California, Florida, Maryland, and Nebraska chapters of the Republican Liberty Caucus have revised and launched new versions of their state Republican Liberty Caucus websites.

The California and Florida RLC websites offer quicker load times and ease of access. Both chapters also have quite a few active local affiliates.

The new Maryland RLC offers information on current candidates, pending legislation, and upcoming events.  The Nebraska RLC website is in a new, easy format that emphasizes 2010 candidate endorsements.

Learn more about these and other RLC affiliates at our chapter page.

by Aaron Biterman

A headline in this week’s Tampa Tribune is titled “GOP infighting shakes party”. The article talks about a familiar 2009 theme: “An increasingly fractious challenge to the Republican Party from its own conservative base could relegate the party to indefinite minority status,” says author William March.

No state has more of a fight on its hands than Florida, where Republican Party Chair Jim Greer has, no doubt, acted illegally to prop up his favorite candidates and help his friends defeat his enemies.  This was already clear when Greer had his cronies boot Republican Liberty Caucus members from the party in September. Now there are increasingly vocal calls for Greer to resign as party boss.

In Florida, State Senator Paula Dockery is challenging Attorney General Bill McCollum for the Republican nomination for Governor and Senator Carey Baker is challenging U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam in the primary for Florida Agriculture Commissioner. Both Dockery and Baker are more conservative than their moderate and establishment opponents. RLC members are supporting Dockery and Baker.

The reason that governorship is open, of course, is that Charlie Crist is running to become Florida’s junior U.S. Senator. Crist faces opposition from Marco Rubio — who has been endorsed by Senator Jim DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund — and former New Hampshire Senator Bob Smith.

But, never fear, the National Republican Senator Committee (NRSC) has plans to come to the rescue. As has been standard practice since the election of George W. Bush in 2000, the NRSC has already coronated its top-tier candidates for Senate in 2010 — without any regard for the opinions of GOP primary voters.

Those candidates include Crist, Carly Fiorina in California, and Trey Grayson in Kentucky.  All three have more conservative and credible opponents: former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, California Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, and Kentucky taxpayer advocate Dr. Rand Paul.

Whatsmore, the NRSC is now encouraging its readers to take advice from Karl Rove. In an e-mail the NRSC sent out yesterday, its Communications team forwarded an article from Karl Rove to all NRSC subscribers. Rove’s article was published in The Wall Street Journal, and the NRSC team said it’s a “WSJ Editorial You Should See”.

I saw it, and — shock! — I am not impressed.

Why is the NRSC encouraging its members to listen to Karl Rove? Rove’s name has come up in many political scandals, including the Valerie Plame affair, the Bush White House e-mail controversy and the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy. Moreover, his strategy of “compassionate conservatism” along with his support of the Bush Doctrine are among the main reasons why Republicans lost in 2006 and 2008.

In the article, Rove says, “In Connecticut, Sen. Chris Dodd trails former Republican Rep. Rob Simmons 35% to 48% in the latest Quinnipiac poll.” Rove does not acknowledge that two other Republican candidates also poll ahead of Chris Dodd: Linda McMahon and RLC-endorsed candidate Peter Schiff. This “ignore at all costs” strategy has been something that Republican establishment candidates have been very skilled at, but has not yielded successful results.

The strategy, a familiar Rove tactic, was employed masterfully by George W. Bush throughout both terms as President, and trickled down to candidates that the NRSC and NRCC supported (mostly unsuccessfully) in 2006 and 2008 such as John Gard in Wisconsin and Darren White in New Mexico. Both Gard and White — unfamiliar names to most readers — had primary challengers that were more conservative, but simply relied on the Bush Administration and the NRCC to “ignore at all costs” these opponents. Both Gard and White went on to lose their general election contests in conservative-leaning districts.  The result was Democrat pickups.

The title of Rove’s article is, “Can Republicans take back the Senate in 2010?”

The answer is yes, but not if they listen to Karl Rove or the NRSC.

The NRSC cannot be allowed to select Republican Senate candidates for GOP primary voters.

Registered Republicans in CA, CT, FL, IL, KY, and other states should select the best candidate to represent the state — without NRSC interference.

The Alameda County Republican Party (ACRP) in California has a history of hostility, lawsuits, and in-fighting. But the November 17th monthly meeting is shaping up to be a war zone.

