Former Governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson is coming to Houston and Dallas!

As Governor of New Mexico, Johnson was known for his common-sense business approach to governing. He eliminated New Mexico’s budget deficit, cut the rate of growth in state government in half and privatized half of the state prisons.

Johnson also shifted state Medicaid to managed care (which led to better healthcare by creating a statewide healthcare network that previously did not exist and which saved money) and reduced state employees by over 1000, with no firings. During his term, New Mexico experienced the longest period without a tax increase in the state’s history.

While in office, Governor Johnson vetoed 750 bills (which is about equal to all the combined vetoes of the other 49 Governors in the country at the time). He is currently the Honorary Chairman of the Our America Initiative.

Gary Johnson in Houston — November 9 (RSVP on Facebook)

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Southeast Texas is seeking sponsors to help raise funds to keep the event free and open to the public. Please contribute today. If you haven’t joined the RLC yet and donate $30 or more toward this event, you’ll automatically become a member!

Special guests include:
– Debra Medina, President of We Texans
– Dave Nalle, National Chairman of the RLC
– Bill Tofte & Al Jameson — Houston Area Liberty Campaign

Gary Johnson in Palmer (Dallas) — November 11 (RSVP on Facebook)

Texas RLC Chair Joey Dauben is bringing Gary Johnson to his home town of Palmer, Texas. Contact Joey to learn more about the event.

Please join Texas RLC members and activists at one of these events.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Utah will be hosting a forum on the issue of immigration on Wednesday, October 20 in Salt Lake City.

As the issue has become more heated throughout the years, and even more so with the recent Arizona law, it is incumbent upon all Utahns to be conscious of various policies that the state might adopt. State legislators (and challengers), members of the media and other activists will be present to discuss the issue. There will be Q&A following the formal presentation.

All are encouraged to come, whatever your political persuasion, free of charge. Kindly contact Chris Lovato (clovato@gmail.com) or Julian Babbitt (jbabbitt@alumni.uci.edu, 760.832.4142) for more information.

RSVP to the event on Facebook!

The Republican Liberty Caucus has a specific mission, which is to restore liberty and Constitutional values in American politics through electing members of the Republican Party who have those values and ideals.  For twenty years this mission has been gaining momentum, and can be seen picking up serious steam in the 2010 elections around the country.

Achieving the mission occurs through a very simple strategy that involves two core concepts:

1. Work within the Republican Party.
2. Make sure that the best candidate gets the party nomination in the primary.

The first step seems to be hard for some people to swallow, as it means narrowing your focus somewhat.  To be most effective, RLC activists are encouraged to join their county’s Republican executive committee (REC).  The REC is where Republican strategy is made and the agenda is set.  It determines who the party will support, what ideas it will back, and generally how the local party is run.  Obviously, this has tremendous strategic value for a caucus that tasks itself with reforming the party from the inside out.

Being a member of your REC isn’t enough by itself, however.  You also have to be willing to work with the local party members and have at the very least a working relationship with them.  To that end, all conflict and strife should be avoided if necessary, as it creates barriers and can lead to negative publicity.  If a situation arises, it’s best for the RLC member(s) to back away from it and make it known that they aren’t interesting in any kind of trouble.

It’s also useful to help with campaigns of candidates (preferably ones you find enjoyable), or to do some other work to help the party on the local level (i.e. making phone calls, knocking on doors, helping organize a voter registration drive, etc.).  There are a number of things you can do to actively help the party without sacrificing your principles.

One of the issues that faces some members is how much they can support candidates outside of the Republican Party.  This becomes a particularly sticky situation when you have a party loyalty oath like that used by the Republican Party of Florida.  Typically, RLC members openly supporting non-Republican candidates against Republicans can cause friction with their relations within the party.  The RPOF loyalty oath actually states that those who sign it are forbidden from openly supporting any candidate running against a Republican in a partisan election, except in a primary.  It’s worth noting that in order to join any of Florida’s RECs, you must sign the loyalty oath.  This is no small matter; signing your name to a document is regarded by most as putting your honor on the line, and to go against an oath you signed your name to can create some serious issues.  If you’re not comfortable with such a restriction, you should probably see about working from outside of your local REC if they have one in place.

