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.

A brouhaha has been bubbling in Missouri over the last month, with a lot of anger and confusion over a report released by the the Missouri Information Analysis Center. MIAC is a so-called “fusion center” for local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to collaborate on domestic security issues. In the report, it was noted that “it is not uncommon” for supporters of Bob Barr, Ron Paul, and Chuck Baldwin (i.e., supporters of constitutionally limited government) to join violent anti-government militias. The report also suggests that domestic militias often subscribe to radical ideologies rooted in Christian views and opposition to immigration, abortion, or federal taxes.

The controversy has been aired on blogs, cable news programs and conservative radio, however much of what was written was hearsay or conspiracy theory. Finally there is something substantive to report: according to the Springfield News-Leader, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (R) has called on Gov. Jay Nixon (D) to place Department of Public Safety Director John Britt on administrative leave pending an investigation of a controversial report profiling members of militias issued by Britt’s department.

According to Kinder, “the report unfairly maligns Christians, anti-abortionists and advocates for protecting our borders and supporters of certain political candidates as potential threats to the public safety.” He noted the report makes no mention of environmental terrorism or Islamic terrorism. The News-Leader also said that Britt has issued an apology letter to 2008 presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr.

RLC-endorsed State Representative Jim Guest said he will introduce an amendment to the Department of Public Safety’s budget barring the agency from using “state or federal funds for political profiling.” Guest said he doesn’t consider Britt’s letter to Barr, Baldwin and Paul a true apology. “This really was not a letter of apology … [i]t was a letter of regret that they had included these words in there.” Guest and a half dozen House Republicans attended Kinder’s press conference. Governor Jay Nixon, a Democrat elected last year, has publicly defended the MIAC report.

According to the Kansas City Star, “Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. James F. Keathley released a memo saying the report did not meet the patrol’s standard for quality and would not have been released if it had been seen by top officials. Said Keathly, ‘I have ordered the MIAC to permanently cease distribution of the militia report’. In the future, Keathley wrote, reports from the center will be reviewed by leaders of the Highway Patrol and the Department of Public Safety. The patrol will also open an investigation into the origin of the militia report.”

These days, when you thinks of a militia, the Michigan militia that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols associated with in the mid-1990s comes to mind immediately. Of course, McVeigh went on to bomb the Murrow Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1996 — a violently anti-libertarian act. However, the Michigan Militia was formed as a result of two other events that disturbed constitutionalists and libertarians (including Barr, Baldwin, and Paul supporters) — the government’s actions at Waco and Ruby Ridge.

According to Justice Antonin Scalia, in his opinion written in the Supreme Court case won by RLC member-plaintiff Dick Heller (see: Heller v. DC, 2008), “[a] militia in colonial America consisted of a subset of ‘the people’ — those who were male, able-bodied, and within a certain age range.”

Regardless of what one thinks of either definition of a militia, the MIAC report highlights a growing and oft-overlooked phenomenon: government tracking and profiling of non-violent American citizens.

As Thomas Jefferson said, “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” Thanks to Lt. Governor Kinder, Rep. Jim Guest, and thousands of Missouri citizens who wrote to their legislators, action will be taken against those in charge of profiling innocent Missouri citizens.

In Florida, the Republican Liberty Caucus recently drafted a resolution that RLC activists have been circulating to friendly legislators for introduction. The legislation is based off of the Oklahoma resolution introduced by the RLC-endorsed Rep. Charles Key and Sen. Randy Brogdon. The Florida RLC is encouraging residents to sign a petition in support of the resolution and urging legislators to introduce it in the 2009 session. Stay tuned! The fight has just begun in Florida.

The newly up-and-running Asheville Area RLC chapter in North Carolina was able to obtain unanimous approval of a “Resolution for State Sovereignty” at the recent Buncombe County GOP Convention. The State Sovereignty Resolution will be forwarded to GOP Delegates at the North Carolina GOP Convention to be held June 12-14 in Raleigh.

Last month, Missouri RLC Chair Rob Hillman testified before a legislative committee in support of the Missouri sovereignty resolution. Rep. Cynthia Davis, who has been in close contact with RLC members in the state, introduced the resolution, H.R. 212.

Across the country, the sovereignty movement continues to grow, and the RLC is proud to lead the way to affirm sovereignty of the states.

You may not have heard much about it, but there’s a quiet movement afoot to reassert state sovereignty and stop the uncontrolled expansion of federal government power. Almost half of the state legislatures are currently considering or have representatives preparing to introduce resolutions to reassert the principles of the 9th and 10th Amendments and the idea that federal power is strictly limited to specific areas detailed in the Constitution and that all other governmental authority rests with the states.

In the version of this bill being considered in Washington state, they appeal to the authority of James Madison in The Federalist who wrote:

“”The powers delegated to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, [such] as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce. The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people.”

The Founders believed in a balance between state and federal power. The state sovereignty movement clearly arises from the belief that the balance of power has tilted too far and for too long in the direction of the federal government and that it’s time to restore that lose balance.

