The Republican Liberty Caucus and PAC in New Hampshire have put together an excellent event for liberty-lovers in the Northeast. On Saturday, November 7, bestselling author and economist Tom Woods and venture capitalist Lawrence Lepard will be speaking at a fundraiser to support New Hampshire Liberty Republican candidates in 2010.

Please register for this event today. Tickets are $100, but well worth it to help an important cause.

Everyone (or couple) who registers by Monday, October 26 will get a free copy of Dr. Woods’ book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. Proceeds will go to the Republican Liberty Caucus PAC.

Register today!

New York Times bestselling author of nine books Dr. Thomas E. Woods, Jr. will be joining Republican Liberty Caucus supporters in New Hampshire on November 7. Woods holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Harvard and a master’s, M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Woods will do a fundraiser for the Republican Liberty of New Hampshire PAC and Caucus! Tickets will go on sale shortly, and will be $100. Says RLC Chair Jim Forsythe, “Although the price may be steep, meeting Dr. Woods in person, hearing him speak, and supporting our pro-liberty candidates in 2010 will be well worth it.”

Dr. Woods’ most recent book, Meltdown, does an outstanding job describing why the economy collapsed, and the Federal Reserve’s role in the collapse. He also recently testified in front of Congress in support of Ron Paul’s bill to audit the Fed. It’s an honor to get him here to speak with us, and we’re very much looking forward to the event.

If you are interested in sponsoring the event, please contact the New Hampshire RLC Chair. In the meantime, make sure to mark Nov 7th on your calendar!

As an aside, the New Hampshire RLC would like to bring students from the UNH College Republicans to the event. The students they are in touch with are energetic and enthusiastic and put a lot of work into New Hampshire campaigns. They deserve to hear the message of individual liberty, free-markets, small government, sound money, and non-interventionist foreign policy.

Of course, college kids are mostly broke, so they need your help. Please consider making a $25 donation to cover the cost of a UNH College Republican coming to our event. Or donate $100 to cover the cost of four. A donation link page for this event is not yet up and will be up shortly, but please contact Jim Forsythe if you can assist with a contribution.

And remember to mark November 7 on your calendar.

On Friday night, members of the Republican Liberty Caucus in New Hampshire converged in Concord to set the tone for the upcoming election cycle. In attendance were three State Representatives (Will Smith, Jenn Coffey, and Paul Ingbretson) as well as numerous former candidates for public office in the Granite State.

After a discussion about the history of the RLC from Tim Condon and Dan McGuire, Dr. Jim Forsythe discussed his newly formed New Hampshire Republican Liberty PAC. The PAC is designed to get pro-liberty candidates elected in the state and raised over $30,000 in the last election cycle, dividing that money to over 50 endorsed candidates. The desire is to continue to use the PAC and incorporate it into the RLCNH.

The New Hampshire RLC elected its new officers, including Jim Forsythe (Chair), Tim Condon (Vice-Chair), Carolyn McKinney (Secretary), and Bob Hull (Treasurer); At-Large Board members elected included State Rep. Paul Ingbretson, former State Rep. Paul Mirski, Chris Lawless, Joe Frazier, and Dan McGuire. Alternate Directors elected were Peter Bearse, State Rep. Jenn Coffey, and Brink Slattery.

Jim Forsythe is the perfect leader who can move the RLC forward in New Hampshire.  Jim and his wife currently lives in Strafford, NH, where he chairs the Strafford town GOP, the Strafford Taxpayer’s Coalition and was the Cub Master of the town’s Cub Scout pack. The Forsythes homeschool their kids and have been active in school choice reform in several states.

Dr. Forsythe earned undergraduate and Masters degrees from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Wichita State University.  As a KC-135 pilot and aircraft commander in the U.S. Air Force, Jim received three aerial achievement medals for combat support operations during his three tours in Saudi Arabia enforcing the no fly zone over Iraq, two tours in France and Italy in support of Bosnia, and launching off alerts for Somalia.  Finally, Jim is also a college professor while also running his own business.

After the election, Jim Forsythe and Tim Condon made brief statements on their desires to have the RLCNH focus on bringing in new libertarian-leaning Republicans into the GOP, and to get pro-liberty folks elected to the State House.

Look for good things to come from the New Hampshire RLC.

According to the AP, the New Hampshire State House on Thursday voted narrowly to make that state the third that would allow gay couples to marry.

The bill, HB 436, which passed the House 186-179, next goes to the Senate, where its future is uncertain. Governor John Lynch (D) claims to oppose gay marriage but has not said specifically that he would veto it. Two years ago, the Legislature approved, and Lynch signed, civil unions for gays, which provide all the rights of marriage, except in name.

Currently, only Connecticut and Massachusetts allow gay couples to marry. The Vermont Senate sent a gay marriage bill to the House this week, but Gov. Jim Douglas (R) says he will veto it if it reaches his desk.

Rep. Melanie Levesque (D-Brookline), who is black and married to a white man, said her marriage was still a crime in Virginia in the mid-1960s. “We have had a long history of challenging conventional wisdom — the Earth is flat, people from different continents should not marry, people who are the same should not marry,” she said.