Last week, the ACRP Executive Committee gave their approval (4 ayes, 1 no, 1 abstain) to a resolution that would make a non-interventionist foreign policy the official position of the county party.

To pass, the resolution must receive 2/3rds approval from County Committee members at the November 17th meeting in San Leandro.

The county party is lead by RLC member Jerry Salcido, and most of its officers are also RLC members.  Looking at the Alameda County GOP Central Committee, I see at least 12-15 RLC members, too.  I guess we’ll find out if we have a majority on November 17.

Hopefully other county Republican Parties also consider adopting this proposed resolution.

Alameda County Republican Party — Proposed Resolution
Submitted by: Walter Stanley III, David LaTour, and Jerry Salcido

“Whereas, our foreign policy of the past century is deeply flawed and has not served our national security interests; and

Whereas, the terrorist threat is a predictable consequence of our meddling in the affairs of others and has nothing to do with us being free and prosperous; and

Whereas, propping up repressive regimes in the Middle East endangers America and our allies; and

Whereas, occupying countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan and bombing Pakistan is directly related to the hatred directed toward us; and

Whereas, losing over 6,000 American Military personnel in the Middle East since September 11, 2001 is not a fair trade off for the loss of nearly 3,000 American citizens, no matter how many Iraqi, Pakistani and Afghan people are killed or displaced; and

Whereas, torture, even if referred to as “enhanced interrogation techniques” is self-destructive and produces no useful information and that contracting it out to a third world country or a corporation is just as evil; and

Whereas, war and military spending is always destructive to the economy; and

Whereas, war time spending is paid for through the deceitful process of inflating and borrowing; and

Whereas, war time conditions always undermine personal liberty; and

Whereas, we as small government conservatives see our government’s interventionist foreign policy providing the greatest incentive to expand the government; and

Whereas, the only logical, conservative position is to reject military intervention and managing an empire throughout the world; and

Whereas, the official positions for going to war are almost always based on lies and promoted by war propaganda in order to serve special interests; and

Whereas, the quest for empire eventually destroys all great nations; and

Whereas, our aggressive foreign policy and seemingly permanent presence in other countries throughout the world has served to weaken our national defense at home; and

Whereas, the borders’ of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are more secure than our own borders here at home; and

Whereas, our foreign policy has nothing to do with national security and never changes from one administration to the next; and

Whereas, Christianity teaches peace and not preventive wars of aggression; and

Whereas, diplomacy is superior to bombs and bribes and the illusion of protecting America; and

Whereas, the aggressive foreign policy of so called “neo-conservatives” is anything but conservative and has wasted more than $1 trillion on nation building and billions more on foreign aid; and

Whereas, there is a strong tradition of non-interventionism in the Republican Party that is exemplified by the legacy of Senator Robert Taft and the Old Right.

Therefore, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Alameda County Republican Party supports a non-interventionist foreign policy as advocated by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and believes costly undeclared wars and the occupation of other countries only serves to weaken our national defense and strengthen the resolve along with the ranks of our enemies.

It’s still early to be thinking about 2010 elections, but the Republican Liberty Caucus National Board has approved several endorsements for 2010 already.

Liberty fans across the country will be pleased to note that the RLC endorsed Rand Paul in his bid to become U.S. Senator in Kentucky, and Peter Schiff in his bid to represent Connecticut in the Senate.

The RLC has also endorsed Jason Shepherd for State Representative in Georgia, Shane Schoeller (Incumbent) for State Representative in Missouri, and Bill Hunt for Orange County Sheriff in California.

Our endorsements process has just begun, so please stay tuned for more endorsements of worthwhile, liberty-loving candidates. In 2008, the RLC endorsed over 220 pro-freedom candidates, many of whom were inspired to run as a result of RLC Advisory Board member Ron Paul’s 2008 Presidential bid.

RLC members will be working to help all of the above candidates succeed. Our Connecticut and Kentucky chapters are in the process of chartering, which we believe will be tremendous assets to the Paul and Schiff campaigns as we head into 2010.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of California successfully held its second annual convention meeting of 2009 in conjunction with the California Republican Party Convention. The CRP Convention was held the weekend of September 25-27, which provided the RLCCA with a unique opportunity to hold a Convention Meeting and build relationships with fellow California Republicans.

