Join an amazing group of liberty advocates for a high tech extravaganza with live audio and video, all on behalf of raising money for Rand Paul. Guests include Peter Schiff, Jim DeMint, John Dennis, B. J. Lawson, Joe the Plumber and many more. I’ll be among them. I’m on at 10am EST. The technology may be a bit rough, but it’s kind of cool. Come and help support Rand’s Senate run.

Jim Forsythe, former Chair of the New Hampshire RLC, won the primary for State Senate in District 4, defeating two opponents. Following 12 years of service in the Air Force, Jim moved to New Hampshire and was involved in a local taxpayers group and in the Ron Paul 2008 campaign. Despite the large size of the New Hampshire legislature, the Senate is much smaller and more prominent. Learn more about the race and donate at http://jimforsythe.com/.

Jim’s victory was just one of the many successful candidates who won on Primary Day in the Granite State.

The New Hampshire RLC also targeted seven incumbent RINOs on Primary Day. Of the seven, the following three Reps. lost their races to RLC primary challengers: State Reps. Cynthia Dokmo, Jayne Spaulding, and Anthony DiFruscia.

The state RLC sent a total of 10,000 mail pieces in the seven candidates’ districts to expose their Big Government voting record. In response to the RLC’s effective education effort, Cynthia Dokmo has filed a lawsuit against the state RLC while Jayne Spaulding is threatening to publicize the names of donors to the RLCNH. Spaulding called the RLC a “fringe group” in an article about the RLC’s victories in The Nashua Telegraph.

In response to the lawsuit, RLC New Hampshire Chairman Andrew Hemingway said, “All of our filings are in order. This is simply an attack by these liberal candidates who were exposed for who they are and they’re upset about it.”

Learn more about the candidates the New Hampshire RLC has endorsed at http://rlcnh.org/candidates/. Congratulations to the New Hampshire RLC for its many victories on September 14!

Senate Democrats are planning a vote on the “Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act” (S. 3628) – the “Disclose Act”, for short — THIS AFTERNOON.

This legislation has already passed the House, so it’s urgent you contact your Senators today.

The bill is a direct assault on participation in the political process.

It will force groups like the Republican Liberty Caucus to report our members to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC).

As a grassroots, all-volunteer organization, we don’t have the staff to prepare such reports.

By requiring us to spend time on reporting to the FEC, they are holding us hostage to federal regulations and reporting requirements. The result: The RLC will spend LESS time on our mission and more time complying with federal regulations that stifle free speech.

“The Disclose Act” will create a list of all people who donate to all organizations in support of political campaigns, to be posted on the Federal Elections Commission website.

This attack on free speech will particularly hit the groups in the liberty movement hard. They and everyone else will have unfettered access to our donors.

Please contact your  Senator today and ask them to VOTE NO on S. 3628.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Indiana will host its 2010 Convention this Saturday from 11:30am until the early evening hours.

The Convention will include business sessions, social gatherings, and keynote speaker Greg Zoeller.

Greg will speak as a Republican, Hoosier and friend of liberty – not in his official capacity as Attorney General.

RSVP on Facebook today or contact Karen Hillman today to register.

Republican Gubernatorial nominee Rick Scott will be the keynote speaker at the Republican Liberty Caucus of Central East Florida’s Second Annual 2010 Constitution Day Dinner.

The dinner will occur at the Radisson Resort at the Port on Friday, September 24, 2010. Cocktail hour will be from 6 to 7pm and the program will begin at 7pm. Register today!

The Constitution Day Dinner serves as the Republican Liberty Caucus’ primary annual fundraising vehicle, giving the organization the funds it needs to support and promoting candidates that espouse the principles of free enterprise and Constitutionally limited government.

“This event will honor those who pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to create our great nation,” RLCCEF founder Matt Nye said. “This country was founded on the principles of individual rights, limited government and free enterprise, so it is very appropriate that we will have entrepreneur and Republican Gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott as our keynote speaker.”