In order to prevent RLC members from feeling the urge to vote against the Republican candidate, the RLC needs to win primary elections, getting the liberty candidate into the general election.  Once they are pressed through, the party is typically forced to support them.  Mike Yost is a solid example where a good primary push got a great liberty candidate into the general election, where he has earned the support of many of the Republican Party’s biggest names in his bid to win the Congressional District 3 race in Florida.  Unfortunately, if the primary run fails, the opposing candidate will get the party’s support, and any further actions against them will incur some hard feelings within the party.

It is not the general election where the RLC needs to focus most of its efforts, but rather these primary elections.  In the 10-18 months leading up to a primary election, RLC members need to identify good liberty minded candidates quickly within the Republican Party, and then support them as much as possible, putting all time, effort, and even money into that candidate to get them through the primary.  In many regions this push will give a large boost that could see the candidate win and make it through to the general election.  Once they’re in the general election, the Republican Party will take over, donating far more resources than the RLC could muster for the race.

The RLC has a good strategy, a winning strategy.  Work within the party, and push liberty candidates in the primary elections.  If RLC members can do these things – avoiding strife, breaking oaths, or being sucked into the concept they can “wait” to support a candidate until after the primary – then liberty candidates will win more races in the Republican Party across the nation, bringing the Republican Liberty Caucus’s strategy one step closer to success.

And with that success will come a new age of liberty and Constitutional values in America.

Earlier this week, Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA) was on The Daily Show promoting a new book about how the younger generation of Republicans wants to reform their party and Congress.

Stewart asked the right questions and pushed Cantor enough to provide an excellent illustration of how far the New Radicalism has taken us and also of what still needs to be done to complete the transformation of our government from the monstrosity which it has become to what it was intended to be and what the people want it to be.

After this interview I’m calling this the “The Eric Cantor Effect,” because the degree to which we can influence this misguided but still malleable Republican moderate and bring him around to see what the people want, is a bellweather for the success of the efforts of groups like the tea parties and the Republican Liberty Caucus to use the Republican Party to institute substantive government reforms leading to a return to Constitutionally limited government and real respect for individual liberty.

Cantor has not yet been fully converted, but he seems to be starting to grasp the substance behind the anger of the people and is clearly trying to respond to it. His discussion with Stewart is an interesting illustration of the struggle he is going through. He’s part way there. When we manage to fully inform and transform Congressmen like Cantor who can be influenced, then we will have succeeded.

Stewart: You voted for No Child Left Behind. You voted for REAL ID. You voted for the Medicare bill which is a trillion dollars unfunded. You voted for the PATRIOT Act. In what way are you a limited government…in what way do you want to shrink government. Because your record is clearly not…doesn’t speak to that.

Cantor: John, first of all, I’m here to say we understand we got fired and there was a reason.

Stewart: So you would take all those votes back.

Cantor: I would take all those votes back, but what I can tell you on…

Stewart: You would take most of those votes back.

Cantor: On the REAL ID issue you better believe government’s got a role in making the airways safe.

Stewart: But that’s my point. You pick and choose. When you people say ‘I want smaller government,’ they want smaller government for where they want it to be small. Each political party makes choices for where they want government to be more powerful.

Cantor: They want a Constitutionally limited government and the Constitution is very explicit when it comes to national defense…

Stewart: They would make the case that it’s very explicit about the commerce clause. You can always make that case.

Cantor: I mean, national defense is fairly straightforward. I mean I think the commerce clause is where things have gotten a little vague.  There’s been abuse. I mean we were responsible..