The RLCCA Convention Meeting took place on Saturday, September 26. With several new faces and our growing leadership, comradery and activism filled the room. During the meeting, new By-laws revisions were passed unanimously.

All weekend long, the RLC offered an exhibitor booth along side other volunteer organizations and candidates running for state office. The World’s Smallest Political Quiz was again administered at our table, with the results, as expected, placing the majority of fellow California Republican quiz takers in the libertarian quadrant. New to this years convention was the RLCCA Voter Recommendation Guide. The guide focus was on two proposed state party rules and a resolution. There was no action taken by CRP Delegates on the rules, but the resolution passed!

The California Republican Party voted nearly unanimously in support of HR 1207 and S 604, The Federal Reserve Transparency and Sunshine Acts. The resolution was sponsored by the Alameda County and Sonoma County GOPs, and co-sponsored by the Republican Liberty Caucus of California, RLC-endorsed Congressman Tom McClintock, State Assemblyman and U.S. Senate candidate Chuck DeVore, as well as a number of CRP Delegates.

The California Republican Party supporting an audit of the Federal Reserve was a shining moment for the RLCCA and the Liberty Movement. Chuck DeVore, a tremendous supporter of auditing the Federal Reserve, spoke passionately on behalf of the resolution during the resolution committee meeting. Immediately after Chuck DeVore spoke, the Resolution Committee voted unanimously to send the resolution to the floor of the convention. Thanks Chuck!

All weekend long, members of the Republican Liberty Caucus could be seen at our exhibitor booth, CRP committee meetings, County Chairman and Treasurer meetings, CRP Convention floor, and many other party functions and meetings. We certainly made sure the Liberty Movement was active throughout the weekend. And it paid off with our co-sponsored resolution passing overwhelmingly.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of California would like to thank all our members and volunteers who showed up to the convention. We could not have done it without your dedication! We would also like to thank the California Republican Party for holding the Convention and so overwhelmingly supporting the resolution; and U.S. Senate Candidate Chuck DeVore for his support.

2010 elections are right around the corner and the RLC CA is poised to make a difference! If you haven’t yet done so, please join the RLC today!

Some photos from the event follow:

At its Convention on Saturday, the California Republican Party adopted the following resolution:

Whereas, the California Republican Party applauds transparency and accountability in government and rejects government secrecy involving monetary policy that impacts the entire economy; and

Whereas, serious discussions of proposals to oversee and audit the Federal Reserve are long overdue; and

Whereas, the Federal Reserve can enter into agreements with foreign governments and foreign central banks and the United States Congress is prohibited from overseeing these agreements; and

Whereas, the California Republican Party believes agreements made by the Federal Reserve with foreign powers and foreign banking institutions should be subject to Congressional oversight; and

Whereas, the United States Constitution, gives the United States Congress the authority to coin Money and regulate the value thereof and does not give Congress the authority to delegate control over monetary policy to a central bank; and

Whereas, auditing the Federal Reserve will allow Congress to assert its constitutional authority over monetary policy and help to protect the value of the United States dollar;

Therefore, BE IT RESOLVED, that the California Republican Party, in defense of the United States Constitution, STRONGLY URGES the representatives of the 111th United States Congress to support the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 as set forth in H.R. 1207 and S. 604.

The Alameda and Sonoma County Republican Parties recently submitted a resolution in support of auditing The Federal Reserve to the California Republican Party.  The resolution was introduced by two RLC supporters, Jerry Salcido and Michael Erickson.

In addition, RLC-endorsed Congressman Tom McClintock, Assemblyman and U.S. Senate candidate Chuck DeVore, and Congressional candidates John Dennis, Paul Smith and Jon del Arroz have all thrown their support behind the proposed resolution.  In fact, Chuck Devore even spoke passionately on behalf of the resolution before California GOP delegates.

RLC members — such as Matthew Heath, John Dennis, David Latour, Walter Stanley, and David Ewing — were the primary movers and shakers pushing for resolution adoption. More information on the resolution is available HERE.

Congratulations!

The Republican Liberty Caucus (and its California affiliate) has endorsed Gary Clift for Congress.

Due to incumbent Ellen Tauscher’s resignation as California’s 10th Congressional District Representative, an open primary election will be held on September 1. Mrs. Tauscher was appointed Undersecretary of State for arms control.