The emergence of this movement is a hopeful sign of the people asserting their rights and the rights of the states and finally crying “enough” to runaway government. With the threat of increasingly out of control federal spending, some of these sovereignty bills may stand a fair chance of passage in the coming year.

There’s a lot of excitement about these bills, but there are also a lot of misconceptions, with people claiming that some states have already declared sovereignty and that the movement is much farther along than it really is.

Contrary to popular rumor, none of the states has actually enacted a sovereignty law yet. Some have come close. Oklahoma’s bill passed their lower house overwhelmingly but stalled in the Senate last fall and is being held over for consideration in the new year.

Contrary to the fantasies of some extremists, these sovereignty bills are not the first step towards secession or splitting up the union, nor are they an effort to block collection of the income tax, appealing though that might be. For the most part, they are not so much political statements of independence as they are expressions of fiscal authority directed specifically at the growing cost of unfunded mandates being placed upon the states by the federal government.

Despite the movement picking up steam as he came to office, the target of these bills is not President Obama, but rather the Democrat-dominated Congress whose plans for massive bailouts and expanded social programs are likely to come at an enormous cost to the states.

It has become increasingly common for Congress to pass legislation which dictates policy to the states, but which comes without adequate federal funding and the expectation that the cost of these programs, which the states had no real say in approving, will come out of state budgets. This has been a long-term problem with Medicaid and Medicare, but the unfunded mandate which stirred up the most ire recently was the No Child Left Behind program. More concern has been raised with the recent reauthorization and expansion of the SCHIP program which has a history of requiring more expenditure than is provided for in the federal budget.

The text of the bill proposed in Arizona makes the clearest statement of the intent to block unfunded mandates:

“That this Resolution serves as notice and demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.”

and

“That all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed.”

What this movement is most similar to is the Nullification Crisis of 1832 where the State of South Carolina asserted that it had the right to nullify the authority of federal laws within its borders. In this case the states are not asserting anything as broad as the Doctrine of Nullification, but are merely reasserting the limits which the 10th Amendment places on federal authority, specifically as it applies to spending, the idea being that they don’t have to pay for federal mandates if their legislators choose not to.

Not all of the bills fall within these limitations. Missouri’s bill actually goes somewhat further and does assert the right of the state to negate federal law, specifically in reference to the proposed federal Freedom of Choice Act, which some fear would bar states from passing laws regulating abortion. New Hampshire’s bill actually goes so far as to lay out a very strongly worded variant of the Doctrine of Nullification which specifies acts by the federal government (many of them currently being proposed in Congress) which would effectively negate the Constitution and the authority of the federal government within their state. Hawaii’s proposed sovereignty bill comes very close to being an actual act of secession, based on native tribal rights.

As things stand right now, it looks like Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Washington will all definitely consider sovereignty bills this year. They may be joined by Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Nevada, and Pennsylvania — where legislators have pledged to introduce similar bills.

Twenty states standing up to the federal government and demanding a return to constitutional principles is a great start, but it remains to be seen whether legislatures and governors are brave enough or angry enough to follow through.

As the Obama administration and the Democrat Congress push for more expansion of federal power and spending that may help provide the motivation needed for the sovereignty movement to take off.

Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe.

St. Louis Alderman Charles Troupe has called for an armed citizenry to protect their own lives and property in response to the city’s ineffective, unresponsive police force. According to The Associated Press, “The community has to be ready to defend itself, because it’s clear the economy is going to get worse, and criminals are getting more bold,” Troupe, 72, said last Tuesday.  He is encouraging north-side citizens to purchase guns and learn how to use them.

Troupe, who is a former State Representative, said that when he and residents approached a district police commander last year, they were told “there was nothing he could do to protect us and the community … that he didn’t have the manpower.”

Troupe has also worked to repeal a red light camera ordinance in St. Louis.

Although it looks like it will be a bad year for Republicans as a whole, GOP candidates advocating for limited government (and meaning it!) are going to do well in 2008, just as they did in 2006. (The only RLC-friendly member of Congress who lost in 2006 was Arizona’s J.D. Hayworth.)

In Virginia, the state RLC’s favorite legislator, Ken Cuccinelli, is running for Attorney General in 2009. He will face another Republican in the state primary, but he is the favorite to win both the primary and general election. Senator Cuccinelli addressed the newly chartered Virginia RLC earlier this year:

In Georgia, things are looking good for 2010. If Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, who the RLC has supported for years, jumps into the race for Governor, then the RLC’s leader in the State Senate, David Shafer, has a real opportunity to become Lt. Governor.

Georgia Senator David Shafer.

In Missouri, State Treasurer Sarah Steelman is facing an uphill fight against establishment Congressman Kenny Hulshof in the open gubernatorial race. Steelman is favored by RLC members for her no-nonsense, common sense approach to the issues. Ron Paul supporters are even planning a Money Bomb for Steelman. Treasurer Steelman also attended the Ron Paul Freedom Rally in Branson earlier this year. Roy Blunt, predictably, has endorsed her opponent, Kenny Hulshof.

