In February, The Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC), a “fusion center” that “collects intelligence from both the local agencies and the DHS and uses these combined sources to analyze threats and better combat terrorism and other criminal activity”, labeled some Ron Paul supporters and other constitutionalists as militia members.

On July 28, Missouri RLC Chairman Rob Hillman (above, center) offered testimony to the Interim Committee on State Intelligence Analysis Oversight regarding the MIAC report. That bipartisan Committee, chaired by Rep. Bob Dixon and Vice-Chaired by RLC-endorsed Rep. Jim Guest, was formed to gather public testimony about the MIAC fusion center in Jefferson City and the fusion center “MIAC Report” leaked to the public in February. The Committee is to report to the entire House of Representatives its findings.

On March 31, the Missouri RLC Board resolved unanimously to encourage the State Legislature to create a permanent MIAC oversight Committee. Rep. Jim Guest, Chairman of the REAL ID and Personal Privacy Committee, also sponsored HB 1138 to only permit MIAC to engage in constitutional activities in the future.

Some photos from Republican Liberty Caucus members and activists from the month of August (2009):

RLC members in northern Virginia had a meeting on August 20.  It featured two former RLC-endorsed Congressional candidates (Amit Singh and Vern McKinley) and a 2009 RLC-endorsed candidate for Delegate, Eric Brescia.  The Virginia RLC was re-chartered at the Republican Party of Virginia Convention in May.

Kentucky RLC Coordinator Michael Moreland (right) chats with the son of RLC Advisory Board member Ron Paul, Dr. Rand Paul at the Jim and Mary Bunning Family Picnic hosted by the Campbell County GOP. Dr. Rand Paul is running for the open Kentucky U.S. Senate seat.

RLC members from the DC and Virginia affiliates gathered in a studio in DC on August 9 to film an introduction to the Republican Liberty Caucus that will soon appear at RLC.org. From left is Aaron Biterman, Mitchell Bemos, Matthew Gagnon, and Nena Bartlett.

On Saturday, August 15, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Nebraska held its first-ever summer meeting.

Nebraska RLC Vice Chair, Jon Tucker, of Omaha, discussed the many faces of the liberty movement and helped RLC members discover where we fit in. The answers were not entirely clear, although it was clear by the end of the discussion that Nebraska RLC’ers are committed to continuing their efforts to promote their foundational principles of liberty within the Republican Party.  Mr. Tucker is also in the process of forming a regional Republican Liberty Caucus representing the Omaha area.

Former Nebraska Republican Party Chairman Mark Quandahl (left) and Nebraska’s Republican National Committeeman, Pete Ricketts (right), fielded questions from the audience during a panel discussion.  Both men welcomed the involvement of Nebraska RLC members.

Quandahl expressed appreciation for the enthusiasm of the RLC’ers at Nebraska’s 2008 GOP Convention and Ricketts encouraged members to stay involved.

Nebraska RLC Secretary, Amy Haberman of Papillion, provided delegates with an overview of the Nebraska Republican Party and its structure. Amy’s presentation emphasized the importance of getting involved locally.

According to Nebraska RLC Vice Chair Jon Tucker, “All we need to do now is increase our numbers to increase our impact of the party.  I can’t wait to do this again next year, but I will not wait until then to find other opportunities for us to get together to grow and educate each other and those around us about the principles of the Nebraska Republican Liberty Caucus.”

By all accounts, the meeting was a success.  Members learned the GOP state structure, how to create a PAC, how to encourage others to join our efforts, who others in the liberty movement are, history of the liberty movement, and an introduction of how technology can impact the political process.

A very special thank you to Laura Ebke, Nebraska RLC Chair, who organized the meeting.

Two dozen Republicans gathered last weekend to charter the Republican Liberty Caucus of Marion County. Participants included Precinct Committeemen, party leaders, former elected officials and GOP activists from across Indianapolis as well as two prominent local bloggers, Gary Welsh of Advance Indiana and Paul Ogden of Ogden On Politics.

The group will work to elect pro-liberty candidates within the Marion County Republican Party and to promote these ideals among party members.