According to a press release from the California RLC, “Of the 11 candidates running for the 10th Congressional District, Gary Clift is the right choice for Congress … he stands for individual rights, free enterprise, and limited government.”

Says Mr. Clift,”The financial future of our country is at risk if the federal government follows California’s lead. The federal government has grown too big and expenditures greatly exceed tax revenues. This cannot continue. We need to reduce federal government by cutting the waste and mismanagement. One of my first actions in Congress will be to cosponsor HR 1207, which aims to audit the Federal Reserve and make government transparent with our tax dollars.”

The Clift campaign has requested volunteers for phone banking. Phone bank volunteers do not need to live in California’s 10th Congressional district.

“If we Liberty and Constitutional Republicans truly want to restore our Constitutional Republic, we must stand up and support candidates who will take our cause to the halls of Congress. Gary Clift is just that man. Support your freedoms by supporting Gary Clift,” said Matthew Heath, Chair of the California RLC affiliate.

California Congressional District 10 includes Fairfield (Solano County) in the north, Livermore in the south, ad Walnut Creek on the east. It stretches as far west as the San Pablo Bay and as far northeast as route 5 nearing Sacramento.

___________________________________________________________________

GARY CLIFT PROFILE

AGE: 53
PARTY: Republican
HOMETOWN: Vacaville (home is in a rural area north of town in a small finger of the 10th District.)

EDUCATION: Bachelor of arts in political science and Spanish, University of California at Davis, 1980

BACKGROUND: Grows a variety of organic crops for family and friends. Retired 26-year manager and peace officer with the California Department of Corrections. Lived in numerous countries including Cuba, Ecuador and Iraq as the son of a foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department. Married, father of two children in college.

ISSUES

Health Care:

Wants more transparent discussion of benefits and drawbacks of proposals under discussion, particularly effects on people who like their existing insurance. Believes the federal government cannot manage Health Care: insurance well and it could reduce quality and innovation.

Immigration

As a practical matter, supports a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in the country. Supports strict enforcement of existing Immigration laws.

Federal stimulus package

Says it’s too soon to say if it will work, although he would have voted against it. Says business tax cuts are the best way to stimulate the economy.

National Security

Wants all U.S. troops out of Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries as soon as practical. Says military occupation foments enemies and does not promote democracy. Supports repeal of the Patriot Act, which gives the government latitude to spy on telecommunications, e-mails and phone calls.

Energy Policy

Supports allowing states to fully develop all sources of domestic energy, including oil drilling and nuclear plants.

Transportation

Wants California congressional delegation to use its clout to end the state’s export of tax dollars to other states and to use the money for local needs.

Gay Rights

Says voters should decide whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. Says the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy is within the authority of President Barack Obama, who has said he will abolish it.

Education

Would abolish the U.S. Department of Education, return its money and education control to states.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of California’s Executive Board approved a resolution calling on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state legislature to fix the state’s budget problems by rolling back excessive spending, not by seeking a federal bailout.

The full text of the resolution:

Whereas California’s current budget crisis is the result of more than a decade of irresponsible spending by the state legislature, and also the result of billions of dollars of bonds and other spending requirements approved directly by California voters; and whereas

California would have a multi-billion dollar budget surplus if the rule limiting the growth of spending to inflation plus population growth were still in effect; and whereas

California is already one of the most taxed states in the nation; and whereas

It would be deeply unfair to the taxpayers of other states to send their tax dollars to bail out California, or to burden those other taxpayers with additional debt to finance a Federal bailout of California; and whereas

Hand-waving and vague invocations of so-called “Keynesian economics” are no substitute for honest fiscal discipline; and whereas

It is inappropriate for the great State of California to become dependent on or addicted to injections of Federal taxpayer dollars; and whereas

Governor Schwarzenegger loudly foretold over $9 billion of “deep and painful cuts” if propositions 1A through 1E failed to pass in the May 19th special election; and whereas

The voters heard Governor Schwarzenegger loud and clear and responded by voting nearly 2 to 1 against propositions 1A through 1E; and

Governor Schwarzenegger said, “I heard the message of the people loud and clear, and I’m sure that the legislative leaders and the legislators also heard the message loud and clear”;

Therefore be it resolved the Republican Liberty Caucus of California hereby urges Governor Schwarzenegger and the state legislature to neither seek nor accept any federal bailout, but instead to address California’s budget crisis by reducing government spending to a sustainable level.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of California Recommends a NO Vote On Propositions 1A-1F in the May 19 Special Election:

NO on Proposition 1-A: THE RAINY DAY BUDGET STABILIZATION FUND
This budget deal is a bailout for big spenders who will extract another $16 billion dollars in taxes and continue to increase state spending. It is not a rainy day fund at all. The California legislature that has overtaxed and spend our hard-earned money will just have another slush fund to use at their will. It does nothing to restrain bloated deficits nor restrain tax-and-spend legislators.

