Monday, Jan. 17 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day so most people will have off from work. It also is the 2011 Virginia Tea Party Lobbying/Rally Day at the Capitol in Richmond.

Those of us in Northern VA are planning a carpool down to Richmond; contact Aaron to ride-share. There will be at least one car departing from Charlottesville; contact Steven to participate in the ride-share. The northern VA group will meet with the Central Virginia RLC group and other interested members/supporters from across the state on Monday morning at 8:45am. If you are planning to attend this event, let us know.

Our goals will be:
1. To meet other RLC members from across the state of Virginia.
2. To gather as a group to show a united front for individual liberty and limited government.
3. To hand out 2011 RLC Convention flyers and general RLC flyers (supplied by the Central Virginia RLC) to prospective members/supporters.
4. To talk to legislators about issues in the coming legislative session.
5. To listen to speakers, learn, educate, and mobilize.

VIRGINIA RLC 2011 LOBBY DAY AGENDA
7:15am – Northern Virginia Contingent Departs
8:45 - 9:30am – Virginia RLC Meeting at 821 Cafe
9:45 – 11am – Lobbying Legislators at Capitol (RLC members break out into small groups)
11am to 1pm – RLC Group Lunch (with various discounted options available)
1 to 2pm – Rally in front of Capitol Bell Tower
2pm – 4pm – Reception w/ Tea Party groups/legislators at Sam Miller’s Restaurant
4 – 4:30pm – Depart Richmond

Confirmed Rally Speakers:
• Parke West, Just Liberty – Invocation & Pledge of Allegiance
• Angie Parker, CoLA Committee VTPP
• John Taylor, Tertium Quids
• Donna Holt, Va Campaign for Liberty
• Bob Shoemaker, ANCIR
• Keynote: Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli

Click to view a summary of the Coalition Freedom Bills 2011.

Parking will be free because it is a federal holiday.

You may also RSVP to our event on Facebook. Please let us know if you plan to attend.

At the upcoming Republican Liberty Caucus National Convention on February 12, delegates from across the country will elect a new National Committee to lead the organization forward in the coming years.

The National Committee consists of the Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, At-Large Board members, Alternate Board members, and four Regional Directors for the Midwest, Northeast, Southern, and Western Regions.

Regional Directors are elected from among their members by the officers of Chartered states in each of the Regions within thirty days of the Regular Convention.

These are voluntary positions and running for one of them is an excellent way to become more active in the liberty movement. The responsibilities of the positions are as follows:

• Chair: Primary spokesman of the Caucus; must execute the resolutions of the Board; must preside at meetings of the Board and official sessions of any Convention; must ensure the administration of all provisions of the RLC Bylaws.  The bylaws require having served on the National Board for 6 months and having been a registered member of the Caucus for 2 years in order to be qualified to run for this position.
• Vice-Chair: Assumes the duties and obligations of Chairman in his/her absence; assists the Chairman in his/her duties and oversees state chartering and the Convention Committees. You must have served on the board for 6 months and have been a registered member for 2 years to run for this position.
• Secretary: Records and distributes the minutes of all Board meetings and Conventions, certifies Delegates, conducts such ballots as the Board may direct, and acts as Parliamentarian (unless otherwise designated) for all official business of the Caucus. Also directs the Public Relations Committee.  You must have been a dues-paid RLC member for 1 year to run.
• Treasurer: The custodian of all Caucus funds; must propose annual and quarterly budgets, safeguard the financial resources of the Caucus and make such periodic reports of finances as the Board may require. The Treasurer directs the Fundraising Committee. You must have been a dues-paid RLC member for 1 year to run.
• At-Large Board members: Responsible for attending RLC meetings (conference calls) regularly, boosting RLC membership, and promoting the RLC. You must have been a dues-paid RLC member for 1 year to run.
• Regional Directors: There is one director in each of the four Regions established by the Bylaws. Each regional director should attend RLC meetings (conference calls) regularly, be in contact with state affiliates in their region, try to develop more state chapters in their region, and recruit new RLC members. You must have been a dues-paid RLC member for 1 year to run.

If you are interested in running for any of these positions, please let us know. Additionally, the Convention Business page will have information on who is running for what position, the proposed Bylaw changes, and other relevant information for Convention delegates.

The Board ensures the effective implementation of the Bylaws, adopts an annual or quarterly budget, provides for effective communications among members, Chartered State organizations and the general public, and makes arrangements for Regular and Special Conventions of the Caucus. Regular meetings of the Board must occur at least quarterly. (Typically the Board has met once per month via teleconference and is in regular e-mail communication.)

Other Opportunities to Get Involved

The RLC has the following committees: Finance Committee, Membership Committee, Outreach and Press Committee, Publications Committee, and Technology Committee. If you are interested in serving on any of these Committees, please let us know.

• RLC Statement of Principles
• RLC Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
• Convention FAQ and Convention Homepage
• Volunteer with the RLC!

What’s In It For Me?