In its first act, the Liberty Caucus adopted a resolution urging Republican members of the Indianapolis City-County Council to reject any new tax increases to finance the Capital Improvement Board of Managers. There is a sense of frustration that Republicans elected during the tax revolution of 2007 to city/county offices have reneged on their campaign pledges to oppose new taxes.

Officers elected to lead the Marion County chapter include: Elizabeth Karlson, Chairman; Steve Smith, First Vice Chairman; Lisa Kelly, Second Vice Chairman; Glenn Hatmaker, Secretary; and Lisa Caulderon, Treasurer.

The leadership team will lead the group through the 2012 election.

The below photo is from a previous Indianapolis Area RLC meeting:

One of the most active RLC affiliates in the country is located in Northeast Florida. They recently hosted our National Convention.

Below are some photos from the affiliate:

RLC members on Constitution Day, 2009.

RLC members on Constitution Day, 2009.

RLC members on Constitution Day, 2009.

RLC members on Constitution Day, 2009.

RLC members at the June 2009 RLC NEFL meeting.

RLC members at the June 2009 RLC NEFL meeting.

RLC members at the June 2009 RLC NEFL meeting.

Northeast Florida RLC members operate a booth at the Jacksonville Tax Day Tea Party on April 15, 2009.

Sarah Lovett received an award from the National RLC for her tremendous efforts for our cause.

Will Pitts received an award from the Florida RLC for his tremendous efforts leading the Northeast Florida RLC.

RLC activist Kimberly Wells talked to delegates at the RLC’s 2009 National Convention about the creative tools she developed for the RLC Activism Guide.

Northeast Florida hosted the RLC National Convention in 2009.

Florida RLC Secretary Sarah Lovett with former Congressman Dick Armey (R-TX).

Northeast Florida RLC members at the GOP National Convention in Minneapolis.

Earlier in the month, RLC members from the Indiana and Missouri affiliate attended the Young Republicans Convention in Indianapolis to spread the message of individual liberty and limited government.

RLC members Rob and Karen Hillman and Charlie Kochenash hosted a Republican Liberty Caucus booth at the YR Convention. Two photos from the booth follow.

Dave Nalle recently posted a summary of the YR Convention results at this blog.

Charlie Kochenash, Indiana RLC Chair, also spoke at the July 4 Northwest Indiana Patriots Tea Party:

Earlier in the month, RLC chapter leaders from the DC, Maryland, and Virginia RLC affiliates gathered in the nation’s capital to discuss strategy for the 2010 election cycle.

Below is a photo from the event.  Thus far in 2009, the RLC has chartered new state chapter affiliates in Maryland, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, and Washington. Additionally, RLC chapters that were previously inactive (at least for a short period) have been revived in New Hampshire, Texas, and Virginia.

Front row, from left: Dave Nalle (National Chair), Aaron Biterman (National Press), Brett Guidry (DC Treasurer), Nancy Sellers (DC Secretary); back row, from left: Daniel Kamerling (guest), Rick Sincere (Virginia At-Large Board member), Steven Latimer (Virginia Vice-Chair), Matt Gagnon (Virginia Chair), Dr. Scott Pearson (guest), John Orlando (Maryland Chair), and Stephen Wright (Maryland Treasurer) plus his wife.

Since January, Republican Liberty Caucus members in Virginia have been planning a re-launch of the RLC affiliate. The affiliate was chartered at the RPV Advance in 2007, but RLC Chair D.J. McGuire stepped down to run for Supervisor in Spotsylvania County and subsequently the affiliate needed to elect a new Board of Directors.

On Friday and Saturday, over 10,000 Republican Party delegates from across Virginia came together at the Richmond Convention Center to select their nominees for Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and state GOP Chair.  The winning candidates for those races included Bob McDonnell for Governor, Bill Bolling for Lt. Governor, Ken Cuccinelli for Attorney General, and Pat Mullins for Virginia GOP Chair.  Cuccinelli was endorsed by the RLC and our members helped him win in the most contested Convention race.

Although not delegates, Matt Gagnon and I spent all day yesterday (starting very early in the morning and going until the Convention concluded) reaching out to prospective RLC members at the state GOP Convention.