Stewart: But in’t there abuse in also the defense industry, in the military industrial complex.

Cantor: Absolutely. Nobody is going to defend every expense going on in the Pentagon for sure. What we’re about in the book is saying ‘accountablity’ You know, that we can’t afford to keep spending money we don’t have and people are fed up.

The highlighting here is mine, and it illustrates the points which Cantor is beginning to understand, a transformation which we hope is also happening in the minds of other Republicans who have not been in office too long and become too corrupt to listen to the people.

Cantor does seem to understand that it’s about limiting government, about restoring adherence to the Constitution, and about reducing spending. He even seems to half understand that cutting defense is a big part of it, but clearly he has some reluctance to accept the full implications of that. He also seems not to get what Stewart clearly does get, which is that intrusions on individual liberty like REAL ID are also a major part of the problem. But he’s come part way. He knows the people are angry and he’s at least accepted some of the reasons. And perhaps most importantly he has admitted fault, repudiated his past behavior and shown a willingness to change. Cantor also seems to realize that there will be accountability in the future. He may not fully understand what that means, but he knows enough to be scared.

With legislators like Cantor starting to see the light, we’ve already made remarkable progress towards reclaiming our government. But despite his 11th hour conversion, relying on him and his “Young Guns” (the title of his book) to make the changes we want is unlikely to be sufficient. They are too tainted already and too prone to backsliding and repeating their past mistakes. They need to be further educated and to be have their feet held to the fire every day until they truly abandon their old ways and become real representatives of the people.

They will play an important role in reclaiming our government, but more important will be the small but determined group of newly elected Congressmen and Senators who will join them after the November election. With no history of corruption and a much more intimate understanding of the demands and anger of the people, they will form a new power block and a new cadre of leaders who may not lead by seniority but will lead with a moral authority which will cause weak reeds like Cantor to bend to their wind.

It’s very good news that Cantor and others like them are seeing and admitting their past errors. They still have miles to go before the people will truly forgive them, and it is essential that in the future they and all elected officials be held accountable and be reminded that they serve the people of this nation and not just the special interests and insider power cliques which have led them astray in the past.

In Florida’s Republican Party, like many around the country, we are told that unity is always supporting the Republican Candidate who wins their primary race. When attending Republican Party functions, we are told that we are to “come together at election time” by the leaders of the party. It is rare, however, that these same party leaders do not see their candidate win in the primary. The win allows them, with immunity, to demand total support for the candidate that so many in the grassroots were working to defeat, which often leaves these workers in a state of utter confusion and wondering how they can be expected to so drastically change their support.

In the case of Governor Charlie Crist, many of the Republican Party leadership, who knew exactly what Charlie stood for, supported him and his decisions to the end. That end, of course, was when Charlie changed parties, and now Charlie is despised. He has become a talking point for Republicans in the 2010 state elections for what is wrong with Florida; however, many of those same Republicans supported and demanded that others support him before his party change. Did Charlie’s actions or beliefs change? Did Charlie suddenly morph into someone that aspired to beliefs that were not in line with the Republican Party? The Answer is no. Charlie did not change; rather, simply his affiliation with the Republican Party changed.

In Duval county we have a mayor that claims to be a Republican, yet has proposed tax increases the last two years. These increases were supported by the mostly Republican City Council, but were protested by many of the hardworking, grassroots people of Duval County. Meanwhile both years the Republican Party leadership declined to participate in the discussion, because to do so would have been to go against a fellow Republican. What issue pertains more to the Republican Party than low taxes? Yet, Republican leaders would rather remain silent, then true to principles.

At a time when so many within both parties are disenfranchised and ready for another option, perhaps demanding loyalty to a party is short sighted. It is because of these types of demands that so many organizations and groups have sprung up. From the Tea Parties and 912 groups to the Republican Liberty Caucus and Campaign for Liberty, these groups are now standing for what the Republican Party was always supposed to be: The Party that represented small, limited, Constitutional Government, less taxes, a strong national defense, and State and National Sovereignty.