“Now, more than ever, Americans must become active in the political process — we want them to come out, get engaged, and learn how they can make a difference within both the Republican Party and their government,” Nye said. “Apathy is no longer an option; just as our forefathers stood against the redcoats so many years ago, Americans must once again stand up and fight if they want to preserve the greatest country known to man.”

Rick Scott has a narrow lead over Democrat Alex Sink. Scott’s running mate is State Rep. Jennifer Carroll, who would be Florida’s first African American Republican Lt. Governor.

We hope you’ll come join the Florida Republican nominee for Governor Rick Scott at the Republican Liberty Caucus of Central East Florida’s Second Annual 2010 Constitution Day Dinner on Friday.

Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana is a prospective 2012 Presidential candidate. In July, he made his first trip to Iowa. He also has scheduled a trip to New Hampshire. He recently won the Values Voter Summit straw poll.

Pence has represented Indiana’s 6th Congressional district since 2000. The district includes most of eastern Indiana, including the cities of Richmond, New Castle, and Muncie.

Like Congressman Paul Ryan (who we have reported on here), Mike Pence presents himself as a traditional free-market conservative.

Also like Representative Ryan of Wisconsin, Pence’s record does not come close to matching his rhetoric. Both Ryan and Pence voted with the Republican Party 94% of the time and largely served as rubber-stamps to the George W. Bush agenda.

Pence on the Free Market

In 2008, Congressman Pence voted for the Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act, the Bush stimulus costing taxpayers $152 billion (sources). In July of 2009, Pence voted for $192 billion in additional federal stimulus spending (source).

The Cato Institute graded Pence at 61% on free trade issues in 2002. Pence was graded a “C” by the Club for Growth in 2004. In 2006, Pence scored (.pdf) just 63 out of 100 on economic issues and 67 of 100 on social issues in the Republican Liberty Caucus “Liberty Index,” which has rated members of Congress on key liberty votes since 1992.

These numbers are hardly indicative of a conservative rockstar, which Pence is portrayed as in the media.

Pence on Social Issues

According to Politico, Congressman Pence is the individual responsible for injecting social issues into the 2010 national Republican Party policy agenda.

In 2006, Pence co-sponsored both the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act and the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, both federal government bans on Internet gambling.

In 2005, he voted for federal intervention in the Terri Schiavo case. He also voted for a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning.

He gave a speech on the the House floor in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment in July, 2004.

Talk about a selective interpretation of the Tenth Amendment!

Pence on Civil Liberties and Foreign Policy

Congressman Pence voted yes on authorizing military force in Iraq (October 2002) but then voted against an exit date for the Iraq War (June 2006). He voted yes on an emergency $78 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (April 2003).

Congressman Pence voted yes on allowing federal government electronic surveillance without a warrant (September 2006), voted against requiring FISA warrants for wiretaps (March 2008), and voted for the REAL ID Act (February 2005). He voted for the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001 and voted to make it permanent in 2005.

In 2005 and 2006, Pence voted for the Military Commissions Act, voted for the Electronic Surveillence Modernization Act, and voted against a resolution to ban inhumane treatment (torture) of detainees held by U.S. forces.

Few, if any, of these policy positions are consistent with the Bill of Rights.

In sum, there isn’t much that Mike Pence has done to advance individual liberty and limited government while in Congress.

His rhetoric does not match his record. Keep that in mind when he runs for President.

It wasn’t enough for the national Republican Party to do everything possible to defeat Tea Party candidates Rand Paul, Joe Miller, and Christine O’Donnell.

Now they’re rolling out a national platform that calls for federal intervention on hot-button social issues, less than two months out from the mid-term elections at a time when Americans are hurting economically and are clearly sick of failed Big Government policies.

This despite the fact that gay marriage didn’t even rank into the top five issues the attendees of the Values Voter Summit said they’re worried about. (Abortion was the first and the other issues were economic.)

