Founded in 1991, the Republican Liberty Caucus works to advance the principles of limited government, free markets and individual liberty within the Republican Party.

Here are the results from the straw poll taken by the RLCSC at the Patch/SCRN/RLCSC debate tonight:

There were 127 votes total

1. Ray Nash – 27 Votes (21%)
2. Mark Sanford – 20 Votes (16%)
3. Larry Grooms – 16 Votes (13%)
4. Tim Larkin – 15 Votes (12%)
5. Jonathan Hoffman – 9 Votes (7%)
6. John Kuhn – 6 Votes (5%)
6. Chip Limehouse – 6 Votes (5%)
6. Peter McCoy – 6 Votes (5%)
9. Teddy Turner – 5 Votes (4%)
10. Keith Blandford – 4 Votes (3%)
11. Ric Bryant – 3 Votes (2%)
11. Jeff King – 3 Votes (2%)
11. Elizabeth Moffly – 3 Votes (2%)
11. Andy Patrick – 3 Votes (2%)
15. Shawn Pinkston – 1 Vote (<1%)
16. Curtis Bostic – 0 Votes (0%)

Poll demographics:

Of those who indicated who they voted for in 2012, 33% voted for Mitt Romney, 28% voted for Ron Paul, 26% voted for Newt Gingrich, and 13% voted for Rick Santorum.

The post RLCSC Straw Poll Results SC1 appeared first on Republican Liberty Caucus of South Carolina.

Today and probably into tomorrow, Senator Rand Paul is filibustering the nomination of John Brennan for chief of the CIA. He’s doing this because before he lets this important appointment move forward he wants an answer from the administration to a question which many of us are asking: does President Obama really believe that he has the right to carry out exrtrajudicial assassination of US citizens without a trial or any due process using drones or other means at his command. The administration is stonewalling but Sen. Paul is demanding an answer from Attorney General Eric Holder.

If you support his stand for principle against murder for expediency, take this opportunity to call your Senators and encourage them to support Rand Paul and demand an answer from the administration before any further business is conducted.

To get contact info for your Senators, just CLICK HERE

There’s no point in coming up with a strong set of legislative priorities on an issue if we don’t let Congress know what we think they ought to be doing. So we’d like you to email your representatives with a complete copy of the RLC’s Statement on Immigration Priorities to get their attention.

This is particularly timely because our efforts have just been endorsed by the Federation of Hispanic Republicans, Cafe Con Leche Republicans and the 5-11 Campaign (opposes a national ID).

Th basic concept of our statement is to focus on the benefits of immigration for our nation when it is part of a comprehensive free market economic approach to the needs of workers and businesses. It emphasizes three primary points. First, that any policy should be designed to preserve the rights and economic interests of citizens and businesses. Second, that access to visas should be limited by the market and not quotas, through a robust guest worker program. Third, that immigration reform should be part of a comprehensive free market approach to business and labor in America.

Please use the form below to send a full copy to your representatives. Feel free to add some comments of your own to personalize it.

Republican Liberty Caucus Recommends Sensible, Free Market Immigration Reform

America was built on immigration.  Immigration has been good for the country and should be part of a positive plan for real economic recovery.  When individuals and families come to America to work they do not take jobs from American citizens. They contribute their labor and their income to the economy.  Their contributions lead to more opportunities for business growth and new jobs for native workers.

The United States needs a better immigration reform plan that is unified and comprehensive.  We need a plan based on free market principles that allows hard working people to come to America easily to expand our labor pool, improve their quality of life, create more opportunities and speed economic growth.  Current plans seem overly complex, impractical and bureaucratic, full of compromises that will cripple the effort.

The authors of the Senate plan used failed past proposals as their starting point, rather than rethinking the issue, as was suggested in the “Texas Solution” proposed last year.  They are pandering to the demands of high-pressure interest groups and their proposals do not provide solutions directed at the labor needs of the nation or the best interests of citizens, immigrants and businesses.

As leaders in Washington work on bipartisan immigration reform, the Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) and its membership recommends the following suggestions.  We urge legislators to consider these sensible policy approaches in developing their immigration reform plans.

The most important priority in any immigration proposal is that it not do harm to American citizens or businesses.