Now is the time to examine the political system to determine if, perhaps, the idea of loyalty to an organization or party, that often asks the people to dismiss their personal convictions and standards and offer their blind loyalty to the title “Republican”, is somehow missing the big picture. Does supporting someone like Charlie Crist, only to have them prove that they have always stood for different principles, lend credibility to the Republican Party leadership?

Many serving on the executive committee take a loyalty oath to support the party. This oath has often been enforced with a stern hand. Meanwhile, who is enforcing the oath to the Constitution that our elected officials take? Should their failure to uphold their own oath to their constituents void any oath to unconditionally support them? They have forgotten that they serve the people, and their primary duty is to uphold the US Constitution. If we continue to blindly support them, forcing loyalty on those working to get them elected, we are creating an infrastructure that will collapse on itself.
To pretend that America’s problems started the day that Obama was sworn into office is to dismiss the damage that Republicans, such as John McCain and Olympia Snow, have been doing to the party for years. It was the Republican Party that supported them and enabled them to continue their harmful ways without accountability. The Party needs to figure out what it stands for and what it stands against so that the people working to get “Republicans” candidates elected in the fall will know exactly what these candidates stand for.

Organizations such as the Republican Liberty Caucus stand for accountability within the party at all levels and with every elected official. When officials fail to uphold their oath to the Constitution, or to support the principles that the stated Republican platforms claims to uphold, they deserve to be called out and in turn voted out.

If those in party leadership would unite under principles, they could harness the growing power of the Tea Parties, the RLC, the 912 groups, and thousands of disenfranchised voters.

Now is the time to decide if uniting under a title is more important than returning this country to its roots and seeing real change take place in our cities, counties, states, and Nation.

(This article originally appeared as an editorial in The Jacksonville Observer)

The fall 2010 Republican Liberty Caucus of California newsletter is online at http://www.rlcca.org/y/2010/pr/20101013_newsletter.pdf. The California RLC recommends its candidates and ballot proposition votes, so please check out their recommendations!

The RLCCA is pleased to announce the publication of our Autumn 2010 Newsletter. The newsletter includes a list of our endorsements and recommendations for the November election.

• Download the Autumn 2010 Newsletter (PDF, 5.1MB)

Please remember to vote on November 2nd.

For Immediate Release: October 13, 2010

Republican Liberty Caucus Endorses 482 Candidates from 43 States, 65 Percent of Candidates on November Ballots
Reform is Coming to the Republican Party; Battle Just Beginning

Contact: Aaron Biterman,
RLCStateChapters@aol.com

ARLINGTON, VA — With less than three weeks until the mid-term elections, the Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) has endorsed 482 candidates in 43 states, a record number of endorsements for the Caucus. Founded in 1991, the Republican Liberty Caucus is intent on electing a liberty-focused slate of legislators at the local, state, and federal levels to balance budgets, stop overspending, protect the free enterprise system, and return individual liberty and personal responsibility to citizens.

“Of the 482 candidates that the Republican Liberty Caucus has endorsed, 317 of them have won their primaries and moved on to the General Election,” according to Aaron Biterman, Vice Chair of the RLC. “Sixty-five percent of our candidates will be on the ballot for voters to select on November 2. This is a remarkable success rate for a grassroots organization focused on restoring constitutional government,” he said.

The RLC’s liberty slate includes Republican U.S. Senate nominees Sen. Jim DeMint (SC), Sharron Angle (NV), Joe Miller (AK), Christine O’Donnell (DE), Dr. Rand Paul (KY), Pat Toomey (PA), Mike Lee (UT) and Dr. Eric Wargotz (MD) as well as U.S. House candidates from 20 states. “This slate of candidates will advance an agenda of common sense solutions that the American people can be proud of. Americans are thirsty for jobs and a revived economy and only an agenda of less spending, debt, and government regulations will produce the results they seek,” said Biterman.