Never one to be shy, longtime RLC ally Steve Vaillancourt (pictured, right) defended his vote in favor of gay marriage in an e-mail to me (posting permission granted):

“As happy as I was over the victory of gay marriage yesterday, I was deeply saddened that only 13 Republicans were on board for the first vote and then only 12 for the second vote (and only five for the vital bill of granting equal rights to transgendered folks). I am ashamed of the Republican Party; I am especially ashamed of Republicans who claim to be libertarians who could not bring themselves to vote for this bill.“

“I am disgusted by Chairman Sununu’s attempt to brand New Hampshire as San Francisco. As wrong as he is morally, he is equally as wrong politically. These scare tactics will not merely fair, but they will backfire. He is leading the party to permanent minority status. Republicans are losing the moral authority on spending and less government issues by insisting on staking out the immoral ground on social issues from marriage to — dare I say it — the humane issue of medical marijuana.”

“We must end all discrimination, and we must do it now. There’s never been a better time.”

In addition to the correct vote cast by Vaillancourt, RLC-endorsed State Rep. Calvin Pratt also was one of the thirteen courageous Republicans with a backbone.  RLC-endorsed Rep. Jenn Coffey was not able to vote on the measure because she was at work.  (New Hampshire does not have a full-time legislature.)

Even past RLC allies were wrong on this bill: for example, State Republican Party Chairman John H. Sununu criticized the House vote as an “attempt by the liberal Democrats in the Legislature to impose their San Francisco agenda on the state of New Hampshire.” Additionally, State Rep. Nancy Elliott of Merrimack said marriage was instituted by God and that “marriage between a man and a woman is perfect and holy.” Perhaps so, but the government has no reputation of sanctioning that which is holy or perfect, nor is that the role of government.

As controversial as this post may be, it is important that it be made. Please note that I am writing to express my own view on the issue of gay marriage (which is not necessarily representative of other opinions within the RLC).

Personally, I hope the bill passes the Senate and is signed by the Governor.  Thanks to Reps. Vaillancourt and Pratt for representing the correct libertarian perspective on the issue — EQUAL RIGHTS!

Efforts in more than half of the state legislatures to assert state sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution and prevent unwanted impositions by the federal government are now facing serious partisan opposition.

Most of the bills have been introduced and are supported by Republican legislators and Democrats are doing everything they can to block them and make sure that their states comply with federal mandates issued by a national Congress dominated by their party. They seem more concerned with profiting from their control of the federal government than in protecting the rights of their citizens and being fiscally responsible.

In the last week, three states with Democrat dominated legislatures have rejected state sovereignty resolutions. The Arkansas state sovereignty resolution was defeated in Committee along straight partisan lines with a 10-8 vote. In Washington, the Democratic chairman of the committee on Government and Tribal Affairs killed the bill by refusing to put it on the agenda. In New Hamphire, Representative Dan Itse’s radically-worded sovereignty resolution was one of the first entered and one of the most widely supported. Yet last week, with hundreds protesting in the snow and freezing temperatures outside the New Hampshire State House, it was defeated in a 216-150 vote along party lines. The enthusiasm of the citizens of New Hampshire (shown in the video at right) for their Constitutional rights was not enough to wake up Democratic legislators and convince them to vote against unfunded mandates and federal attacks on citizen rights.

In addition to these three states (where sovereignty has been blocked), two states (Ohio, Florida) are long shots for passage of sovereignty because they are trying to do it through petitioning their state legislatures. That still leaves 23 states with resolutions in some stage of development or consideration. Of those states, 12 have at least one house of their state legislatures dominated by Democrats, including Oklahoma — which has been one of the leaders in the movement. The current trend suggests that none of these states will be able to pass a sovereignty resolution until the composition of their legislatures changes, though there might be a slim hope for Oklahoma and Louisiana, where some of the Democrats are more conservative, and in Kentucky, where the bill has bipartisan support.

That means we’re down to 12 states with a reasonable chance of affirming state sovereignty this legislative session. They include Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming. Of these, South Carolina, and Texas are the farthest along towards passage and Virginia is probably on the fence, based on the past history of Republicans in its legislature.

It has become clear that there is a coordinated Democrat campaign to oppose the sovereignty movement on a nationwide basis in the state legislatures. Although sovereignty remains on the agenda in more than 20 states, with partisan opposition passage in more than a dozen states is very unlikely. If that many states do pass sovereignty measures it will be mostly symbolic, because with barely a quarter of the states on board, it isn’t a big enough accomplishment to send a message which the federal government cannot ignore.

With the economic crisis worsening, federal spending out of control, and the Obama Administration targeting gun rights and raising taxes, popular opposition to overreaching government is growing stronger and stronger. Sadly, the power of the ascendant Democrats both at the national level and in so many state legislatures is too great to challenge effectively through legislating state sovereignty or with a few governors taking a stand against excessive spending. It is becoming increasingly clear that if we are to restore government which serves the best interests of citizens and protects their rights, the people will have to demand change from the grassroots on a nationwide basis with a movement so strong that it cannot be ignored or suppressed by the dominant political establishment in the states or in DC.