The RLC booth at the RPV Convention, sponsored by RLC member Lisa Miller of Alexandria, was a massive success, with:

· Nearly 100 Convention-goers signing up to receive e-mail alerts from the RLC;

· 135 individuals took the World’s Smallest Political Quiz;

· The Virginia RLC meeting after the Convention, attended by 35 liberty-loving Republicans from across the state, was a huge success;

· The Virginia RLC solidified its new Board of Directors;

· The RLC gained a dozen new members on the spot;

· The RLC’s endorsed Attorney General nominee (Ken Cuccinelli) won on the first ballot.

Our quiz results were as follows:

This was the first time the World’s Smallest Political Quiz was used at Virginia GOP Convention.  I was surprised to see how many folks who took the quiz landed in the ‘libertarian’ quadrant.  There were even some RPV delegates that joined me at 100-100, the far top of the chart.

The exact results were: 64 right libertarians, 15 center-libertarians (including ten at 100-100, the top of the chart), 12 left libertarians, 15 centrists, 26 right conservatives, two left liberals, and one statist.  Therefore sixty-seven percent of quiz-takers scored in the libertarian quadrant; eleven percent were centrist; and nineteen percent were right conservative.

The response to the booth was overwhelmingly positive.  Virginians were proud to see the quiz providing a diamond view of the political spectrum and several teachers commented that they would be presenting the chart to their students.

At certain points, the booth was so busy it was very hard to keep up with the demand:

After the Convention, RLC members in Virginia held the Annual RLCVA Meeting at the Hard Shell restaurant in Richmond.  The venue was perfect for our meeting.  The food was great, the company excellent, and the quality of the individuals who attended our meeting was extremely impressive.

Some photos from the Republican Liberty Caucus of Virginia Annual Meeting are below.

The Virginia RLC also elected its new Board of Directors: Matt Gagnon (Chair); Steven Latimer (Vice-Chair); Krystle Weeks (Secretary); Cliff Dunn (Treasurer); and At-Large Board members Rick Sincere, Leonard Harris, and Matt DeLeon.

Look for more activity from the Virginia RLC affiliate on Facebook or at http://www.RLCVA.org/. Some additional RLC Convention photos are available here.

In February, Missouri RLC Chair Rob Hillman testified before a legislative committee in support of a Missouri Sovereignty Resolution. Since that time, the Missouri RLC and Mr. Hillman have not let up about the sovereignty initiative.

Recently, Rob Hillman took his passion for limited government to the Saint Charles County Council. The County, which has over 280,000 people, is located in the metro St. Louis area. There are six members of the County Council. County Council Chair Joe Brazil sponsored legislation, Resolution 09-03, to support Jim Guest’s State Sovereignty Concurrent Resolution, HCR 13.

Rep. Jim Guest was endorsed by the RLC in 2008. (And is again endorsed in 2010.)

Recognizing the value of asserting the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, St. Charles County legislators adopted the Resolution by a vote of 5-1.

When RLC activists in Missouri want something from their legislators, they take it right to them. Rob Hillman has paved the way for the Missouri RLC to continue its legislative victories such as the victory obtained on Charles County Resolution 09-03.

The Missouri RLC Board unanimously resolved support for HCR 13.  The RLC Board’s resolution was delivered to Republican Majority leaders in the State House and Senate, Rep. Guest, and Missouri GOP Chair David Cole.

The next step:  passing HCR 13 through the State Senate.

RLC Chair Rob Hillman (right) with Charles County Council Chair Joe Brazil.

I just returned from an intense and inspiring weekend at the RLC National Convention, hosted by the great folks at the RLC of Florida in humid but congenial Jacksonville. I wish I could have reported during the convention but there was so much going on and so many people to talk to that I didn’t have have a chance to sit down and write anything substantial until it was all over.

Sarah Lovett, Will Pitts, Mark Cross and all the great folks at the dynamic and growing RLC chapter here have really gone above and beyond to put on a great convention for their state and to generously share so much of what they’ve done with delegates from other parts of the country and the national organization. Their efforts on behalf of the National RLC have been above and beyond the call of duty and they are an example for other states to follow in how to manage rapid growth and deal with the struggles which come with that growth in positive and productive ways. It’s very clear from the hard work and dedication I have seen here that they are going to be enormously successful in reawakening the Republican Party in Florida to the ideas of individual liberty, responsible government and fiscal responsibility.