This is the same Republican Party that pushed a radical, bigoted social-issue agenda in the 2006 mid-term elections and subsequently lost their majority in both chambers of Congress. (Yes, there were other factors in the 2006 Republican losses.)

The agenda will be released tomorrow, but it will include commentaries on homosexuality and abortion. The Republican Liberty Caucus has no position on abortion, but we were among the only Republican Party caucus groups that spoke out against George W. Bush’s Federal Marriage Amendment.

There seems to be a Republican obsession with homosexuality. Yesterday the Republican Senate, without a single dissenter, crushed the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Now Republicans are rolling out a national agenda singing the praises of federal involvement in marriage. As the RLC stated in our 2004 press release on the FMA, “Marriage should not be dictated, endorsed, subsidized or restricted by any government. The right to pursue individual happiness is a fundamental liberty that should be free of all state intervention. True love and genuine personal commitment do not need legal support or sanction.”

Publishing and disseminating a national agenda before the mid-terms is probably a good idea for the Republican Party. The use of hot-button social issues may be a distraction to some, but surely has the potential to alienate core constituencies of the Republican Party: libertarian-leaning Republicans, moderate Republicans, independents, and certain segments of the Tea Party.

Will the Republican Party ever abandon its desire to involve the federal government in the lives of law-abiding American citizens?

Tonight I’ll be appearing on behalf of the RLC as a guest on the Delia Lopez Radiothon fundraiser.

Guest Line Up:
9:00 – am Michael Badnarik Constitution Preservation
10:00-am Kurt Wallace Interview Delia Lopez
11:00-am Larisa Sparrowhawk Oregon Farm Rights
12:00-pm Sheriff Richard Mack Sheriff Mack
1:00 – pm Frank Anderson I Caucus
2:00 – pm Bob Tuskin www.TheyLie.com with Jake Towne
3:00 – pm Delia Lopez interviews Senatorial candidate Shane Dinkel
4:00 – pm Bob Shultz We the People Foundation
5:00 – pm Rants and Raves with Rex
6:00 – pm Dr. Ron Paul
6:30 – pm Dave Nalle Chairman Republican Liberty Caucus
7:00 – pm Frantz Kebreau NAACPC
8:00 – pm Ken Van Doren The Voice of Liberty

I’m on right after Dr. Ron Paul, so I suspect it’s a prime slot. Stop by and listen if you can, and take time to go to www.dlopezforcongress.com and support one of our best liberty candidates as we go into the November general election.

Dave

Campaign strategist Dick Morris recently blogged about focusing support on ten key house races where he believes money and personal effort will make the most difference for Republicans in November.  While I agree with the concept of focusing support on key races, there is a fundamental problem with the list Morris has put together. Instead of focusing on the best candidates, it is a list almost entirely composed of establishment candidates. It focuses on winning seats and ignores the imperative to change the focus of the party and the Congress in November.

While Morris’ candidates may have a good chance of winning, they are mostly not the kinds of candidates who will move the GOP in a positive direction or take roles as principled leaders in Congress. They may end up being helpful votes as part of a future coalition, but they are not the right candidates to form the nucleus of a new and better Republican majority.

It’s much more important in this key election to put your money and support behind GOP candidates who are both able to win and also dedicated to Constitutional principles and restoring the core ideals of the GOP. To redo Morris’ work from the perspective of a pro-liberty activist rather than a political hack who used to call his pal Bill Clinton while he was in bed with a hooker and Clinton was playing hide the cigar with an intern, I offer my list of the ten house candidates who really deserve your help and your money. They are listed in order of my somewhat subjective assessment of their need and worthiness.

Mick Mulvaney (SC-5)

A principled constitutional conservative who is running in a tough blue-leaning district against an incumbent he has done the near impossible to come up tied at 46% to 46% with his opponent in the latest poll. He needs any support he can get in a critical race.