Hard working American citizens should not be tagged and tracked by their government with a biometric ID system and a national employment database.  This is a backwards way to approach this issue and a threat to civil liberties.

The burden and expense of enforcing of immigration laws should never be placed on businesses, nor should they be penalized for hiring willing workers just because of their immigration status.

The idea of securing the labor force by tracking native workers is unconscionable and punishing businesses for engaging in free market hiring practices is bad economic policy.

We recommend issuing a secure and traceable entry visa to anyone approved to enter the US seeking work then upgrading that visa to a work permit when they find employment.

Track the status of visas, not every innocent worker in America.

The central core of any immigration plan should be a robust guest worker program that allows labor to operate in a free market across borders so that workers can come here legally to find and fill available jobs. 

Let the demand for labor set a natural level on immigration without quotas, special preferences or restrictions for any group. There should not be arbitrary top limits on the number of visas or quotas by qualification or nationality.

A thorough background check performed by immigration authorities when a visa is issued should be sufficient.  Businesses should not have to go through exhaustive and expensive red tape just to hire willing workers.

Workers currently here illegally should not be penalized if they choose to transition into the guest worker program.

Those who just want to come here to work should not be forced into becoming permanent immigrants, nor should the focus of reforms be on expanding access for high-skill workers while ignoring the much more critical need for short-term, low-wage labor.

A guest worker program should be used in place of a complex “pathway to citizenship” plan for most immigrants.  While a “path to citizenship” may be a good idea for some foreign workers, it does not address the needs of the majority of those seeking entry or the real labor needs of the nation.  Any “pathway to citizenship” program should be simple, speedy and inexpensive for all.

Those who were brought here as minors who have no criminal record should be able to become permanent residents and apply for citizenship on completion of two years of college or military service.

Border security should also be addressed through the free market.

A guest worker program will solve the problem with migrants crossing the southern border to find work, diverting workers from illegal channels to legal channels and allowing border enforcement to concentrate on criminals and potential terrorists.

The elevated level of border violence can best be dealt with through long needed changes in federal drug policy.  New policy should allow states to legalize marijuana and end costly yet ineffective drug interdiction programs in the failed War on Drugs.

Applying free market principles will also form an excellent foundation for weakening criminal organizations and reducing the incentives for human trafficking.

Public welfare programs should be limited to United States citizens and tax-paying residents. 

While we acknowledge that at this time there is very little legal access to public welfare programs for legal or illegal immigrants we would support a standardization of restrictions on access to these programs, as well as improvements in monitoring use of social services and in the enforcement of existing laws.

In the long-term we should be looking at ways to reduce the dependence of citizens on public welfare programs and the many negative effects that they have on productivity and economic security.

Immigration reform should be part of a comprehensive policy of improving free market conditions to encourage economic growth.

Greater availability of foreign workers should go hand in hand with tax reforms, particularly a substantial reduction in the federal corporate tax rate.

Reforms should also include reassessing special privileges given to unions and the promotion of “right to work” legislation so that unions can be depoliticized and return to focusing on their original beneficial function of protecting the rights and safety of their members.

Thank you for participating in our first ever online convention. The purpose of this convention will be to vote on three proposed bylaws amendments. The text of these amendments can be found here: http://www.rlc.org/delegate-apportionment-proposals/

In order to make the online convention run as smooth as possible, please read the following instructions carefully:

1) If you have an amendment to proffer on any of the proposals please send it to treasurer@rlc.org no later than 5pm Friday, February 8th, so we can put it into the software for presentation ahead of time (we encountered too many computer/software variables when an individual tries to screen share on the fly).

2) At 3:45pm Sunday February 10th log on to the web site with the credentials you were given vie email.

3) Call in using your landline or cell phone (offers best audio quality) and – IMPORTANT! – enter the audio pin provided (this links your phone to you online meeting session). You will NOT be able to vote on floor amendments if you’re only using the audio portion of the conference bridge.

4) All attendees will be muted at the beginning of the call. If you wish to speak you will use the mood button to raise your hand and be recognized. The Chair will give you the floor and unmute you. You can then turn on your webcam if you wish. Once you’ve finished speaking you would turn off your web cam and change your mood to “I’m good” (lowers your hand). The Chair will then move on to the next person.

