In a sign of the strength the Tea Party and its supporters, House Republicans will be requiring legislators to cite the Constitution with every proposed law. When the GOP-controlled House convenes for the first time on January 5, legislators will read the Constitution aloud and then require all bills to cite the constitutional authority to enact any given law.

But whether such flourishes will engender real legislative changes or simply offer window dressing is up for debate. “I think it’s entirely cosmetic,” said Kevin Gutzman, a history professor at Western Connecticut State University and a conservative libertarian who sympathizes with the Tea Party. “This is the way the establishment handles grassroots movements. They humor people who are not expert or not fully cognizant. And then once they’ve humored them and those people go away, it’s right back to business as usual.”

The House Historian’s Office has no record of the Constitution being read aloud on the House floor. It’s estimated that the document, which is more than 4500 words long, and which has 27 amendments, will take about one hour to read aloud. Probably the best hour Congress has spent in quite a while.

As we head into the New Year, it’s an excellent time to get involved with the Republican Liberty Caucus and other grassroots Tea Party groups across the country.

Despite the fact that over 70 Representatives were not present in Congress to vote, December 21 was a terrible day for advocates of individual liberty and limited government.

First, the Federal Communications Commission’s 3 Democrat majority voted to approve proposed rules that amount to a hostile takeover of the Internet by a government agency. The proposal — misleadingly described by proponents as an attempt to insure “net neutrality” by guaranteeing equal access to the Internet — was introduced a year ago by Obama’s appointed FCC chairman Julius Genachowski.

A federal court has ruled that the commission has no authority to regulate the Internet, and a bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives warned Genechowski not to attempt to impose a regulatory regime on the Internet earlier this year. The FCC, an unelected bureaucracy, still has not released the full text of its net neutrality rules yet.

You better believe that this unconstitutional power grab to secure “net neutrality” by the FCC is just a small sign of whats to come in the realm of federal regulation of private citizen behavior.

And, on that note, the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate both passed the so-called Food Safety and Modernization Act — the largest government power grab as it relates to food since 1938 (when Congress gave the FDA the authority to oversee the safety of food, drugs and cosmetics).

But, have no fear, it will only cost $1.4 billion to implement the new “safety” regulations.

The law will give the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the FDA tremendous control over the U.S. food supply. It also puts all food and all U.S. farms under Homeland Security and the Department of Defense in the event of contamination or an ill-defined emergency. The bill includes NAIS, an animal traceability program that threatens all small farmers and ranchers raising animals. And it will allow the government to mandate antibiotics, hormones, slaughterhouse waste, pesticides and GMOs.

Not only did 74 members of Congress fail to vote on the measure, but the bill also passed the Senate without a single dissenter. Fortunately, the new Congress will be in session soon, where I have no doubt there would have been someone with the courage to hold up this anti-liberty legislation.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the repeal of the military ban on gays in the military, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” My previous post explains today’s events in which the Senate passed the measure.

What has not been widely reported is that Republican Liberty Caucus Advisory Board members Jeff Flake of Arizona and Dr. Ron Paul of Texas both voted to repeal the discriminatory policy: see the House Roll Call on the bill.

The only other libertarian-leaning Republicans who voted to repeal “Don’t Ask” were U.S. Rep. John Campbell of California and U.S. Senator John Ensign of Nevada. All of the other Republican votes were from the moderate wing of the party.

Earlier this year, Dr. Cliff Thies released the RLC’s 2009 Liberty Index, in which Jeff Flake and Ron Paul topped the chart with the #1 and #2 scores, respectively.

An excellent vote from some great pro-liberty leaders!

Today the U.S. Senate voted on legislation that will allow for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a similar version of the bill and President Obama has said that he will sign DADT repeal into law.

Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the stand-alone repeal bill in the Senate. DADT was made a law seventeen years ago and is the only U.S. law that punishes people for simply telling the truth. Since the law went into effect, over 14,000 gay and lesbian service members have been discharged from our nation’s military simply because they were gay or lesbian. An estimated 66,000 gays and lesbians are currently on active-duty. Twenty-three studies over the past fifty years, including most recently a comprehensive study by the Pentagon, have concluded the same thing: that there would be no to minimal impact on force cohesion or unit readiness by allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military. Thirty-countries currently allow gays and lesbians to serve in their nation’s armed forces.