My role at the Convention as Vice Chairman of the National RLC was to fill in for Chairman Bill Westmiller who could not attend and run the business meeting on Saturday morning and supervise the election of new officers. I was also there to meet libertty advocates from all over the country, make some new friends and connections, and gather ideas on how to move the RLC forward to greater success and take advantage of this period of flux within the GOP to make our liberty message more central to the party agenda.

Convention business started first thing Saturday and it was a very long and busy day and wiped me out. There may be a video on YouTube sometime soon which shows me stumbling through an awards ceremony at around 10pm, bleary eyed and barely coherent. I did at least manage not to fall off of the stage.

Overall events on Saturday went very smoothly, though the schedule got a bit out of hand. Attendance exceeded expectations with close to 150 people there, including a strong showing from outside of Florida, with representatives from Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, New York, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. About 100 qualified delegates turned out for the national RLC meeting on Saturday morning.

The business meeting went nicely, despite the fact that I was running it based on parliamentary experience acquired primarily at meetings where you don’t bang the first gavel until everyone is at least on their second drink. My management style was a balance of the pragmatically informal and the things I was able to glean and remember from a quick reread of Roberts Rules of Order. I did have the help of parliamentarian Louis Rose, who was understanding about my laxity with some of the rules and helped out cheerfully when needed.

The positive tone of the meeting was a pleasant surprise for me with my varied and not always happy experience of political meetings in Texas which have sometimes been contentious and acrimonious. The mood here was more collaborative and congenial. In fact, it was so nice that I may have stretched the rules a little bit to allow more latitude than I should have because I was so happy to see delegates working together in a positive way.

We passed a set of bylaw revisions first. The most significant of these was the creation of five regional districts so that we can add regional coordinators to the board who help with chapters in the states in their regions. That idea was warmly received and passed unanimously, as did most of the rest of the proposed changes with the occasional token Ron Paul style no vote from RLC board member Jeff Palmer. Jeff’s contributions stood out, as did RLC founding member Eric Rittberg’s enthusiastic cheerleading during several key parts of the proceedings. There were a couple of small unexpected proposals for wording changes in the bylaws, which I thought were relatively meaningless and more aesthetic than substantive, but I allowed them as a gesture of respect to the delegates.

We then held officer elections, which included a vote for Chairman during which I yielded the gavel to RLC Treasurer Mark Cross as I was a candidate. We had a huge number of nominations for at-large positions on the board and had to pick from more than a dozen candidates for 3 seats and 3 alternates. The final results were:

Dave Nalle (TX), Chairman
Mark Cross (FL), Vice Chairman
Aaron Biterman (VA), Secretary
Bill Westmiller (CA), Treasurer
Bryan Haddock (TN), At-Large
Dan Sheill (MI), At-Large
Jeff Palmer (NC), At-Large
Steven Talcott-Smith (FL), Alternate
Eric Wall (FL), Alternate
Steve Wright (MD), Alternate
John Orlando (MD), Alternate

As you’ll notice, there are four alternates when there were supposed to be three. There was a tie for the third alternate spot, so after lunch we very briefly reconvened and voted to allow a fourth alternate on the basis that the bylaws don’t explicitly say we can’t have more than 3 alternates, and on the theory that having another alternate can’t do any harm — plus we didn’t want any hard feelings among our feisty new Maryland chapter members. Many of those in the election for at large spots were not in attendance, but had their names put in nomination as a courtesy by members of the delegation who rose to speak on their behalf. Of those absentee nominees only Dan Sheill of Michigan won a spot. The rest will be invited to join one of the new committees which we are forming over the next few weeks. That will give them excellent opportunities for substantive involvement and lift some of the work burden off of the board.

