In Florida’s Republican Party, like many around the country, we are told that unity is always supporting the Republican Candidate who wins their primary race. When attending Republican Party functions, we are told that we are to “come together at election time” by the leaders of the party. It is rare, however, that these same party leaders do not see their candidate win in the primary. The win allows them, with immunity, to demand total support for the candidate that so many in the grassroots were working to defeat, which often leaves these workers in a state of utter confusion and wondering how they can be expected to so drastically change their support.

In the case of Governor Charlie Crist, many of the Republican Party leadership, who knew exactly what Charlie stood for, supported him and his decisions to the end. That end, of course, was when Charlie changed parties, and now Charlie is despised. He has become a talking point for Republicans in the 2010 state elections for what is wrong with Florida; however, many of those same Republicans supported and demanded that others support him before his party change. Did Charlie’s actions or beliefs change? Did Charlie suddenly morph into someone that aspired to beliefs that were not in line with the Republican Party? The Answer is no. Charlie did not change; rather, simply his affiliation with the Republican Party changed.

In Duval county we have a mayor that claims to be a Republican, yet has proposed tax increases the last two years. These increases were supported by the mostly Republican City Council, but were protested by many of the hardworking, grassroots people of Duval County. Meanwhile both years the Republican Party leadership declined to participate in the discussion, because to do so would have been to go against a fellow Republican. What issue pertains more to the Republican Party than low taxes? Yet, Republican leaders would rather remain silent, then true to principles.

At a time when so many within both parties are disenfranchised and ready for another option, perhaps demanding loyalty to a party is short sighted. It is because of these types of demands that so many organizations and groups have sprung up. From the Tea Parties and 912 groups to the Republican Liberty Caucus and Campaign for Liberty, these groups are now standing for what the Republican Party was always supposed to be: The Party that represented small, limited, Constitutional Government, less taxes, a strong national defense, and State and National Sovereignty.

Now is the time to examine the political system to determine if, perhaps, the idea of loyalty to an organization or party, that often asks the people to dismiss their personal convictions and standards and offer their blind loyalty to the title “Republican”, is somehow missing the big picture. Does supporting someone like Charlie Crist, only to have them prove that they have always stood for different principles, lend credibility to the Republican Party leadership?

Many serving on the executive committee take a loyalty oath to support the party. This oath has often been enforced with a stern hand. Meanwhile, who is enforcing the oath to the Constitution that our elected officials take? Should their failure to uphold their own oath to their constituents void any oath to unconditionally support them? They have forgotten that they serve the people, and their primary duty is to uphold the US Constitution. If we continue to blindly support them, forcing loyalty on those working to get them elected, we are creating an infrastructure that will collapse on itself.
To pretend that America’s problems started the day that Obama was sworn into office is to dismiss the damage that Republicans, such as John McCain and Olympia Snow, have been doing to the party for years. It was the Republican Party that supported them and enabled them to continue their harmful ways without accountability. The Party needs to figure out what it stands for and what it stands against so that the people working to get “Republicans” candidates elected in the fall will know exactly what these candidates stand for.

Organizations such as the Republican Liberty Caucus stand for accountability within the party at all levels and with every elected official. When officials fail to uphold their oath to the Constitution, or to support the principles that the stated Republican platforms claims to uphold, they deserve to be called out and in turn voted out.

If those in party leadership would unite under principles, they could harness the growing power of the Tea Parties, the RLC, the 912 groups, and thousands of disenfranchised voters.

Now is the time to decide if uniting under a title is more important than returning this country to its roots and seeing real change take place in our cities, counties, states, and Nation.

(This article originally appeared as an editorial in The Jacksonville Observer)

Republican Gubernatorial nominee Rick Scott will be the keynote speaker at the Republican Liberty Caucus of Central East Florida’s Second Annual 2010 Constitution Day Dinner.

The dinner will occur at the Radisson Resort at the Port on Friday, September 24, 2010. Cocktail hour will be from 6 to 7pm and the program will begin at 7pm. Register today!

The Constitution Day Dinner serves as the Republican Liberty Caucus’ primary annual fundraising vehicle, giving the organization the funds it needs to support and promoting candidates that espouse the principles of free enterprise and Constitutionally limited government.

“This event will honor those who pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to create our great nation,” RLCCEF founder Matt Nye said. “This country was founded on the principles of individual rights, limited government and free enterprise, so it is very appropriate that we will have entrepreneur and Republican Gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott as our keynote speaker.”

“Now, more than ever, Americans must become active in the political process — we want them to come out, get engaged, and learn how they can make a difference within both the Republican Party and their government,” Nye said. “Apathy is no longer an option; just as our forefathers stood against the redcoats so many years ago, Americans must once again stand up and fight if they want to preserve the greatest country known to man.”