The repeal of DADT will happen only after certification by the President, Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that policies have been written to implement repeal and compliance with these polices is consistent with military readiness. According to the Human Rights Campaign, DADT is not effective immediately and service members are still at risk of being discharged on the basis of their sexual orientation until certification occurs and an additional 60 days have passed.

Of the sitting Senators, the only past RLC-endorsed Senator who cast a vote in favor of repealing DADT was Senator John Ensign of Nevada. (Other moderate Republican Senators like Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe also supported the repeal.)

On behalf of basic fairness and equal rights under the law, I applaud Congress for taking this important step.

Congressman Ron Paul, an advisory board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus, announced last night that he will be named Chairman of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee in Congress.

According to Paul, “The chairman of the financial services subcommittee, Spencer Bachus (R-AL), has told me today verbally that I will be the chairman of that subcommittee. He was the one who appointed me as the ranking member and he is sticking to his guns and that I will have responsibility of that committee.”

When asked about subpoenas and an audit of the Fed, Paul went on to say that he can issue subpoenas but would need agreement from the chairman as well as speaker.

Watch the clip from Judge Napolitano’s program at the FoxBusiness website.

The Republican Liberty Caucus gathered a coalition of supporters in a letter that was sent out earlier this week in support of Dr. Paul leading the subcommittee. The letter included former New Mexico Governor and Our America Initiative Chairman Gary Johnson.

With 2009 Liberty Index top scorer U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) being added to the Appropriations Committee earlier in the week, it has been a very good week for constitutionalists in Congress — even with some other very disappointing choices to lead other committees.

As we switch to a session of Congress with Republicans in the majority of the House of Representatives, the Republican Liberty Caucus’s newly released Liberty Index ratings for 2009 provide an important reminder of the positive impact that being out of power — and in the minority — had on Republican legislators. With a clear anti-liberty, big-government agenda coming from the White House and the Democrat leadership, Republicans embraced their role as the “party of no” in 2009 and were more true to basic principles of limited government and individual liberty than they have been in many years. Our Liberty Index, which has been compiled every year since 1992, reflects this environment with more high ratings on both the Personal and Economic Liberty scales than ever before, particularly in the U.S. House.

A not-so-surprising standout in the House of Representatives rankings is Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who is the first member of Congress in the history of the Liberty Index to score a perfect 100/100 in the Economic and Personal Liberty components of the index. Flake was not alone at the top, with perennial top scorers Ron Paul (R-TX) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) not far behind. They both scored 100 on Personal Liberty and 96 on Economic Liberty because of problematic votes on earmarks and a technology bill. Other than these minor exceptions, Paul and Rohrabacher were outstanding champions of liberty.

With Democrat spending completely out of control, many Republicans were given an opportunity to oppose their policies and as a result score very well on Economic Liberty. Forty-eight House members scored perfect 100s on Economic Liberty. Personal Liberty scores were less consistent, though 115 House Republicans scored in the Libertarian quadrant on their combined scores.

Senate Republicans were somewhat less impressive than their House allies, but five did manage to score perfect 100s on the Economic Liberty scale. Because of the types of votes that came up in the Senate, it was more difficult to score well on Personal Liberty, but 31 Senate Republicans did have combined ratings in the Libertarian category.

In both houses Democrats scored substantially less well on both Economic and Personal Liberty issues. Two-hundred and twenty-five Democrats in the House and 36 in the Senate scored so low that they were scored Authoritarian, siding with increasing government power and reduction of civil and personal liberties. Three House Democrats, all from California and including outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, scored perfect 0/0 results, voting against liberty on every major issue to come before them. Senate Democrats did somewhat better, especially on Personal Liberty, but Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE), who was fortunately never elected to office, was the one Senator to score an imperfect 0 on Economic Liberty.

In many cases the deciding issues which separated those who did well from those who did poorly were votes that were split on non-partisan lines, particularly over issues of military spending, foreign policy and national security, where both parties have strong internal divisions.  Many Republicans are rejecting the policies of the Bush era and moving toward limiting America’s overseas commitments, while some of the most powerful Democrat leaders remain committed to a policy of war and nation building.  And, of course, many of the important votes where Republicans took a stand against bigger and more intrusive government were votes where their efforts were doomed and produced nothing more than good ratings on this index due to their minority status.