5) We will use the software’s polling feature to vote on amendments (remember, amendments must be submitted to treasurer@rlc.org by 5pm, Friday, February 8th. The final vote will be taken via a separate voting service called ElectionBuddy through email. The ballots will have a lifespan of 24 hours, so even if you’re unable to make the call you’ll still be able to vote on the finalized amendments.

As this is the first time we’ve tried something of this magnitude, we expect some bumps along the way. Please be patient.

This week we ran a nationwide survey of Republican Liberty Caucus members on the issue of immigration. The goal was to gauge member views as we prepared a statement in response to Senate proposals for comprehensive immigration reform. 119 members responded to the survey and answered 8 key questions. The results were much as expected, conforming fairly closely to our prior statements on immigration in those areas where it applied.

In determining which issues to focus on in our forthcoming statement we will focus on those where our members showed the strongest concern and were most in agreement and for purposes of clear messaging we will likely avoid taking a position on issues which are more ambiguous. It’s probable that the focus will be on the issues where 60% or more of those responding indicated a positive or negative position, especially those with very strong responses in the most positive or most negative categories, so we will put our heaviest emphasis on supporting a robust guest worker program and opposing any form of biometric ID or national employment database.

SURVEY RESULTS

How important is increased border security as part of a comprehensive immigration plan?

Answer	Votes	Vote Count/Percentage
Very Important		47 Votes(39%)
Somewhat Important		29 Votes(24%)
Not Very Important		23 Votes(19%)
Undesirable		20 Votes(16%)

Total Votes: 119

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How important is the availability of guest worker visas to meet labor needs in a comprehensive immigration plan?

Answer	Votes	Vote Count/Percentage
Very Important		58 Votes(48%)
Somewhat Important		36 Votes(30%)
Not very Important		17 Votes(14%)
Undesirable		8 Votes(6%)

Total Votes: 119

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How important are legal and financial penalties for businesses employing illegal aliens in a comprehensive national immigration plan?

Answer	Votes	Vote Count/Percentage
Very Important		29 Votes(24%)
Somewhat Important		15 Votes(12%)
Not Very Important		28 Votes(23%)
Undesirable		47 Votes(39%)

Total Votes: 119

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How important is the elimination of birthright citizenship in a comprehensive immigration program?

Answer	Votes	Vote Count/Percentage
Very Important		38 Votes(31%)
Somewhat Important		15 Votes(12%)
Not Very Important		25 Votes(21%)
Undesirable		41 Votes(34%)

Total Votes: 119

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How important is it to punish current illegal immigrants by actions like a substantial fine or exclusion from any future entry program?

Answer	Votes	Vote Count/Percentage
Very important		22 Votes(26%)
Somewhat important		19 Votes(15%)
Not Very Important		25 Votes(21%)
Undesirable		48 Votes(40%)

Total Votes: 119

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How important is it that we establish a national biometric ID system like e-verify for all citizens to present to a potential employer to make sure only citizens or legal workers can have jobs?

Answer	Votes	Vote Count/Percentage
Very important		11 Votes(9%)
Somewhat important		8 Votes(6%)
Not Very Important		7 Votes(6%)
Undesirable		90 Votes(77%)

Total Votes: 116

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How important is it that children of illegal immigrants raised in the United States and speaking English as their primary language be given access to a path to citizenship?

Answer	Votes	Vote Count/Percentage
Very important		51 Votes(42%)
Somewhat important		43 Votes(36%)
Not Very Important		13 Votes(10%)
Undesirable		12 Votes(10%)

Total Votes: 119

On February 10th, 2013 we will be conducting a special online convention for the sole purpose of voting on proposed bylaw amendments some of the membership would like to see enacted before the bi-annual National Convention in May.

This afternoon at 4pm we will be doing a trial run of the presentation software and election software we will use to run the online convention.

There are three proposals that will be presented. Each will get a three minute intro, with a round of discussion specific to each proposal, and a final round of discussion relative to all proposals. When the meeting begins at 4pm, email ballots will be distributed

The text of each can be found on the National web site here: http://www.rlc.org/category/caucus-business/

To keep the chaos involved with having so many people on a conference call down, we will rely heavily on the system’s chat function. A tutorial can be found here: http://support.anymeeting.com/index.php?/AnyMeeting/Knowledgebase/Article/View/226/98/how-to-use-text-chat

At the commencement of the conference, an email ballot will be sent to the same email address the conference invitation was sent to. This email ballot will have a url at which you will cast your votes. The url is good for 24 hours, and only people who received the email will be able to vote there.