Rick Scott has a narrow lead over Democrat Alex Sink. Scott’s running mate is State Rep. Jennifer Carroll, who would be Florida’s first African American Republican Lt. Governor.

We hope you’ll come join the Florida Republican nominee for Governor Rick Scott at the Republican Liberty Caucus of Central East Florida’s Second Annual 2010 Constitution Day Dinner on Friday.

Republican Liberty Caucus chapters in at least nine states will be holding meetings in the coming month. They include:

Alabama: The Alabama RLC affiliate will hold a meeting in the coming weeks. Please contact Stephen Gordon for details.

Arizona: The Arizona RLC affiliate will hold a meeting in the coming weeks. Please contact Ken Rineer for details.

District of Columbia: DC Republican City Council candidates Jim DeMartino (Ward 6) and Tim Day (Ward (5) will present and answer questions at the RLC-DC meeting on Monday, August 30, along with Ward 1 School Board candidate Patrick Mara. The event will take place in the Community Room K at City Vista Condominiums (12th Floor), 475 K Street NW, equidistant from Gallery Place/Chinatown and Mount Vernon Square/Convention Center metros at 7pm. RSVP on Facebook.

Florida: The Florida RLC will have an outreach table, make a short presentation about the RLC and hold an informal RLC update and discussion get-together in conjunction with the Campaign for Liberty’s Summit at the Rosen Centre in Orlando. The informal RLC statewide meeting will be held at 12:30-1:30 pm on Saturday, August 12 at the RLC outreach booth at the Summit. Also, RLCers and friends who are not attending the Saturday night banquet are welcome to join us for dinner offsite, but nearby! Pick up the details at the RLC booth. See you there!

Indiana: The state RLC affiliate will hold its Convention at George’s Neighborhood Grill (6935 Lake Plaza Dr) in Indianapolis on Saturday, September 25. The keynote speaker will be Attorney General Greg Zoeller. RSVP on Facebook.

Maine: The Maine RLC will host its first annual Calvin Coolidge Clambake with John Fund of The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, August 26 in Portland. Learn more at http://www.rlc.org/2010/08/08/maine-rlc-hosts-clambake/.

New York: The RLC will host a kickoff meeting on Tuesday, August 17 at 7pm at the HOUNDSTOOTH PUB (520 8TH AVE – W37 St) in Manhattan. There will be a cash bar and free food. RSVP on Facebook.

Virginia: The Northern Virginia RLC will host a happy hour in Arlington in late August. Contact Mitchell Bemos for details. The Central Virginia RLC will host a meeting on Thursday, August 19 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at Isis, Inc. (2727 Enterprise Pkwy, Suite 100) in Richmond, VA. This is the first meeting of the RLCCV following elections of chapter officers. RLCCV will discuss our goals with the RLC and welcome new members and all who are interested in becoming members of the RLCCV. Please RSVP by Thursday, 8/19 at 1pm. RSVP on Facebook.

Utah: An immigration debate hosted by the Utah RLC chapter will occur and will feature key policy leaders in the state. Exact date/location TBA. Contact Julian Babbitt for details.

At their July 25 meeting, the executive committee of the RLC of Florida made two official recommendations regarding Florida referenda that reiterate the group’s commitment to free markets, individual liberty and private property. The RLC officially recommended voters at large vote YES on Amendment 9 and NO on Amendment 4 in November.

Amendment 9, as known as the Healthcare Freedom Act, states that any law or rule shall not compel, directly or indirectly, any individual to participate in any health care system against their will. The Act specifies that individuals cannot be fined, penalized or imprisoned for not participating in a mandated health insurance program such as Obamacare. If approved by Floridians in November, Health Care Freedom will become a provision of the Florida Constitution.

That Amendment 9 is on the ballot at all is partly due to efforts of RLCers who lobbied for the bill and traveled to the state capitol and went door to door speaking to legislators on behalf of the measure. Political consultant John Hallman said the measure was on the edge of being dismissed without even a committee vote when an outpouring of support surrounding the crucial vote in March led to a 10-3 committee vote to send the bill to the floor of the Senate and eventually passage in both houses.

In this effort, the RLCFL worked closely with Sen. Cary Baker and Rep. Scott Plakon, the two chief sponsors of the amendment.

Unfortunately, even though the Amendment was approved by the legislature, lawsuits have been launched to keep the Healthcare Freedom Act off the ballot. However, the RLC strongly believes the decision should be made by citizens and not by the court.

The RLC executive committee also came out against Amendment 4, the so-called Hometown Democracy act, which would require public referenda on a wide range of land use decisions.