NO on Proposition 1-B: EDUCATION FUNDING. PAYMENT PLAN
This proposal mandates more deficit spending for an education system that needs massive reform, not another $9.3 billion dollars in spending. Every increase in education spending, over many decades, has resulted in decreased student achievement. The legislature should be expanding charter schools, cutting bureaucracy, and allowing parents to choose among competitive public and private schools.

NO on Proposition 1-C: LOTTERY MODERNIZATION ACT
Lenders no longer trust the state of California to pay off its debts with reduced spending, so the legislature wants to promise its future income from gambling to bet that voters are suckers. The state legislators want to gamble in order to pay lenders so they can borrow and spend more.

NO on Proposition 1-D: CHILDREN’S SERVICES FUNDING
This shell game takes tobacco tax revenue, that had been promised for early childhood development programs, to pay off its other general fund obligations. Not only does this allow the state legislator to hinder the voter initiative, but it will fund more bloated state bureaucracy.

NO on Proposition 1-E: MENTAL HEALTH FUNDING. TEMPORARY REALLOCATION
This proposal is another shell game that voids voter initiative preferences to pay for mandates that were imposed by the federal government. The state should be saying NO to federal mandates and handouts, of our tax dollars, by reforming its own MediCal program with tax-free medical savings plans.

NO on Proposition 1-F: ELECTED OFFICIALS’ SALARIES. PREVENTS PAY INCREASES DURING BUDGET DEFICIT YEARS
This feel-good proposition pretends to freeze legislator’s salaries, but it does nothing of the sort. It pretends to be an incentive for responsible budget reductions, but it only guarantees more tax increases when legislators insist that they have to spend more. It does nothing to cut legislator salaries, nor those of the exploding state bureaucracy. This is a con game, to top off the shell games and slush funds of the other propositions.

Vote NO on all of these statist, bureaucratic games. NO on more borrowing and spending.

The library of Gravenstein Elementary School was packed with about 30 members of the public for a meeting of the Board of Trustees earlier this week. One of those trustees is California RLC Chair Matthew Heath, who was elected (without opposition) to the Board last November. Mr. Heath is the father of a three-year-old son, who will likely attend school in the Gravenstein Union District, so it only makes sense that he is interested in district issues.

Apparently it’s a crime to believe in limited government and simultaneously serve on the Gravenstein District Board. Matthew Heath participated in the shocking act of working to defeat Measure A in a special election held earlier in the month. The measure would have extended the existing $36 parcel tax for eight years with exemptions for parcels owned by persons over the age of 65, and multiple contiguous parcels would have been charged as one parcel.

According to a local article about the censure resolution against the California RLC Chair, “[Heath] worked behind the scenes in an effort to defeat the parcel tax, after the other members of the board had unanimously agreed to put the measure on a special March 3 ballot.”

Gravenstein School District Board President Jim Horn doesn’t seem to believe that dissent should be allowed. He recently wrote up a censure proposal and asked other Board members to consider it. Mr. Heath made a motion to strike the censure resolution from the agenda so that the board could get on with budget issues he’d put on the agenda. “It’s a waste of peoples’ time and filled with factual inaccuracies,” he said. “We have more important budget matters to address,” he said.

Instead, the board voted four to one to keep the censure motion on the agenda, and, after allowing Heath to question large portions of the District’s budget, discussion of the censure began. The discussion will continue at the April meeting. At least one meeting attendee defended Heath: “Maybe we should censure the rest of the board,” said Greg Guerinoni. “He has a right to express his views. I don’t feel like we should be forced to pay a tax that we don’t feel is right.”

It appears that the Gravenstein School District is too busy scolding those with dissenting opinions than working to ensure quality education for students. Quality education, as the Gravenstein Board members should know, does not correspond to more funding.