Americans for Prosperity holds summit in Jackson

The United States is not in a good position right now, but it can be, and it will take a grass roots effort from the silent majority of Americans to make that happen.

That’s the overall belief of Americans for Prosperity, a self-proclaimed grassroots group that aims to protect the Constitutional freedoms and empowering citizens to take back control of those freedoms and economic opportunities.

Former Madison County Commissioner Trey Cleek is the grassroots engagement director for West Tennessee for Americans for Prosperity, and on Aug. 25, the organization had its first event in West Tennessee: The Reignite the American Dream Summit at the Doubletree Hotel.

It was a time for a number of elected officials at the state and federal level to gather in Jackson with citizens and discuss what’s going on in Nashville and Washington and educate them on what they can do to make sure no more freedoms are taken away through over-regulation and even how to get some back.

“Americans for Prosperity focuses mainly on economic issues,” Cleek said about the organization. “So we’re typically fighting against tax increases, government regulation of businesses, unleashing our energy independence, educating the workforce and immigration reform.”

The summit had a number of elected officials from rural West Tennessee set to speak ranging from the federal level with U.S. Congressman David Kustoff to the state level with State Rep. Chris Todd, State Sen. Ed Jackson and other nearby representatives and senators like John Stevens, Rusty Grills and Brock Martin.

“It’s good to talk with constituents about what going on at federal level,” Kustoff said in an interview before he spoke. “I think about right now inflation and the economy and how expensive it is to live today because of the spending in Washington.

“With a group like this, you can do a deeper dive on some of the issues and get into the weeds of the effects of some legislation, more than talking points, so people can be more informed and make better decisions.”

Jackson said events and groups like Americans for Prosperity is beneficial for him as he represents counties from Perry to Lake in Nashville.

“This is a national problem, but it has local ramifications,” Jackson said. “You can go into any small town in my district and see how inflation is affecting the people of America with businesses closing or cutting back, which means families are having to cut back, which affects businesses even more.

“So this is affecting all of us, and it’s good to see groups like this bringing people together to talk about how we can fix the problem.”

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news