Commenting on the slate of candidates, Dr. John Hospers, a retired professor of Philosophy and 1972 Presidential candidate said, “I’m honored to be on the RLC’s current Board of Advisors, along with many associates, colleagues and other esteemed defenders of liberty. I support the RLC’s 2010 endorsed candidates, and am encouraged with the prospects of returning power to the people.”

The Republican Liberty Caucus, founded in 1991, exists to promote individual liberty, limited government, and free enterprise within the Republican Party. The RLC will hold its 2011 Convention in Arlington, Virginia on February 12, 2011 and encourages media, liberty-minded citizens, and other interested parties to attend. Learn more about the organization at http://www.RLC.org/. A full list of endorsed candidates is available at http://www.rlc.org/endorsed-candidates-2010/.

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On Monday the National Board of the Republican Liberty Caucus finalized its list of endorsements for state and national office in the Texas general election on November 2nd. The endorsements are based on recommendations from regional RLC chapters throughout the state and approved by the board of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas.

After reviewing the list, RLC National Chairman Dave Nalle observed that “Texas has produced a really outstanding selection of candidates who will be an important part of our effort to reform Congress and return federal and state government to a firm basis in the Constitution, fiscal responsibility and respect for individual liberty. Texas will lead the way to restoring the tradition of liberty in the GOP.”

The newly endorsed candidates include:

Federal:
Louie Gohmert (Incumbent), U.S. House, District 1
Sam Johnson (Incumbent), U.S. House, District 3
Jeb Hensarling (Incumbent), U.S. House, District 5
Clayton Trotter, U.S. House, District 20
Kenny Marchant (Incumbent), U.S. House, District 24
Dr. Michael Burgess (Incumbent), U.S. House, District 26
John Carter (Incumbent), U.S. House, District 31
Pete Sessions (Incumbent), U.S. House, District 32

Statewide:
Jerry Patterson (Incumbent), Agriculture Commissioner

State & Local:
Mary Lou Serafine, State Senate, District 14
Dick Bowen, State Senate, District 19
David Simpson, House of Representatives, District 7
Randy Weber, House of Representatives, District 29
Jason Isaac, House of Representatives, District 45
Ken Paxton (Incumbent), House of Representatives, District 70
Jodie Laubenberg (Incumbent), House of Representatives, District 89
Debbie Riddle (Incumbent), House of Representatives, District 150

Previously endorsed RLC candidates in Texas include:

Dr. Ron Paul (Incumbent), U.S. House, District 14
Melissa Goodwin, Judge, Third District Court of Appeals
Mike Barré, Travis County Justice of the Peace, District 3
Grant Rostig, Caldwell County Commissioner, District 4

Congratulations to this slate of liberty-focused candidates.

The Republican Liberty Caucus, the libertarian/constitutionalist wing of the Republican Party, has selected to endorse the following candidates for office in 2010. These endorsements are in addition to our over 200 other endorsed candidates for state and federal office.

Congratulations to the below candidates, each of whom is committed to limited government and protecting individual liberty.

U.S. Senate
Ken Buck, Colorado
Joe Miller, Alaska
Christine O’Donnell, Delaware
Dr. Eric Wargotz, Maryland

U.S. House
Roscoe Bartlett (Incumbent), District 6, Maryland
Steve Chabot, District 1, Ohio
Scott Garrett (Incumbent), District 5, New Jersey
Jim Jordan, District 4, Ohio
Charles Lollar, District 5, Maryland
Joel Pollak, District 9, Illinois
Adrian Smith (Incumbent), District 3, Nebraska

Statewide
Martha Dean, Attorney General, Connecticut
Mark Martin, Secretary of State, Arkansas

Local & State
Tracie Nakano Bean, State Senate – District 24, Hawaii
Thomas Massie, Lewis County Judge Executive, Kentucky