Move America Forward is a non-partisan, not-for-profit charitable organization committed to supporting America's efforts to defeat terrorism and supporting the brave men and women of our Armed Forces.
Move America Forward has organized several national tours to support the troops with rallies in dozens of cities across the country and produced television and radio ad campaigns. MAF even organized several trips to Iraq to tell the American people about the great work that our troops are doing there, as well as bring our message of thanks and support directly to the troops themselves. Contributions are tax deductible.
Our Board of Directors and Staff:
The Honorable Howard Kaloogian - Founder |
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The Honorable Howard Kaloogian served as a Republican Member of the California State Assembly from 1994-2000. Kaloogian was selected as Assistant Republican Leader, where he led the fight for smaller government and lower taxes.
Considering Ronald Reagan to be one of his political heroes, Kaloogian agreed to lead the Defend Reagan Committee. He led hundreds of thousands of Reagan supporters across America to fight against the smear campaign waged against Reagan by CBS, Viacom and Showtime with their anti-Reagan production, "The Reagans." So many Reagan supporters flooded the offices of CBS and their sponsors with complaints that the movie was cancelled on network television.
A champion of Proposition 13 and taxpayer hero, Kaloogian is a leading voice for fiscal responsibility, individual freedoms and conservative values.
Kaloogian has advanced the issues important to him and the people of California as a conservative radio talk show host, noted convention speaker and documentary host. He is a frequent lecturer on topics surrounding economics and the detrimental effects of over regulation and stifling levels of taxation. |
Debbie Lee - Gold Star Mother |
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Debbie Lee has been a leading spokesperson for the missions of U.S. troops fighting in the war on terrorism and for Move America Forward.
Her son, Marc Alan Lee, was the first Navy Seal to lose his life in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Marc, 28, was killed August 2, 2006 in a fierce firefight while on patrol against insurgents in Ramadi, Iraq.
U.S. Navy officers told Debbie Lee that her son died after single-handedly holding off enemy fighters as his team rescued a wounded soldier from a rooftop. During the two-hour battle, Navy officials informed her that Marc Lee fired 100 rounds of ammunition against insurgents before he was killed.
As the Portland Oregonian noted, "A Navy SEAL's everyday life would reduce most people to sobbing wrecks: extremes of heat and cold, sleep deprivation, the constant specter of danger. It is an existence of late-night phone calls and missed birthdays, while standing watch over the troubled waters of this world so that others may sleep peacefully."
Debbie Lee has toured the nation, speaking at pro-troop rallies, and helping to organize shipments of care packages to our troops serving overseas.
She met with President Bush and pledged her commitment to use her voice to make a difference in America's to support for our troops. She presented him the Seal Team 3 hat, the Seal Trident and the picture of Marc and his platoon.
She appeared onstage at the 2007 Country Music Awards where Tim McGraw presented to her and other Gold Star Parents his new song, "I'm Already Home" which honors those in the U.S. military who gave their lives in service to this nation. |
Sal Russo - Chief Strategist |
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Mr. Russo has spent over 30 years in the field of political consulting and public affairs beginning as a special assistant to Governor Ronald Reagan after serving as a volunteer in his 1966 gubernatorial campaign. Mr. Russo later founded his own political consulting firm, "California Capitol Consultants" in 1976.
Sal Russo has been at the forefront of some of the most prominent national, state and local campaigns in the nation including the election of Governor George Deukmejian (1982), Senator Alfonse D'Amato, New York (1992), Governor George Pataki, New York (1994), presidential bids by Jack Kemp and Senator Orrin Hatch.
Mr. Russo has been called on several times to provide consulting in other national elections, including the election of Violetta Chamorro in Nicaragua, and in 1991, Mr. Russo conducted the media campaign for the successful referendum on Ukranian independence.
Mr. Russo is a recognized expert in state and national politics, and his analyses are widely reported by the national media. Mr. Russo holds a B.A. in Government from California State University, Sacramento, and a J.D. from McGeorge School of Law. He has recently served on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Political Consultants. |
Lew Uhler - Member, Advisory Board |
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Lewis K. Uhler is founder and President of the National Tax Limitation Committee, one of the nation's leading grass roots taxpayer lobbies. With offices in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., NTLC works with the White House, Members of Congress, and legislators in states across the nation along with other grass roots organizations to limit state and federal spending through legal restrictions and constitutional change. Uhler has been at the forefront of the national movements for a Tax Limitation/Balanced Budget Amendment to the United States Constitution and for term limits.