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These three proposals for proportional delegate representation at the RLC National Convention will be considered and voted on by members at a special teleconference at 4pm on Sunday, February 10th.

Proposal 1:

To amend Article VI, Section 3 of the RLC National Bylaws  to read as follows:

Section 3. Each chartered state shall be entitled to be represented at convention by a Delegation consisting of one voting Delegate, plus a number of voting Delegates based on the number of Regular RLC members who reside in that state as of 90 days prior to the convention. Each state shall receive one additional delegate, and one alternate delegate, for every 20 members in the state charter. These Delegates and Alternate Delegates shall be appointed by their respective Charters, according to whatever rules the Charter may adopt for that purpose, and certified as Delegates by the chairs of their Charters.

In addition, each officer, regional director, and at-large director of the Caucus; the chair of each Charter or his or her designee; and the coordinator of each non-chartered state may serve as an ex officio Delegate; these ex officio Delegates shall not be counted against the number of delegates to which each Charter is entitled. Any Regular member certified by the Treasurer as having paid current dues at least thirty days prior to the Convention shall be qualified to be appointed as Delegates or Alternate Delegates.

Proposal 2:

To amend Article VI, Section 3 of the RLC National Bylaws to read as follows:

Section 3. Each chartered state shall be entitled to be represented at the national RLC convention by a number of delegates based on the number of Regular Members who reside in that state.

90 days prior to the national convention, the Secretary shall determine the number of delegates assigned to each state by dividing the total national membership of the RLC by 100 and then dividing that result into the number of Regular Members in each state, rounded up and plus one. Each state Charter may also appoint any number of alternate delegates who may serve in place of absent delegates from their state at the discretion of the convention Chairman.

All delegates and alternate delegates shall be selected by whatever rules their state Charter shall determine and certified as delegates by the chairs of their Charters. Any Regular Member certified by the Treasurer as having paid current dues at least thirty days prior to the convention shall be qualified to be appointed as a delegate or alternate delegate. Alternate delegates will be eligible to serve in place of absent delegates in an order determined by their state chapter when they are appointed.

In addition, each national officer, regional director, and at-large director of the Caucus; the chair of each Charter or his or her designee; and the coordinator of each non-chartered state or his or her designee may serve as an ex officio Delegate; these ex officio Delegates shall not be counted against the number of delegates to which each Charter is entitled.

Proposal 3:

To amend Article VI, Section 3 of the RLC National Bylaws to read as follows:

Section 3. Each chartered state shall be entitled to be represented at the national RLC convention by a number of delegates based on the number of Regular Members who reside in that state.

90 days prior to the national convention, the Secretary shall determine the number of delegates assigned to each state by dividing the total number of Regular Members in that state by 4, rounding up. Each Charter shall also be entitled to any number of alternate delegates who may serve in place of absent delegates from their state.

These Delegates and Alternate Delegates shall be elected by their respective Charters, according to whatever rules the Charter may adopt for that purpose, and certified as Delegates by the chairs of their Charters. In addition, each officer, regional director, and at-large director of the Caucus; the chair of each Charter or his or her designee; and the coordinator of each non-chartered state may serve as an ex officio Delegate; these ex officio Delegates shall not be counted against the number of delegates to which each Charter is entitled. Any Regular member certified by the Treasurer as having paid current dues at least thirty days prior to the Convention shall be qualified to be appointed as Delegates or Alternate Delegates.

At the National RLC Convention each state Charter shall vote its full delegate strength, even if fewer than the full number of delegates to which that state is entitled are present at the convention. The full strength for each Charter includes both the number of Delegates which it is authorized to elect based on its state membership and also any ex officio Delegates who are members of that Charter.