We are a grassroots, volunteer operation. The only thing in it for you is experience and the ability to reach new people with the message of individual liberty and limited government. We consider the RLC a very professional organization with patriotic, principled members who are making a real difference for liberty in their communities.

As opposition mounts to the Transportation Security Administration’s new intrusive pat-down and naked body scanner interrogations for America’s airline travelers, courageous RLC-endorsed legislators are fighting back.

In the past three days, legislation has been introduced by two RLC-endorsed legislators at the federal level and in the state of New Jersey.

Yesterday, RLC Advisory Board member Dr. Ron Paul (R-TX) introduced H.R. 6416, The American Traveler Dignity Act. The legislation would specifically outlaw fondling or groping of private law-abiding airline travelers by federal employees.

Also yesterday, Republican Liberty Caucus-endorsed Congressman Jimmy Duncan of Tennessee gave a factual overview of the assault on individual privacy and health risks of the naked body scanners:

And earlier this week, New Jersey Senate and House legislators introduced a bipartisan resolution calling on the federal government to change TSA’s anti-liberty procedures. The coalition was led by Republican Liberty Caucus-endorsed Senator Michael J. Doherty:

Stay tuned to the RLC blog for details on other legislative action items regarding the Transportation Security Administration’s invasive policies.

ARLINGTON, VA — The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC), a membership organization that exists to promote the principles of individual liberty and limited government, has six endorsed Congressional candidates who are on paths to victory this November as evidenced by poll numbers and leading experts in the field. The candidates include Justin Amash of Michigan, Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, Doug Cloud and John Koster of Washington state, Chip Cravaack of Minnesota, and Steve Chabot of Ohio.

“With the exception of 1994, the Republican Liberty Caucus has never seen a slate of candidates who have the potential to knock of incumbents like this slate,” said RLC Chair Dave Nalle of Texas. “These candidates are principled and committed to the Republican Liberty Caucus vision of a free nation with limited, efficient government,” said Nalle. In addition to a full slate of endorsed Congressional candidates (including many not mentioned above), the RLC has also endorsed incumbent members of Congress Jeff Flake (AZ), Roscoe Bartlett (MD), Adrian Smith (NE), Scott Garrett (NJ), Jim Jordan (OH), John Duncan (TN), and a slate from the Texas Congressional Delegation.

According to RLC Vice Chair Aaron Biterman, “Justin Amash is a conservative Republican running in a right-leaning Grand Rapids district; Mick Mulvaney is polling even with incumbent John Spratt (D) in South Carolina 5; Steve Chabot is polling even or ahead of Steve Driehaus (D) in a suburban Cincinnati district. Spratt and Driehaus rubber-stamped the entire Obama Big Government agenda and will have to face the voters on November 2.”

Additionally, a Public Opinion Strategies poll from early October showed RLC endorsed candidate Chip Cravaack at 42 percent to incumbent Democrat Jim Oberstar’s 45 percent. RealClearPolitics ranks John Koster’s bid against incumbent Democrat Rick Larson a “toss up” after several polls showed them within 3 points of each other in Washington’s 2nd District. Finally, a Wenzel Strategies poll released last week shows Democrat incumbent Norm Dicks trailing RLC candidate Doug Cloud in Washington’s 6th District.

“If Doug Cloud and Justin Amash in particular advance to Congress, they will be RLC Advisory Board member Ron Paul’s foremost allies in Washington,” said Biterman, adding that, “If our other candidates — Mulvaney, Koster, Cravaack, and Chabot — also succeed, there will be a significantly larger coalition for limited government in Congress.” The Republican Liberty Caucus is urging its members to volunteer for and donate to these candidates in particular.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From the Rand Paul for Senate campaign:

Tonight at midnight, the last push of the campaign begins

Dear Patriot:

Our two day Money Bomb is this Thursday and Friday, August 19 and 20. I hope you’ll join your fellow Patriots and give our campaign the funds we need to put our message on the air in the coming weeks.

You’ve seen how the drive-by media misquotes, distorts, and outright lies about my views.

You know they can’t stand the thought of a U.S. Senator actually fighting for Liberty. They don’t understand our issues, our supporters or our mission.

But you do.

You’ve helped over the past year, and I hope you’ll help again in the next two days. So much is at stake, and there is so little time left in our race. Only 76 days remain until election day!

Please consider your maximum possible donation to our campaign. You can pledge HERE or go to http://www.randpaul2010.com/donate tomorrow.

The cause of Liberty can be greatly advanced in the coming months and years – with your help. Thank you for all you’ve done and, I hope, for your support tomorrow

In Liberty,

Rand Paul, MD

Additionally, please tune in tomorrow at 2pm Eastern to listen to a representative of the Republican Liberty Caucus on the Rand Paul Radio Marathon.

With its multi-trillion dollar subsidy to the financial community,  the Democratic Party has become the party of the super-rich.  The Democrats complained (and rightly so)  for eight Bush years about subsidies to Halliburton, but from the moment that they took control a year ago  their chief achievement has been  to hand massive amounts of public money to Wall Street.