The Liberty Index is based on forty roll call votes, twenty on issues of Economic Liberty and 20 on issues of Personal Liberty in each chamber. The votes are compiled and analyzed by Professor Clifford Thies who holds the Eldon R. Lindsay Chair of Free Enterprise in the Economics Department of Shenandoah University. He is assisted by an anonymous panel of experts who have worked with him on the project for many years. This year his work is dedicated to the late David Nolan, whose system of charting political ideologies has been a valuable tool for educating voters and promoting libertarian ideas.

The full results of the 2009 Liberty Index are available in PDF format from the Republican Liberty Caucus, including charts of the distribution of the ratings and detailed analysis by Professor Thies. For comparison you can find past results going back to 1991 in the RLC archives.

Outspoken Tennessee RLC Vice-Chairman Matt Collins attended Senator Bob Corker’s town hall meeting on the debt crisis in Nashville. Senator Corker is the junior Republican Senator from Tennessee.

Collins said, “Senator Corker, it’s highly hypocritical of you to vote for more debt one year and then rail against the debt the next year. But, regardless, would you support a bill that would allow an unrestricted audit all of the gold held by the federal government and the federal reserve? Don’t you think the people have a right to know how much gold the government is holding?”

According to Collins (listen to the audio here), “He fumbled a bit, obviously not expecting this question and then came back with something to the effect of, ‘Well, I’ve never thought about that — but I’ll take a look and get back with you in writing’.” Collins responded, “Well sir, I have seen your voting record and it’s obvious you haven’t read the Constitution and I would like to present you with a copy now.” Collins walked to the stage and attempted to hand it to him.

Senator Corker then said it was “offensive” Collins had made that accusation and offered him a copy of the Constitution. Several other questioners inquired about the Fed and constitutional authority. And when asked if his vote for the TARP bailout was constitutional, he said that the courts haven’t said it wasn’t and that it’s up to the courts to interpret the Constitution. That didn’t go over very well with the crowd.

Collins received press in The Tennessean and The Nashville Post for his effort to hold Senator Corker to account. In addition to being involved in the RLC, Mr. Collins is also the former Vice-Chairman of the Davidson County Republican Party, which is based in Nashville. He was voted out of his position in 2009 for his outspoken pro-liberty views.

As I embarked on writing an article about my opposition to the idea that newly elected conservative legislators should budge on issues like spending, debt, or health care, I began searching the Internet to see what others had to say. Almost immediately I came across an article — see below — which reflects my perspective.

Election’s Message Was ‘No Compromise’
by Jerry Haas
Athens Banner-Herald (GA) • November 7, 2010

In 1963, California surf rock band The Surfaris released a song that begins with a roll of laughter, followed by the words “wipe out.” That lyric is a fitting description of the Nov. 2 election results, in which Republicans thoroughly drubbed Democrats to take an overwhelming majority in the U.S. House and make significant gains in the U.S. Senate, as well as in numerous other state and local political races.

Some may say Republicans were the big winners Tuesday.

It might also be said the big winners are Americans who believe the socialistic programs initiated and enacted during the past 20 months of President Barack Obama’s administration need to be stopped and eliminated.

And, it might be said that the big winners are the more than 10 percent of our population who are unemployed, or have given up searching for a job, and as a result of Tuesday balloting, now believe that economic growth to create private sector jobs is just around the corner.

Finally, some may say the big winners are those small business owners and entrepreneurs who need to fuel our economic recovery but who have been paralyzed by the Obama administration’s failure to extend the expiring Bush tax cuts that will trigger the largest single tax increase in the history of our country.

Actually, there are no big winners coming out of Tuesday’s elections.

What happened on Nov. 2 didn’t create winners. What it did create was opportunities.

There’s an opportunity to stop the largest tax increase in American history. There’s an opportunity to shrink the federal government, balance the budget and begin reducing the national debt. There’s an opportunity to free up the private sector to create jobs. There’s an opportunity to repeal the governmental takeover of America’s health care system.

There’s an opportunity to once again have a government that is truly of the people, by the people and for the people.

However, these opportunities may not be realized if the Obama administration and Senate liberals don’t understand that the giant iceberg of conservatism now sits in the path of the Titanic-sized push to grow the federal government. Even in the face of the political “shellacking” – the president’s term – administered Tuesday, Democratic leaders still expressed pride in what had been done legislatively in the past 20 months. This doesn’t bode well for any substantive conservative changes in the 112th Congress.

But make no mistake: Republicanism didn’t produce the largest swing in House seats in 70 years; it was conservatism. So, it’s tragic that Senate leaders are sending the message that Senate Republicans must cease saying “no” to the Obama administration initiatives Americans loudly proclaimed Tuesday they did not want.