Leonard Gilroy, a senior policy analyst at the libertarian Reason Foundation, put it like this in a James Madison Institute Point of View: “Throwing landowners’ ability to develop their property to the whims of public opinion shaped by costly public relations campaigns embraces the ultimate tyranny of the majority over individual property rights.”

For the record, the RLC is dissatisfied with the status quo where the decision-making responsibility is largely shared by elected officials and urban planners. Citizen input comes through their participation in planning boards and there is recourse to appeals, but nonetheless property rights are routinely violated in the state of Florida.

However, Amendment 4 is a move in the wrong direction, adding an additional layer of bureaucracy and expense in exercising one’s property rights. In practice, where Amendment 4 style laws exist, the process is mired in litigation.

In 2005, the RLCFL played a significant role in the successful statewide referendum to protect property owners from the use of eminent domain for private purposes. See also here and here for more details of RLC efforts on the successful Kelo remedy amendment.

At the Sunday night meeting, the board also considered several endorsements of candidates and announcements of new endorsements can be expected in the coming weeks.

Former Florida Republican Party Chair Jim Greer was arrested today on charges of grand theft and money laundering.

Governor Charlie Crist, then a Republican, appointed Greer as head of the state’s Republican Party upon election as governor in 2006. Greer was committed to alienating libertarians and conservatives from the party to favor the moderate (read: Democrat) wing of the party.

Greer resigned his position in February after receiving intense criticism of his tactics and spending, including reports of excessive funds spent on private jets, luxurious meals and entertainment.

Statewide Prosecutor William Shepherd said Greer developed a scheme to take money from the Republican Party through a shell company he created, Victory Strategies. He used the money for his personal expenses — at least $100,000.

Activists most concerned with issues of transparency and party spending — including Republican Liberty Caucus members Will Pitts, John Stevens, Elizabeth Campbell, and Doug Guetzloe — were promptly suspended from the Republican Party by Jim Greer’s puppets.

The next step for the Republican Party and its new Florida Chairman are to repeal the bogus suspensions of these Republican Liberty Caucus activists.

About 35 RLCers from around Florida attended this week the 2010 Liberty Days at the Capitol, the RLC’s annual grassroots lobbying trek to Tallahassee, in the midst of the national battle against ObamaCare.

The timing was perfect. The RLC’s first event was a hearing before the House Healthcare Regulation Policy Committee, in which Rep. Scott Plakon – sponsor of the Healthcare Freedom Act – made his case for protecting Floridians from the individual mandates included in the national bill. His bill (HJR 37) to do that passed the committee 10-3 amid cheers from the RLCers present.

After the committee hearing, RLCers met with Rep. Plakon and the Senate sponsor of the bill (SJR 72), Sen. Cary Baker, for some celebration and planning our next steps. After the meeting, RLCer and political consultant John Hallman led RLCers went from office to office for two days pressing for support of the Healthcare Freedom Act, two other 10th Amendment bills, TABOR and protection of Florida’s 8-year legislative term limits law.

Meetings included one on Tuesday with Florida Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, shown addressing RLCers above.

In the late afternoon, Florida RLC chair Will Pitts and others met with new Republican Party of Florida chair, Sen. John Thrasher, to mend the rift between the RPOF and the RLC created by the disgraced former GOP chair Jim Greer. After a successful day for both our bills and our organization, RLCers spent the evening eating and drinking in downtown restaurants and bars, meeting and getting caught up with each other.

For the full story and more pictures, see www.rlcfl.org.

On February 28th, 2010, a group of concerned citizens gathered at Brickell Place II to discuss the reformation of the Miami/.Dade Republican Liberty Caucus.

Largely a group of newbies to the RLC, the evening consisted mostly of an explanation of who the Republican Liberty Caucus is and its history in South Florida. Each of the attendees had a few minutes to introduce themselves and discuss briefly what brought them to the event. The general motivation was definitely frustration with the direction of the country and, even to some degree, the Republican Party.

The meeting, which lasted almost two hours, was led by Hector Roos and supported by Philip Blumel of the Palm Beach County RLC, included a lively discussion of issues and possible initiatives for the South Florida group. Longtime RLC member Jackie Lee Fernandez also attended.

With a directive to each person to bring at least two guests with them to the next meeting, the evening was adjourned.

The Miami RLC’ers are lucky to have several local candidates who are actively promoting the RLC agenda, including Marcus Rivchin running for State Representative in district 117.

To learn more about the Miami RLC, contact Hector.

It is official. The Florida chapter of the RLC and other liberty organizations including the Campaign for Liberty will be converging on Tallahassee on March 22-23 with the message that government is best when it governs least.

