The Republican Liberty Caucus has grown fast and achieved many milestones in the past several years as more Americans have realized that their most fundamental beliefs in individual liberty, free enterprise and constitutionally limited government can be the basis for a revitalization of the Republican Party. One question a lot of them are asking is…
….Why join the Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC)?
Some activists — many of them new to our movement for liberty — have questions about the differences between the RLC and other organizations which seem to have similar goals. They ask how we are different from the Campaign for Liberty, FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity and even the John Bir
ch Society.
Let us be clear: Each of these organizations has their own goals that are distinct from the mission of the RLC. You can belong to these groups and still be a member of the RLC, because its goals and interests are distinctly different from any of these groups.
The top ten reasons we are different, which are also reasons you should join us and become active, are listed as follows.
1. The RLC is the only group actively working within the Republican Party to promote individual liberty and limited government. A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement. All of the members of the political groups listed above can belong to various political parties or no political party at all.
Every RLC members is committed to a strategy of working within the Republican Party to return it to the values on which it was founded. According to the RLC’s by-laws, our purpose is as follows:
The Caucus is a political action organization dedicated to promoting the ideals of individual rights, limited government and free enterprise within the Republican Party of the United States of America by:
A. Promoting these ideals among Party officials and its various organizations;
B. Identifying and supporting candidates sympathetic with these ideals;
C. Developing Caucus membership among Party registrants, officials, and officeholders.
There is simply no other grassroots organization with this expressed purpose AND the ability to work within the party to achieve these goals.
Fundamentally, the only way we can achieve a society free of coercion and government force is by reforming one of the political parties. Independent or third party candidacies have not succeeded in the American political system because it takes large amounts of money or celebrity for success. Instead, constitutionally-focused American activists and voters can participate in the Republican Party to truly have a voice for reform.
2. The RLC has had many victories, proving that an all-volunteer organization can be successful. On a wide array of issues — since 1991 — and in campaigns in many states, the RLC has attained political success through the voluntary actions of principled grassroots activists.
Our members aren’t paid to lobby, write letters to the editor, run for office, or visit their legislators. RLC members participate in grassroots political action — not out of a lust for political power, but — out of love for country, principles, and party. Our members serve in elected positions and Republican Party positions throughout the country, each working hard to tilt the Party and public policy in the direction of free markets and limited government.
We are in the process of raising the funds necessary to hire permanent staff so we can expand our operations. Please contribute to our growth plans.
3. The RLC is dedicated to preserving individual liberty. The Caucus Statement of Principles and Positions offers a clearly defined political agenda based on constitutionalism, individual liberty, small government and free markets. We have no litmus test for membership and do not exclude any citizen on the basis of ideological purity or conformity with Caucus positions on specific issues. We welcome every advocate of liberty and encourage members to join and participate in other pro-liberty coalitions and organizations.
That said, we believe that grassroots activity can best be achieved from the ground up — not the top down. All politics is local — all politics is personal.
By encouraging our chapter leaders to focus on state and local issues rather than on national issues, we pool our limited resources to strategically impact politics from the ground up. National issues are critical — and the RLC has expressed itself strongly in opposing bailouts and irresponsible spending, demanding accountability for the Federal Reserve, protecting workers rights, expanding school choice and ending the War on Drugs,
The most impact will be achieved through ground-up, retail politics.
4. The RLC is a grassroots organization. As an IRS 527 non-profit membership organization, we are run by (and for) members who wish to influence political discourse and attain real-world results.
The RLC is not run by a secretive board of directors and is not restrained by a small group of wealthy contributors or celebrity mentors. We are funded by you and our national board is elected from our membership. The RLC’s National Committee encourages state chapters to use innovation and creativity to advance the organization’s mission and principles.
The organization is directed by members at the local and state levels for the benefit of individual members who wish to engage in the political process. We don’t focus on national publicity or media events, but engage in retail politics — one-on-one, at local community, precinct, and county levels.