Later on Saturday there was a dinner featuring speakers and awards and a tasty Mediterranean-style buffet. Will Pitts of the Florida RLC opened the ceremonies, followed by Sirius talk radio host Mike Church, local candidate State Senate candidate Dan Quiggle and Dr. Lawrence Reed of the Foundation for Economic Education.

In addition to his presence at the RLC Convention, Larry Reed also address the Palm Beach County Republican Club, including the Executive Committee members, on April 3.

At the Convention, Mike Church was quite a rabble-rouser and Quiggle had interesting stories to relate from his time in the Reagan White House. Reed was a bit dry and monotone but gave an interesting lecture on the Depression. By that time I was barely conscious — working on 3 hours sleep and 15 hours of convention — but I struggled up to the podium and I think I made a rather stirring introduction with some nice things to say about our activist members and especially the Florida chapter and their great job hosting the convention.

Other speakers included Ivan Osorio of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, John Hallman of the Florida Taxpayers Union, Allen Douglas of the National Federation of Independent Business and author-activist Matt Falconer. Several candidates and politicians attended and participated including State House candidate Dean Santoro, U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Marion Thorpe, and former Maryland Delegate Don Murphy. Special thanks to Lenny Curry, Duval County Republican Party Chairman, for answering tough questions about the future of the Republican Party and the party’s willingness to work with limited government Republicans.

So I started to give out awards and realized that very few of those we have awards for except for a few Floridians has already fled the increasingly empty hall and those who are left look tired and testy. But I did manage to stumble through and get our attractive certificates given out with some backup from the equally exhausted Mark Cross. There were activist awards for some of our most successful chapter organizers including Adina Cappell from California, David FitzSimmons and Norann Dillon from Minnesota, and Phil Blumel and Will Pitts from Florida. I think I also managed to do a pretty good job of giving the Chairman’s Award to Aaron Biterman on behalf of outgoing Chairman Bill Westmiller. And I have to say that Aaron’s tireless competence and remarkable command of information and resources is even more impressive when you meet him face-to-face and realize that all that knowledge is stored in his head available for instant recall. No one is as competent or deserving of recognition for his work as Aaron.

Further awards went to B. J. Lawson for his exceptional work as a congressional candidate and to Jeff Palmer of North Carolina for his work in launching two state chapters and making the RLC strong nationwide. Awards also went to featured speaker Lawrence Reed for his work in promoting free market economics and Sarah Lovett for her fantastic job organizing the Jacksonville convention on short notice. After I was done, Mark Cross gave out additional awards for the Florida chapter, but I was barely conscious by that point and ready to stumble off to bed with dreams of the very cool stylized eagle-head trophy — which Richard Bradfield Lee had found for the Floridians to use as their premier award.

On Sunday the Florida RLC had its business meeting and by all accounts it went very well. I’d report on it, but I only peeked in a couple of times because I spent the morning eating brunch and chatting with delegates from some of our other chapters about what we can do to grow the RLC and make our efforts more effective. Steve Wright and John Orlando from Maryland had a lot of great ideas to offer and Dan Halloran and Vito Palmieri from New York shared some of their campaign experiences and suggestions.

From there we went to the first meeting for the new executive board, with Jeff Palmer (who had gone home), Dan Sheill (in MI), Bill Westmiller (in CA) and Mark Cross (who was still in the Florida meeting) absent and our two Maryland alternates filling out the quorum. The meeting was informal, but productive. There are things you can get done quickly face to face which you just can’t do as easily in a teleconference. We talked a lot about fundraising and ways to get the RLC National organization the resources it needs to achieve the goal of chartering 12 new states in the next year. We also did preliminary planning for setting up committees to which we can delegate some of the work which the board has been doing, including press relations, finances and fundraising, technology and endorsements. As we were discussing putting together a packet of materials to provide new chapters with information and tools to help them get started, Steven Talcott Smith arrived from the Florida meeting carrying a binder of materials which Florida had developed for their sub-chapters which was exactly the kind of thing we were talking about assembling. They had already done our work for us, and later on Mark Cross gave me all of the materials on CD, so drawing on Florida’s expertise we’re on our way to putting together a really helpful packet for new chapters and state coordinators. Not long after that it was time to catch afternoon flights out of Jacksonville and we had to adjourn the meeting, but we’d accomplished a great deal in a few hours.