The magnitude of their subsidy is greater than any previous subsidy to wealthy interests in American history. Rockefeller and his bribes for oil rights of way; Jay Gould and the railroads; the S&L bailout of the late 1980s; Halliburton in Iraq,  all were small change compared to the Democrats’ subsidization of the banking industry and Wall Street.

The multi-trillion dollar transfer to Wall and Broad was facilitated by the Democratic media’s bamboozling the public with a single word: “Depression!” But it’s not so clear that people will continue to believe them as they did in the 1930s.  A small amount of public education will go a long way.

Households are faced with increasing property taxes and other costs, but are being told that there’s deflation.  Their wages have not grown, but government spending and taxes are rising, and they can see that something’s out of whack.  Moreover,  the Democrats have gotten sloppy and there is now increasing transparency.  The old lies about cost-push inflation and how complicated it all is have been brushed aside.  Their lies have become sillier and more difficult to defend.

This would seem to open up considerable opportunity for Liberty Republicans. But there is a difficult obstacle:  the Republican Party is still dominated by the Roosevelt-Rockefeller-Bush Progressives, and they are not going away.

New York’s Ulster County Republican Committee, to which I belong, hosted a dinner this past Thursday that featured a speech by Rudy Giuliani.  In his speech, Mr. Giuliani made clear that he supported the bailout. His claim that he is in favor of less spending and lower taxes sounds tired and unconvincing after he served for eight years in New York City.  During his term the massive waste in City Hall was not in the least remedied.  Now he speaks in favor of the bailout.  He seems irrelevant.

Moreover, I chatted with my State Senator, John J. Bonacic (R-NY), and he said that he supports George Pataki for US Senator.   George Pataki? Mr. Tax-and-Spend who ended up kowtowing to Dennis Rivera, the head of the hospital workers’ union?  Bonacic’s a great guy, but come on!

There is a big opportunity for the RLC. The Progressive Republican leadership is bereft of ideas.  They are tired. They are irrelevant. The public is ready to explode over the Democrats, the party of greed. They see themselves getting poorer. They know they’re being lied to.

The Liberty Republicans have innovative solutions. But we are faced with a critical strategic question: how do we overcome the GOP Progressives? It will require very fancy footwork in places like New York, where the Republicans are to the left of the Democrats.   The next two years are the years to do it. We must out-maneuver McCain and come up with viable candidates.  The opportunity is too big to miss.

Nothing much gets by local Republican Liberty Caucus members.

Liz Karlson (pictured, above, in her interview on local television), Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Marion County (Indiana), pays attention to local news and politics. When the Republican Mayor of Indianapolis hired an out-of-state fella, Frank Straub, for the post of Public Safety Commissioner, she was paying attention to his agenda for the city. According to The Indianapolis Star,

“In response to a question about illegally owned guns, [the newly appointed] Straub said there is no clear national policy on guns and that gun trafficking needs to be controlled. ‘My own personal perspective,’ he said during that interview, ‘is we have way too many guns on the street and way too many people that own guns’.”

“The concerns were fueled further by Straub’s support for the failed attempt to extend the 1994 ban on certain semiautomatic rifles. Straub, who was public safety commissioner in White Plains, NY, at the time, was among a group of law enforcement officials who met with individual members of Congress to express support for extending the ban so that modifications could be made. Some also have pointed to his membership in the International Association of Chiefs of Police, a group that, according to the National Rifle Association, works closely with the federal gun control lobby.”

WISH TV’s Jim Shella has a story on the opposition to Frank Straub in which he interviews Liz Karlson and explains her position. Stella reports, “Both on Facebook and in her role as chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus, Karlson makes the case that Ballard is not true to Republican principles.”

He concludes that this is just one battle in a much bigger war.

Last week, the Florida chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus held a statewide meeting whereby the membership passed a resolution condemning the actions of the Republican Party of Florida. Readers will recall that five Republican Liberty Caucus members were booted from the Republican Party in September for supporting limited government policies and being vocal about it!

According to Florida RLC Chairman Will Pitts, “As much as I dislike what the Party apparatus has done to discredit [me and] personally attack others and myself, I realize that we must stay the course and fight the good fight. Those few in power in the party would like nothing more than for us to leave and take the others that are upsetting their good ole boy corrupt system with us. We will not give them that satisfaction. As a result, I have decided to continue my fight to restore the original principles within the Republican Party in spite of the daunting long road ahead.”

“I would like to encourage you to join us in this fight and become a member of the Republican Liberty Caucus in your area. If there is not one, then start a chapter and encourage others to do the same. Then join your local executive committee in the Republican Party, and encourage others to join that as well. Soon through participatory government, you will bring change to the organization from the inside and from the ground up. It will only be through a concerted effort of many of us working in the same direction that we will be able to change things.

Below are a few photos from the recent Florida RLC membership meeting, which took place in the Orlando area.

….

Signing the resolution, Chairman Will Pitts and RLC members.