What is the American Dream? Is it running a small business with your spouse? Is it turning a childhood of abject poverty into a career saving children’s lives?
The American Dream is for everyone, no matter where you were born or the color of your skin. That message came across loud and clear at the Goldwater Institute’s Freedom Gala on Friday in Phoenix, where—joined by hundreds of our supporters and friends—we celebrated our successful work defending the American Dream and charted a course for safeguarding our freedoms in the years to come.
“The American Dream really does exist. But you’ve got to work for it,” said Dr. Ben Carson, whose keynote address headlined the night. “It’s critical that we have institutions like Goldwater that preserve the values that are fundamental to this country,” he added. “You have to be able to stand up for your principles. And Goldwater does that.”
Dr. Ben Carson himself is living proof that the American Dream is real. Raised in poverty in the slums of Detroit, he overcame obstacle after obstacle to become one of the most accomplished pediatric neurosurgeons in the country and eventually the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. As founder of American Cornerstone Institute, he’s also one of the nation’s leading voices for safeguarding the lofty ideals our nation was founded on—justice, liberty, equality under the law—that make the American Dream attainable.
Defending the American Dream often means speaking out when government gets in the way. That’s what Phoenix small business owners Joe and Debbie Faillace did when government’s refusal to enforce the law amid a rampant homelessness crisis that turned their lives upside down. They are bravely helping to hold government accountable—and it’s why they’re the recipients of this year’s Goldwater Institute Freedom Award.
Joe and Debbie ran their successful sandwich joint, Old Station Sub Shop in downtown Phoenix, for nearly 40 years—until Phoenix officials started shunting homeless people into a massive open-air encampment called “The Zone” with zero regard for the law-abiding taxpayers who would suffer. “Many days we would arrive to find our shop (located in the heart of The Zone) broken into and vandalized, people passed out or overdosed on our patio, urine and feces scattered across our parking lot and entryway,” Joe and Debbie say.
So, they sprang into action. Joined by other fed-up business and property owners—and aided by the Goldwater Institute—the Faillaces sued the government for maintaining a “public nuisance.” They won a groundbreaking decision when a trial court ordered the city to clean up The Zone.
“Joe and Debbie took Phoenix to court—and won,” Goldwater Executive Vice President Christina Sandefur said, adding that they “proved you can fight city hall.”
Joe and Debbie’s advocacy was also instrumental in Arizona’s adoption of Prop 312, a first-in-the-nation Goldwater-designed reform that gives property owners their tax dollars back when cities fail to use those funds for their intended purpose: to protect residents from crime.
“We’re hitting the government where it hurts the most,” Goldwater President and CEO Victor Riches said. “And now, if they don’t use our tax dollars for police and other services, they no longer get to keep those dollars. Period.”
“This victory in Arizona is giving hope to desperate Americans nationwide,” Sandefur added. “Because of Joe and Debbie’s compelling story, we’re introducing this reform in red and blue states across the country.”
Defending the American Dream also means fighting radical, race-based ideologies that tell children to judge each other’s skin color, not character. Goldwater is spearheading the charge to dismantle discriminatory “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) initiatives, dismantling DEI in multiple states this year, with more on the horizon in 2025.
It means expanding school choice so that every child has access to the education they deserve.
It means freeing American workers to earn a living in the profession of their choice.
It means empowering patients to access innovative medical care without begging the federal government for permission.
As Goldwater Vice President for Litigation Jon Riches said: “America is not only freedom’s birthplace, but its last refuge. If this grand experiment in self-government were ever to fail, there is nowhere else to go.”
Every single day, the Goldwater Institute is working in courtrooms, capitals, classrooms, and communities to defend the American Dream.
“Tomorrow’s agenda is being set by the Goldwater Institute,” said American for Tax Reform President and Goldwater Board Member Grover Norquist.
Here’s why we’re doing it: because the American Dream is for everyone.