Just reporting the official events doesn’t really do justice to what was going on in Jacksonville. The real action was in the hallways and the atrium and over meals and drinks, where delegates from all over gathered enthusiastically to share ideas and pick each others’ brains and find ways to work together to help make the RLC bigger, better and more effective in getting its message out. I got to meet and talk to an inspiring group of activists, from long-time RLC members like Phil Blumel, Eric Rittberg and Jeff Palmer to enthusiastic newcomers like Will Pitts, John Orlando, Steve Wright, Bryan Haddock, Dan Halloran and too many others to name. They all had good ideas and the enthusiasm to make those ideas a reality. Special recognition was given to past Chairman Bill Westmiller for his service to the RLC. To get a feel for the convention, check out the photo collection at RLC.org.

I came away from the convention convinced that we can really accomplish great things with the RLC if we can export the kind of energy I saw in Jacksonville nationwide in this time when the GOP is looking for renewal and inspiration, which we have in abundance. In the next year I see three main goals for the RLC:

• Expand fundraising so we can afford a small permanent staff and a budget for travel and other expenses.
• Charter at least 12 new state chapters and provide all of the chapters with a Florida-style coordinator’s toolkit.
• Raise the profile of the RLC by capitalizing on key issues and events to promote our viewpoint in online, print and broadcast media.

Thanks to everyone who was in Jacksonville for putting on a great convention and helping to build the RLC. I look forward to working with all of you in the coming months.

Each year, members of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida gather to engage their legislators on key issues that members can influence from the grassroots level. According to RLCFL Secretary Philip Blumel,

“RLC’ers converged on Tallahassee March 17-18 for the annual grass roots lobbying event organized by RLCer and Florida Taxpayers Union president (and RLC member) John Hallman. They started off with lunch Tuesday at the Governor’s Club with former House Majority Leader Dick Armey of FreedomWorks, attended private meetings with legislators all afternoon and then participated in a late afternoon ‘tea party’ protest on the Capital steps against federal bailout and stimulus plans. The following morning, RLC’ers were back hitting legislators offices and took a break for a sign-waving protest against the Central Florida commuter rail boondoggle as well as a legislative update by James Madison Institute president Bob McClure. Everywhere they went, the group left copies of the RLC tri-fold brochure.”

Several of the most active RLCFL members — including Sarah Lovett, Eric Wall, Cliff Johnson, Jason Hellenberg, and John Hallman — testified at the hearing for the latest draft of Sen. Mike Haridopolos’s Smart Cap proposal, SB 1906. Smart Cap, a version of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (or Stop OverSpending) for Florida, would cap government spending at the rate of inflation.

As with TABOR, which was passed in Colorado in 1992 thanks to RLC-endorsed former State Rep. Doug Bruce (R-CO), the Smart Cab legislation would not allow the government to spend above the limit (except under defined emergency conditions) and would mandate putting any spending above the limit on the ballot for citizens to vote on. Sen. Mike Haridopolos, a featured speaker at the RLC’s 2006 National Convention, is now in line to be Senate President in 2010 if the Republicans retain control of that body. Rep. Anitere Flores sponsored the bill in the Florida House.

Says Blumel:

“RLC members met with all the relevant legislators (or their aides) to push the Smart Cap bill, including House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, Speaker Larry Cretul, Senate President Jeff Atwater, and other senators and representatives on the relevant committees.”

“Notably, RLCers met with the governor’s office Tuesday for a long and thoughtful session with Gov. Crist’s policy coordinator for the Office of Policy and Budget, Christian Weiss. Gov. Crist had spoken positively about the idea of a spending limitation bill but had objections to the specific bills under consideration, find them too restrictive. However, at a committee hearing Wednesday afternoon, a representative of the governor appeared at Sen. Haridolopolos’ committee hearing on the bill and announced the governor’s change of mind. “This is what the grass roots want,” he said, in an apparent reference to RLC efforts.”

State Sen. Mike Fasano reads a Republican Liberty Caucus brochure.
RLC members converged on the Capital to make their presence known.