The newly elected conservative members of the House and Senate aren’t being sent to Washington to compromise. Tuesday’s message was loud and clear: Shrink government and create an environment that enables the private sector to once again become the greatest economic engine in the world, and while you’re at it, repeal the health care overhaul. With Obama still president and the Senate lacking a conservative caucus of at least 60 members, the probability of significant strides toward accomplishing any of these is doubtful.

Regardless of that dismal outlook, conservatives must bring these issues to the floor continuously for a full vote. If measures passed in the House are held up or not passed in the Senate, or after being passed by Congress are vetoed by the president, it will set the stage for those who did not get the message from the collapse of liberalism on Nov. 2 to once again try and defend their record during the 2012 election cycle.

The people have spoken. The mandate is clear. The opportunity to begin moving a conservative agenda forward has been generated. It is up to those who now represent us to do what we want them to do – without compromise.

Jerry Haas, a local Banner-Herald columnist, is involved in Christian ministry. Send him email here.

With the Republican takeover of the U.S. House on Tuesday, there is some reason for advocates of limited government to be hopeful as the coalition of Republican Liberty Caucus-endorsed legislators has grown.

Additionally, 57 House incumbents lost reelection — 53 on Tuesday and four others in their primary. The list of losing politicians includes 10 Democratic Congressmen who have served since at least 1992 and several who have been in office for more than twenty-five years.

In the below video, John Stossel and Congressman Ron Paul discuss prospects for the new Congress.

The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) Board of Directors are excited and optimistic about the election results. The most exciting results for Republican Liberty Caucus members is electing two of our own members to Congress:

Dr. Rand Paul is Senator-elect from Kentucky. Justin Amash (pictured, right) is Representative-elect from Michigan’s Third Congressional District. Congratulations, Rand and Justin! RLC supporters have no doubt that these two champions of liberty will work vigorously to promote our vision of a free country in Congress.

The RLC is also pleased that Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, John Koster of Washington state, Chip Cravaack of Minnesota, and Steve Chabot of Ohio will join Dr. Ron Paul and our other pro-liberty Republican legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Joining Rand Paul in the Senate are RLC-endorsed Senate candidates Mike Lee of Utah and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

Two RLC-endorsed candidates for Governor, Paul LePage of Maine and Nikki Haley of South Carolina, were elected. LePage and Haley come from very different backgrounds and from different parts of the country, but are united in their strong belief in the individual and faith in the free market system.

Other key RLC victories and races we are still watching are below.

Arkansas: State Rep. Mark Martin, a RLC endorsed candidate, won his bid for Secretary of State. He is the first statewide Republican elected official since former Gov. Mike Huckabee left office.

California: Despite losing on the RLC-endorsed Proposition 19 to legalize marijuana in California, the RLC’s positions on Prop. 27 (no to eliminate the state redistricting commission) and Prop. 21 (a vehicle license surcharge to fund state parks) were adopted. Additionally, the RLC’s positions on Prop. 20 and 26 were adopted. These propositions related to Congressional redistricting and the process to impose state/local fees. See the proposition results here and view the RLC’s positions on each of the proposals here.

Arizona: 55 percent of state voters supported an amendment to the state constitution disallowing the Obamacare individual mandate to take effect in Arizona. Voters also approved medical marijuana.

Colorado: Despite Ken Buck’s Senate loss, RLC-endorsed candidate Donald Beezley defeated an incumbent and is now an elected State Representative from Broomfield.

Idaho: RLC-endorsed candidate for Bonner County Commissioner in District 2, Mike Nielson, won election on a platform of transparency and balanced budgets. Nielsen said he was eager to start getting more detailed budget information on the county website and wants to get a head start on the 2012 spending plan, according to The Bonner County Daily Bee.

Indiana: Republican Liberty Caucus member Steve Davisson was elected State Representative in Southern Indiana’s 73rd district. Congratulations, Hoosiers!

Kentucky: In addition to Rand Paul’s victory, RLC-backed candidate Thomas Massie was elected Judge Executive in Lewis County.

Maine: In addition to the victory of Paul LePage for Governor, RLC candidates for State Rep. and State Senate also found success. State House Challengers Michael McClellan, Ryan Harmon, Richard Malaby, Beth O’Connor, and Eleanor Espling (pictured, above left) — each endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus of Maine — won election. Additionally, former State Senator Lois Snowe-Mello won her old seat back and State Rep. Doug Thomas was elected to the State Senate. The RLC had a great day in Maine yesterday!