Sarah Steelman

Finally, the RLC is thankful for its current incumbent Governors, Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Sarah Palin of Alaska. Although not perfect, these state leaders have shown independence from the GOP establishment and have the chutzpah to make real inroads toward returning the GOP to its small government heritage.

Sarah Palin

Of course, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention our heroes of past, namely former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson and former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld.

While Governor of Massachusetts, Bill Weld ended the state’s borrowing, controlled Medicaid spending, reduced property taxes and balanced seven budgets in a row while passing 19 tax cuts and never raising taxes. He was elected during a tumultuous time when the state’s bond rating was near junk status, unemployment was nearly 10%, and the state had continuously borrowed money to close large operating deficits.

“When the Republican Party issued a clarion call last week for its grassroots supporters to submit ideas online to build the party’s platform, Republican National Committee officials probably weren’t expecting a concerted push for the dismantling of the Federal Reserve and a return to the gold standard,” writes Wired.com.

However, “Ron Paul supporters have made themselves at home on the the GOP platform site, sounding many of the themes that turned the Texas congressman’s doomed run for the Republican presidential nod into an internet cause célèbre. ‘Get rid of the unconstitutional Federal Reserve, and go back to a sound gold and silver based currency,’ wrote Cathy, a contributor from Stevensville, Montana, in a post to the ‘Jobs and Economic Growth’ section of the site.”

Cathy’s comment is just one of pages and pages of comments submitted by users complaining about the Federal Reserve, the USA Patriot Act, REAL ID, NAFTA, and No Child Left Behind. The RLC encourages you to use the automated search tool at the site to see exactly what Republican voters want their platform to say. And, believe it or not, their wishes don’t include a whole lot of meddling government.

The RLC is interested in documenting the impact that grassroots RLC members have had any on the platform debates at state GOP conventions in 2008. Across the nation, county Republican Parties have had their platforms amended to oppose the PATRIOT Act’s warrantless wiretapping provisions, the Iraq War, the Federal Reserve, the federal income tax, and REAL ID, among other changes. What impact have these local changes had at the state level, and to what extent was the RLC involved?

In March at the Alaska GOP Convention, delegates supporting Ron Paul were able to amend the state GOP platform to include a provision affirming Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights against the USA Patriot Act and REAL ID Act. They also added a plank supporting fully informed jurers. Among the resolutions that passed: Abolition of the IRS, repeal of the federal income tax, abolition of the Department of Education, and against implementation of REAL ID in Alaska.

In Idaho, where libertarian-friendly Norm Semanko was elected Chair, Ron Paul supporters (many of whom are members of the Republican Liberty Caucus) were able to add a provision to the state GOP platform demanding the abolition of the Federal Reserve bank.

In St. Charles County, Missouri, the largest Republican County caucus in the state, libertarian-leaning Republicans won 128 of 137 slots. According to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Ron Paul delegates “snagged roughly a third of the 2,137 Republican delegates” in the state. Similar events took place in Jackson County and Greene County. In Jackson County, delegates changed the county platform in fourteen distinct ways, including abolition of the Department of Education and affirming that Congress only can go to war with a declaration from Congress.

In Oklahoma, the candidate endorsed by the libertarian-leaning faction of the GOP for National Committeeman, attorney James Dunn, was also selected by the majority of Convention delegates.

In Texas, RLC Board member Dave Nalle was able to stop two proposed resolutions, one condemning homosexuality and one opposing any form of gay unions.

Last May in Spokane at the Washington state GOP Convention, delegate Bruce Morton was able to pass a resolution affirming the that the GOP supports a formal declaration of war passed by Congress.

Attempts to change the platform in some states, such as Hawaii, Maine, and Nevada, were diffused by the establishment Republicans ‘leading’ the Convention.

In short, the RLC’s active grassroots membership is having an impact. Please let your voice be heard in the National GOP platform debate.

A few updates from RLC state affiliates:

Idaho: Ron Lahr, a RLC member, attended a meeting of Ron Paul supporters on C’oeur d’Alene on Monday, July 7. Ron spoke on the RLC’s behalf. He is now working with the state contact, Greg Maeser, to establish a RLC charter in Idaho.

Michigan: A few candidates were added to the listing of endorsed candidates in 2008. The affiliate is preparing for the RLC National Convention, which they are hosting in September.

Missouri: Rob Hillman, the new RLC state contact in Missouri, is working to charter the state affiliate. Rob is also running for a seat on the Rivers Township (Saint Charles County) Republican Committee in Missouri.

New Hampshire: I’m still waiting to hear about candidate endorsements from the affiliate contact.

New York: I’m still waiting to hear about candidate endorsements from the affiliate contact.

Utah: The newly chartered state affiliate should finish endorsing candidates in the coming weeks.

Wisconsin: I have received confirmation from at least six individuals interested in chartering the RLC affiliate.