Find out more about his campaign at www.mulvaneyforcongress.com

Jason Levesque (ME-2)

Trailing in the polls, but working very hard to catch up. He’s a committed Liberty Republican and is trailing 7 points in the polls. It’s a deficit he can make up by November. He has the energy and needs your support.

Find out more about his campaign at www.levesqueforcongress.com

John Koster (WA-2)

A principled constitutional conservative who is leading by about 4 points in the latest poll. He needs to widen his lead to secure an important upset win.

Find out more about his campaign at www.kosterforcongress.com

Delia Lopez (OR-3)

A promising and hard working Liberty Republican who speaks out strongly for Constitutionally protected rights and civil liberties. She’s a real anti-establishment candidate who is running a very active campaign, but has an uphill battle.

Find out more about his campaign at: www.dlopezforcongress.com

David Ratowitz (IL-5)

One of my favorite Liberty Republicans running this year. On the right side of just about every issue. Strong on individual liberty and fiscal issues. He has a tough but winnable race, but needs help to pull off an upset.

Find out more about his campaign at: www.ratowitzforcongress.com

John Dennis (CA-8)

One of the most high profile Liberty Republican candidates in one of the most challenging races in the country, taking on Speaker Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco. Yes, he’s down by more than 20 points in the polls, but there are still enough undecided votes that he could win. He might be able to pull off a miracle with your help.

Help him beat Pelosi at: www.johndennis2010.com

Chip Cravaack (MN-8)

A strong fiscal conservative with integrity and a background as a navy pilot. The kind of principled leader we need in Congress. Not much polling information, but his fundraising is strong and he seems like a potential winner.

Find out more about his campaign at: www.chipcravack.com

Gary Clift (CA-10)

A strong Liberty Republican in a race that is under the radar in northern California. The incumbent was elected in a special election and did not beat Clift by wide margins in that race, so there is potential for an upset with your help.

Find out more about his campaign: www.cliftforcongress.com

B. J. Lawson (NC-4)

One of the most respected Liberty Republican candidates, he has surprised many by taking a small lead in the latest poll. He needs to widen that lead to secure the seat and put another principled spokesman for liberty in the House.

Find out more about his campaign at www.lawsonforcongress.com

Lee Byberg (MN-7)

Coming off a very strong primary win, but the race hasn’t gotten much media attention. Internal polling suggests that he can win with enough support and exposure. He’s a strong constitutional conservative with civil libertarian leanings.

Find out more about his campaign at: www.bybergforcongress.com

These are hardly the only deserving candidates, but Morris picked ten so I limited myself to that. I eliminated great candidates with races which were too hard to assess like Bill Gunn (MA-1), Dan Sebring (WI-4) and others. I also passed over candidates who are running away with their races like Justin Amash (MI-3) or some who just seem too far behind to be saved.

There will be many turnovers in the House this fall.  There’s not one candidate Morris and I agree on, but there’s room for his less inspiring candidates if we can put my 10 pro-liberty, pro-constitution Republicans in the House to show them the way.

Check out the websites of the candidates from both lists and think about which group of 10 you’d rather have shape the future of the Republican Party.

In the course of researching this article I found TPM’s new Political Tracker beta site very helpful.

A version of this article appeared previously on Blogcritics.

When I declare that there is something seriously wrong with our government and our legislative process there are few who would disagree. Left and right, Democrat and Republican, more and more of us are convinced that our government is broken and that it no longer serves the needs or the interests of the people. We may disagree on the source of the problem and we certainly disagree on the solutions, but there’s clearly something wrong.

Some of us are trying to find a way to put our government back on track — to once again make government the servant rather than the master of the people. We’re demanding integrity and accountability and a new commitment from our leaders to restore our Republic to its founding values as expressed in the Constitution. This is the mission of the Republican Liberty Caucus and we have a strategy to achieve it.