Political activist and longtime RLC ally John Hallman of the Florida Taxpayers Union is once again in charge of legislative briefing, securing inexpensive accommodations, setting up meetings with legislators and the governors office and showing RLC members around the capitol.

At the top of the Liberty Day agenda is the Health Care Freedom Act. Based on model legislation crafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, the act would permit Florida to opt out from any particular national health care plan and, most importantly, protect individual Floridians from individual mandates to buy health insurance a la RomneyCare/ObamaCare. Other issues Florida RLC’ers will lobby on include taxes, spending, and term limits.

Jason Hellenberg of the North Central Florida RLC has volunteered to coordinate the 2010 Liberty Day at the Capitol and is working with Hallman. The annual grassroots lobbying trip to Tallahassee has become a signature project of the RLC that has yielded some legislative successes over the years and trained many RLC’ers on how to lobby effectively.

The tentative schedule for 2010 includes starting around noon on March 22 and finishing up in early afternoon on March 23. There will be a discounted block of rooms for us at the Baymont Inn near the Capitol (tentative).

For a recap of last year’s trip, go here. For 2008, go here. 2007? Try here.

For more info and to RSVP, contact John Hallman via e-mail.

January 25, 2010
St. Augustine Historic City News, St. Augustine, FL
Source URL

The leadership of the St. Johns County Republican Executive Committee (SJCREC) dealt a blow to the grassroots and derailed recent attempts to reconcile long standing differences with the Republican Liberty Caucus of Northeast Florida (RLCNEF).

Thursday night it refused to allow RLCNEF members access to a meeting where State Committeeman Jon Woodard stepped down and State Senator John Thrasher was elected to Woodard’s position.

The election of Thrasher to Woodard’s State Committeeman post clears the way for Thrasher to run for the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) Chair position to be vacated on February 20th by Jim Greer.

There is a level of excitement within the party that has not been seen in a long time surrounding the race to succeed Jim Greer. Greer’s re-election a year ago has resulted in a leadership implosion within the RPOF. Thrasher, a sitting Republican State Senator, is seeking to lead the Republican Party out of its doldrums. Unfortunately for Thrasher, the SJCREC appears to have added fuel to an internal firestorm.

The latest in an unfortunate series of events occurred when the majority of the SJCREC members were not given notice the meeting would be closed in Executive Session, and only received the news upon their arrival at the meeting that night.

To further exacerbate matters, SJCREC officials – allegedly in preparation for the vote on Senator Thrasher – performed a “purge” of the membership list for the stated purpose of removing members who had missed three consecutive meetings pursuant to state bylaws.

The purpose and accuracy of the list purge is in question, however, as RLCNEF member Cliff Johnson who is also a sworn member of the SJCREC and who had not missed three consecutive meetings, was told that he was not eligible to attend the Executive Session or vote in the Special Election.

While SJCREC leadership claimed that access to the Executive Session was limited only to SJCREC members, at least four members of the Duval County Republican Executive Committee who support Thrasher were allowed inside while known opponents of Thrasher and supporters of Sharon Day – also a candidate for State Chair – were told they must stay outside.

In a protest against the double standard and blatant cronyism on display, RLCNEF Chair John Stevens entered the meeting despite being told not to do so. Stevens was then asked to leave and refused. SJCREC officials called police and Stevens was escorted from the meeting. No charges were filed.

Chairman Stevens desired to attend the meeting to ask Thrasher what position he would be taking on Orange and St. Johns County REC members removed by Greer through the never-before-used grievance process last year. Stevens commented regarding the incident, “It was unfortunate that it had to come that. The RLC is working for accountability within the Party and we would prefer to do so quietly from within; but if members are being locked out and denied an opportunity to be heard then we are left with no option but to make our voices heard publicly.”

This incident in St. Johns is eerily similar to a situation that occurred last year in Orange County where Orange County Republican Executive Committee (OCREC) Chair Lew Oliver prevented members of the OCREC from voting in the election for Oliver’s seat; the people barred from voting were supporters of his opponent, Deon Long, who is now running for the 24th District of the U.S. Congress.

Many of the registered voters of Florida agree with the message of the Republican Liberty Caucus. The RLC’s message has begun attracting large numbers of people statewide. Support has poured out from around the state as this struggle with the corruption within the party has continued. Many of the recent changes in the RPOF leadership started at the grassroots level with large groups of dissenters, such as the RLC, calling for honesty and transparency in our elected leaders.

Frank Zilaitis
Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida

About The Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida:

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida is a coalition of traditional conservatives and liberty minded Republicans working within the Republican Party to promote individual liberty, smaller government, state and national sovereignty and the Constitution. The caucus advocates the return of our nation to the values and intentions of the Constitution and our founders.