The RLC leadership provides advice to member affiliates, but it does not run its state chapters. Our state chapters have autonomy because they know the political landscape in their area better than anyone else. The RLC puts its main focus on local political action rather than lobbying on national issues because we believe our successes will come from the ground up — not from the top down.
5. The RLC has a rich tradition and is therefore a sustainable organization. The RLC has existed since 1991; our vibrant history — rich with many successes — encourages us to keep fighting in 2010, 2012, and beyond. Since its early days, the RLC has stood firm against abuse of power and has worked to fulfill the visions of the Founders and the intent of the U.S. Constitution.
6. The RLC is a 527 group but also operates a Political Action Committee (PAC). A 527 group is created primarily to influence the nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates for public office and is unregulated by the FEC.
The PAC allows our organization to provide donations to select candidates in races where we can have a strategic impact. Over the years, the PAC has donated money to candidates who had shown a dedication to liberty and responsible government and helped them win election.
Working inside the GOP the RLC can do things which organizations working outside the party structure are legally restricted from like endorsing candidates and participating in party political activities.
7. The RLC recruits and supports liberty candidates. The RLCUSA-PAC is the RLC’s affiliated Political Action Committee (PAC), which allows members to support specific federal candidates endorsed by RLC members within the legal framework for campaign financing. The PAC distributes funds to the most promising liberty candidates in Republican primaries and general elections, as a compliment to our member’s participation in those campaigns.
In 2008, for example, former RLC Board member Carol McGuire was elected to the New Hampshire legislature and Kent County RLC Chair Justin Amash was elected to the Michigan legislature.
RLC state affiliate organizations have also established their own state-based PACs to distribute contributions to state legislative, executive, and local Republican races. Unlike other organizations, we contribute directly to campaigns by encouraging member participation and financial contributions to actual political contests.
8. Every RLC activist is a volunteer dedicated to furthering the RLC’s principles. Our members want to achieve success and are genuinely working for change in the GOP. They want aren’t just passive subscribers, but genuine activists whose input and participation is valued.
Moreover, our members believe that principles play a key role in politics, but they also want to work with party leaders and other GOP groups to make a better and more successful party for all Republicans. We believe that all Republicans share many of our core beliefs and we work with them to find common ground.
If Americans are ever going to be receptive to the message of individual liberty and limited government, it is not going to take more than a public policy paper or a nice speech. It will come as a direct result of grassroots activists taking our message to the people. Our message is not just about one issue, one bill or one crisis. Our message is about strengthening our local communities and increasing prosperity in every state through the principles of individual liberty and limited government.
9. The RLC successfully balances ideological purity (principles) with a strong desire to implement our principles (success). Morton Blackwell, founder of the Leadership Institute, once said that if one “truly believe[s] in their cause” then “they owe it to themselves to work to implement their ideals.”
The RLC believes that the ideals of liberty are fundamental to our republic and to the Republican party. The nation and the party may have strayed from those ideals from time to time, but when the people demand liberty their leaders will have to answer.
Advocates for liberty have had a tremendous track record in shaping our national public policy debates time and time again working through think-tanks and the media. We want to take those ideas and make them a reality and shape them into policy for the nation. We believe that this is the destiny of the Republican Party.
10. The RLC works with a variety of groups on single-issue causes, bridging the gap. The RLC has — and will continue to — work with establishment Republicans, moderate Republicans, the religious right, various types of Democrats, Independents, Greens, and those not engaged in politics at all on issues of mutual concern.
We have partnered with left-leaning groups such as the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and the American Civil Liberties Union and right-leaning groups like Gun Owners of America and the National Taxpayers Union.
We are affiliated with The Liberty Coalition and have endorsed the objectives of the Free State Project, Castle Coalition, and Marijuana Policy Project.
The Republican Liberty continues to bridge the gap between constitutionalists, libertarians, Republican Party activists, and concerned citizens who are unfamiliar with our ideas. We are successful by standing firm on principle while simultaneously working to enact our principles via the political process.
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We Need You!
Please join the RLC and become involved today.
Questions? Contact Us.
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