyone else. When she wrote the May 1968 issue of the Phyllis Schlafly Report, the passion of personal experience can be clearly seen in the headlining article entitled “CRISIS IN LAW AND ORDER.” Without a doubt, her prophetic writings on the riots of 1968 very clearly apply to the protests that have swept the nation in recent years.

Celebrating Fifty Years of the Phyllis Schlafly Report: Reversing the "Pattern of Surrender"

“You had to get used to Phyllis being ahead of her time, all the time.” Those are the words of Helen Marie Taylor, Chairman of the Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund. That could not be illustrated any better than with the very first Phyllis Schlafly Report to be released. In August of 1967, the first PS Report was released with “GIVEAWAY OF OUR PANAMA CANAL: Secret Treaties Imperil U.S. Rights” pasted in bold print across the top of the page. Just as her revolutionary 1964 book A Choice, Not an Echo exposed the secrets of the Republican kingmakers, her first PS Report exposed the secret treaties that promised to undermine American sovereignty and deliver us another humiliating foreign policy defeat on the world stage.