In 1968, then-Governor Ronald Reagan selected Uhler to serve on the California Law Revision Commission. In 1970, Reagan designated Uhler as the Governor's State Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity. Subsequently, Uhler served in Reagan's cabinet as Assistant Secretary of the Health & Welfare Agency. In 1972, Governor Reagan asked Uhler to organize and serve as Chairman of the Governor's Tax Reduction Task Force. With the assistance of a nationwide panel of advisors (including Nobel Laureates Milton Friedman and James Buchanan), the task force developed California's landmark Revenue Control and Limitation Act, which became a model for tax-expenditure limitation measures in many states.
In 1990, Uhler was co-author of Proposition 140, California's pioneering state term limit initiative. Under Uhler's leadership, NTLC has forged coalitions, including "Americans for Responsible Privatization," the "Council for Retirement Security" and more recently the "Tax Cut Working Group" in Washington, which Uhler chairs with Jim Martin (60 Plus Association) and Dan Mitchell (Heritage Foundation). In 1996, Uhler participated in a symposium at the Vatican on "The Family and the Economy in the Future of Society" to explore private alternatives to welfare states worldwide.
Uhler is a native Californian, a graduate of Yale University and the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. He is a member of the California Bar and serves Of Counsel with the Newport Beach law firm of Davis, Punelli & Keathley. He and his wife, Cynthia, have four grown sons and reside in the Sacramento area. |
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Our Accomplishments:
Since personally visiting our troops in Guantanamo Bay last year, Move America Forward has led, and continues to be a leader in the fight to keep GITMO Open and located in Cuba where it makes the most sense. In the interest of homeland security, these dangerous terrorists must not be allowed into the United States or into other countries that may release them.
Broadcast our annual “Troopathon” 2 years in a row – the most successful web –based fundraising telethon to date. In our inaugural broadcast, June 2008, we raised more than a million dollars to send the largest single shipment of care packages to U.S. troops in American history. In 2009 we raised over $700,000 for our troops. Troopathons have been hosted by Melanie Morgan with co-hosts Michelle Malkin and Andrew Breitbart, with participation from Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Ann Coulter, John Bolton, General David Petraeus, Jon Voight, Gary Sinise, Kelsey Grammer, Carrie Prejean and many others.
Launched the “Candy Diplomacy” program in partnership with the Jelly Belly Candy Company in 2008, in which we send 2 oz. bags of jellybeans to U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bags display the following message in English, Arabic, and Pashto: “A gift from the American people in hope that your country will one day enjoy the freedom and opportunities that we have in the United States.” These treats can be enjoyed by the troops or given to local children to promote good relations with the community.
To date, we have sent more than 150 tons of premium fresh ground coffee, cookies, beef jerky, Gatorade and other treats to our troops serving in Iraq & Afghanistan as part of our "Coffee, Cookies, Gatorade, and Beef Jerky for Our Troops" care package program. These packages include a personal message of support from a sponsoring family back home.
Each holiday season MAF has travelled across America on the “Honoring our Heroes at the Holidays” tour which collected more than 200,000 Christmas, Hanukkah and holiday cards for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2007, our MAF delegation personally hand-delivered many cards to the soldiers in Iraq , where we also saw firsthand the success of the “surge.”
Sponsored the "Gold Star Parents to Iraq" trip in 2006 where parents of U.S. soldiers killed in the war visited Iraq to see with their own eyes the country where their sons and daughters made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as how the mission they sacrificed so much for had transformed the war-torn country into a freer, more peaceful nation.
Produced and broadcast dozens of television and radio commercials throughout the nation advocating support for our troops serving heroically in Iraq and Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism. We have not hesitated to speak out against those who undermine our brave men and women overseas. More than 100 million Americans have seen our ads.
Launched the "You Don't Speak for Me Cindy" caravan tour and became the largest voice countering that of anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan. We led two cross-country tours and held "Support Our Troops" rallies in dozens of cities nationwide. The most prominent rallies were held in Crawford, Texas and Washington D.C. in which thousands of supporters came to show their support for our brave men and women as well as their disapproval of Cindy Sheehan's "blame America first" rhetoric.
In 2005 we led the "Voices of Soldiers" Truth Tour - with Move America Forward's Co-Chairs (Howard Kaloogian & Melanie Morgan) and MAF Board Member Buzz Patterson leading a delegation of radio talk show hosts to Iraq. The talk show hosts interviewed of soldiers, providing a forum for them to tell the American people about the accomplishments they are making in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the fight against terrorism. Melanie Morgan, together with Mark and Holly Williams, and Jay Allen were awarded the Mark Twain Award for Best Special Program from the Associated Press Television and Radio Association.
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