Maryland: Cindy Jones, a RLC member and delegate at our 2009 Convention in Florida, was elected to the St. Marys County Commission. Among all of the county commissioner races, Mrs. Jones had the largest margin of victory and the highest vote total. Four of the five Commission seats are now held by Republicans.

Michigan: RLC-endorsed candidate for State Senate Arlen Meekhof was elected to the post. Meekhof wants to repeal the Michigan Business Tax surcharge and bring jobs to the state.

Minnesota: Despite losing the Governors race narrowly, the RLC had its coalition of candidates elected to the State Senate and the State House. Kathy Lohmer (pictured, right), Andrea Kieffer, Doug Wardlow, Kurt Bills, and Sondra Erickson were elected to the House and Dave Brown and Dave Thompson were elected to the Senate. Former Minnesota RLC Secretary Norann Dillon narrowly lost in her race against an incumbent in a Democrat district. Congratulations to these new legislators and to the Minnesota RLC!

Missouri: In The Show Me State, RLC-endorsed candidate Paul Curtman was elected State Representative. He will represent parts of Jefferson, Franklin and St. Louis counties. Additionally, RLC-endorsed candidate Brian Nieves was elected to the State Senate. Two RLC-endorsed incumbent State Representatives, Tim Jones and Shane Schoeller, will be taking over leadership positions in the Missouri House of Representatives. The Missouri RLC is hosting its 2010 Convention on Saturday, November 13 in Springfield.

Montana: In Montana the RLC has an incumbent coalition in the State House and the entire slate of RLC-backed candidates was reelected. Additionally, former State Senator and longtime liberty advocate Jerry O’Neill was elected to the House of Representatives.

New Hampshire: Former Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire Chair Jim Forsythe was elected to the State Senate and State Rep. candidates Cameron DeJong and Andrew Manuse were elected to the State House. RLC Board member Paul Mirski was elected to the State House in Grafton as was former RLC Chair Dan McGuire in Merrimack. Longtime liberty activists Keith Murphy and Seth Cohn won election to the State House from Hillsborough and Merrimack, too. A full list of RLC victories from New Hampshire can be found here.

North Carolina: Republican Liberty Caucus-endorsed candidate Glen Bradley won election to the State House of Representatives. Congratulations to Glen and the North Carolina RLC!

Oklahoma: 65 percent of voters supported a ballot proposition to rebuke Obamacare by not allowing the individual mandate contained in the health care law to be enacted in the Sooner State.

South Carolina: RLC-backed candidate Curtis Loftis, who ousted the incumbent State Treasurer earlier this year in the primary, is now the State Treasurer-elect of The Palmetto State.

Uah: Two new RLC-endorsed candidates won election in Utah — Daniel Thatcher was elected to the State Senate and Ken Ivory won election to the State House. Ivory joins several other RLC incumbents in the House.

Texas: The Texas RLC helped elect two new State Representatives, Jason Isaac and David Simpson. Additionally, former Texas RLC Chairman Melissa Goodwin was elected Justice on the Third Court of Appeals. RLC Advisory Board member Jerry Patterson was re-elected State Land Commissioner. A full list of Texas results are available at our blog.

Wisconsin: In Wisconsin, a coalition of RLC-backed candidates for State House have won election for the first time. The slate includes: Andre Jacque from Green Bay, Jim Steineke from Appleton, Chris Kapenga from Delafield, Evan Wynn of Whitewater, Scott Krug of Black River Falls, Jeremy Thiesfeldt of Fond du Lac, and Roger Rivard of Rice Lake. Mr. Krug beat incumbent Marlin Schneider, who served in the legislature continuously since 1970. Congratulations to the Wisconsin RLC and Badger State voters!

Wyoming: Endorsed State Representative candidate Gerald Gay won election to the legislature for the first time.

These election results show not only the strength of the Tea Party, but also the disgust of average Americans with unresponsive, anti-liberty bureaucrats. The results also illustrate that liberty principles are popular and will make a comeback!

The battle has just begun, so thanks to all of our activists and candidates from across the country. Thanks especially to the state and national officers of the RLC who allow our organization to function.

The Republican Liberty Caucus is a grassroots coalition of liberty-loving Americans.

Won’t you join us in this critical battle to win hearts and minds for liberty and Constitutional restoration?