The following were prepared remarks by Daniel Encarnacion, South Carolina state secretary of the RLC, for the Lowcountry Conservative Breakfast in Summerville, SC on January 12, 2013. The Republican Liberty Caucus was founded in 1991 to promote limited government, free markets, and personal liberty within the Republican Party. With the help of my colleagues here as well as our national leadership and dedicated members, the RLC has become the leading Republican Party organization that represents liberty Republicans and Constitutional Conservatives. We see things like the fiscal cliff fiasco which just happened in Washington where taxes increased on 77.1% of the American people, spending went up by $330 billion, and the deficit widened by $4 trillion and believe our nation can do better. We see our Congress giving President Obama the power to indefinitely detain American citizens without due process or right to see a judge on simply the allegation by the President that he is a terrorist, doing a way with nearly a millennium of due process guarantees under Magna Carta and we believe our nation can do better. We see our nation printing money at a record pace under the control of a central planning board that has complete control of our monetary system – the Federal Reserve System. If government cannot be trusted to centrally plan our food, electronics, or health care – what makes us think it can centrally plan our monetary system? We believe our nation can do better. We see our government using public works projects in the name of stimulus to try and build a nation’s economic system and centrally plan every aspect of society. But we do not only see this effort of big government central planning here at home – we also see it overseas with this ongoing fascination with nation-building. Nation-building that weakens our national defense by distracting our armed forces from their core mission of protecting the borders of the United States. We believe America can do better. We see an effort to undermine our nation’s health care system through government boards, mandates, and taxes. We see our Supreme Court stand by doing nothing to enforce the plain meaning of the Constitution that would protect us from this egregious federal over-reach. And of course we see the media and the political lefts to block the implementation of ObamaCare through tools that our founders like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison left us like state nullification. We believe our nation can do better. Here in South Carolina, we see a state with one of the highest income and sales tax rates in the southeast, the highest manufacturing tax in the nation, and double-digit growth per year spending that was nearly $23 billion last year alone. We believe our state and our Republican Legislature can do better. We also see the American Legislative Exchange Council ranked South Carolina 50^th in education last year. We need to offer choice to parents, more free market solutions, and give more control to local officials. We believe that our South Carolina can do better. We can do a lot of things better and the Republican Liberty Caucus draws attention to these issues through candidate endorsements, grassroots activism, and online activism – which helps connect to and appeal to our key constituency and what we believe we can help the overall Republican Party with: young voters. It’s because of young voters that I have hope. There are real problems in this country and in this state. Yet we turn on the TV and hear the professional commentators saying we need to be more like the Democrat Party to be relevant.  Well, I’m here to tell you that’s a bunch of nonsense and all we have to do is look at voters under 30. Young people have been voting in higher percentages than they have in a generation. They are engaged and they are demanding real changes. We saw the excitement in our own primaries among young voters for certain candidates like Ron Paul. But they are seeking out a political agenda that is genuine and consistent. Now do we all here agree with Ron Paul on every issue? Sure. Perhaps you disagree with me on some of the positions I mentioned earlier? But the core philosophy that these young voters believe deep inside and that we in the Republican Liberty Caucus embrace is limited government. We want big government out of our lives. And isn’t that what all of us here believe? Some just go further than others when it comes to particular issues. But we are all heading in the same direction, and while we’re on that journey together, let’s embrace the common ground that we share. In 2010, the Republican Party won a majority with the help of young voters because its message of limited government, cutting spending, and reducing taxes was embraced by the country. In 2012, the Republican Party lost because it didn’t stick to those principles. We must stick to those principles going forward. And that is what young voters in the liberty movement want. Because when we see millions of 18 to 30 year olds reading books about free market economics from thinkers like Rothbard, Mises, and Hayek. Isn’t that incredible? That’s not supposed to happen. The statists think that young people are supposed to be manipulated into thinking government has the answers to society’s ills by the state-sponsored diploma mills. But instead millions of young people are studying the truth and know that their government has failed them – because big government doesn’t work. And the Republican Party ought to embrace that. It ought to embrace them. It must not push young activists out of the party or out of Republican groups on Facebook. Our party should welcome their participation and welcome their activism on behalf of limited government, free markets, and personal liberty. And that is where the Republican Liberty Caucus comes in. We are the voice of liberty Republicans, constitutional conservatives, and young voters dedicated to freedom. And we believe that when the Republican Party embraces our members as well as other tea party conservative groups that the political left and the entrenched political powers that rely on big government to perpetuate their own self-interests will wither away as we promote what we all in our hearts believe to be true:  That we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.