After a decade which has seen our rights legislated away by the PATRIOT Act, big business bailouts, needless foreign wars and costly occupations, some have abandoned any hope of putting the government back on track. We’re now paying the price for a long series of misguided policies from two administrations. They have wrecked our economy, usurped our rights and sold us out to special interests, but it’s still not too late to save the republic if we can take our government back in the next two elections.

The Democrats are a lost cause. They are drunk on power and are using the government to plunder the people and enrich their allies. They have become the party of government excess. But we can still salvage the integrity of the Republican party and it can become the vehicle through which we change Congress and restore the republic, if we can rededicate it to its traditional values of individual liberty, free enterprise and limited government.

This seems like a monumental challenge, especially if you assume that you need to take over the whole party and replace the leadership to before real change can happen, but it may be more realistic than it seems.

You don’t need to actually take control of the party or its leadership to change its priorities. You just need to elect a nucleus of principled leaders who will influence those around them to make the party what it ought to be.

The reality is that in Congress, as in any organization, most of the members are naturally inclined to be followers. There is powerful pressure to go along with the prevailing attitudes in your party. To bring about change you don’t need to replace everyone in Congress, you just need to change who they look to for leadership and the principles which they find advantageous to follow.

If our representatives in Congress see that the prevailing attitude is shifting, their natural inclination will be to follow whatever appears to be the new dominant trend. If a particular stance seems to be wining popular support and getting new members elected, everyone but the most corrupt will follow that trend.

You can’t do this by introducing an alien ideology. You can’t do it with ideas which members of the party don’t already respect. But if the ideas are those which created the party, the ideas of Thomas Jefferson and Robert Taft and Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan and you can demonstrate that you have made them popular again by electing candidates based on them, then the advantage of jumping on the bandwagon will be obvious.

This is the strategy which has given other minority groups influence out of proportion to their numbers. It worked for the religious right. It worked for the neocons. It will work even better for Liberty Republicans, because the ideas they are promoting have a natural appeal to all republicans.

The specific plan of the Republican Liberty Caucus is to replace 20 percent of the Republicans in the House and Senate with principled, pro-liberty legislators by 2012. That means at least 10 Senators and at least 45 Rrepresentatives, on the assumption that the overall number of elected Republicans grow during the next three years.

With the efforts of the tea parties and other groups and the general anti-incumbent sentiment in the country a lot of Republicans will be elected n 2010 and more in 2012. They may not all be Liberty Republicans, but by the time that Republicans return to the majority there will be enough liberty Republicans among them that they will take a position of ideological leadership, which will change the basic character of our government.

This goal may already be in sight. It seems likely that at least 5 Liberty Republicans will be in the senate by the end of this year, with new Senators like Utah’s Mike Lee and Kentucky’s Rand Paul joining returning incumbents Jim Demint and Tom Coburn. Liberty Republicans will also be heading for the House of Representatives, with at least 30 of them joining representatives like Ron Paul and Jeff Flake after November. Similar numbers in the next two year cycle will make the RLC’s goal a reality and lay the groundwork for real change.

With that core group of principled Liberty Republicans in a position of influence we will begin to see real change very quickly. RLC candidates are united in their dedication to reducing the size and the burden of government. They will eliminate unnecessary government departments, programs and spending. They will roll back government intrusions on our liberties as individuals and on the sovereignty of our states. They will work towards tax reform and reduction and sensible alternatives to Obamacare and Social Security. Ultimately they will reasses the war on terror, homeland security and the war on drugs and effect a realignment of government priorities. Foreign policy will focus on free trade and the military will once again be dedicated to national defense.

It may sound like a utopian vision, and certainly the whole agenda will not be implemented overnight, but it starts with electing enough Liberty Republicans to form a voting block in both houses which will change the direction of the Ccngress.

If you want to be part of that change, you can help by spreading the word about the Liberty Candidates endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus and demanding reform and accountability from your other elected officials. Every Liberty Republican who is elected brings us one step closer to reclaiming our nation for liberty.