It is time to put an end to the politics of partisan greed and the ongoing erosion of our rights by whatever means are necessary. If that cannot be accomplished on the grounds of state sovereignty and by state governments it must be done by individuals in the streets of the nation, in the corridors of power, and at the gates of the enemy. As the economic crisis intensifies and the enemies of liberty use it as a pretext to expand their power, we can’t afford to sit on the sidelines and hope for the best any longer.

The Mercatus Center recently released a study (pdf) by William P. Ruger and Jason Sorens on “Freedom in the 50 States,” which measures economic and social liberty in all fifty states.

According to the authors, the “study improves on prior attempts to score economic freedom for American states in three primary ways: (1) it includes measures of social and personal freedoms such as peaceable citizens’ rights to educate their own children, own and carry firearms, and be free from unreasonable search and seizure; (2) it includes far more variables, even on economic policies alone, than prior studies, and there are no missing data on any variable; and (3) it uses new, more accurate measurements of key variables, particularly state fiscal policies.”

The results:

“We find that the freest states in the country are New Hampshire, Colorado, and South Dakota, which together achieve a virtual tie for first place. All three states feature low taxes and government spending and middling levels of regulation and paternalism. New York is the least free by a considerable margin, followed by New Jersey, Rhode Island, California, and Maryland.”

On personal freedom alone, Alaska is the clear winner, followed by Maine, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Texas. Maryland, Illinois, and New York are at the rear. On economic freedom alone, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Colorado are the freest, while New York, Maine, and California are the least free.

“As for freedom in the different regions of the country, the Mountain and West North Central regions are the freest overall while the Middle Atlantic lags far behind on both economic and personal freedom. Regression analysis demonstrates that states enjoying more economic and personal freedom tend to attract substantially higher rates of internal net migration.”

This is one of the best studies I’ve encountered. I encourage you to review your own states’ profile in the study.

Of course, the Republican Liberty Caucus ranks legislators on its Liberty Index, but this comprehensive study by Profs. Ruger and Sorens will be most useful to grassroots activists interested in continuing to work toward our libertarian ideal.

Online forums frequented by grassroots activists are abuzz these days regarding the grassroots political movement in the states to reaffirm that our states are sovereign entities while rebuking the federal government’s over-involvement in key areas of our lives as well as mandates pushed onto the states by the federal government.

In 2009, there has already been a move among legislators in more than 25 states to push for some type of state sovereignty resolution.

Oklahoma’s sovereignty bill, which passed their House last session but got stalled in the Senate, came out of the House with near unanimous support. In the House, longtime champion of the RLC Charles Key is the author of the legislation and second-term incumbent Jason Murphey is a vocal advocate for the bill. Murphey was endorsed by the RLC in 2006 and 2008. The Senate bill is being championed by Sen. Randy Brogdon, a great friend of the RLC. “What we are trying to do is to get the U.S. Congress out of the state’s business,” said Brogdon.

The bill is currently in the Senate. Without the RLC’s strong citizen legislators in Oklahoma, this bill would never have been drafted. Rep. Murphey recently penned an editorial published in The Edmond Sun explaining his state’s sovereignty bill and linking it specifically to the unfunded mandates and massive spending in Obama’s stimulus bill.

Similarly, in New Hampshire, Dan Itse, a favorite among RLC members in the Granite State, filed a bill to affirm sovereignty in the New Hampshire House. Itse was on Fox and Friends and Glenn Beck recently to promote the bill, citing No Child Left Behind and the PATRIOT Act as examples of the federal government over-stepping its boundaries.

In Pennsylvania, Rep. Sam Rohrer, who the RLC endorsed in 2008, has been fighting against REAL ID since it passed Congress.  Rohrer cites the following examples of state sovereignty erosion:

- By collecting taxes from state residents and then using that money to compel sovereign state governments –- through the use of “strings” attached to federal funding – to implement programs and provide services in accordance with the desires of federal authorities;
- By pushing states toward financial distress by providing financial incentives to implement programs and services without supplying adequate federal funding.
- By enacting national laws that go far beyond the federal powers enumerated in the U.S. Constitution; and
- By potentially providing federal funds to fill state budget deficits, which were created, in part, through over-spending prompted by federal financial incentives to create new programs.

In Montana, the state sovereignty resolution was introduced by (among others) RLC-endorsed first-year legislators Wendy Warburton (left) and Gerry Bennett.  Aubyn Curtiss, who endorsed Ron Paul for President, is the Senate sponsor of the legislation.

Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nevada, and Maine may see similar measures introduced this session.

Links to the legislation: GA, MI, MO, MT, NH, OK, PA, SC, WA

Summary: Although the trend was not good for Republicans on Nov. 4, there were some positives. I believe the RLC’s big victories included the addition of Tom McClintock to Congress and the additions of Justin Amash to the Michigan legislature and Jenn Coffey, Carol McGuire, and Calvin Pratt to the New Hampshire legislature, as well as electing several new Montana legislators. The RLC also won two races in Bonner County, Idaho. These principled legislators are close RLC allies and will cast principled votes that will increase liberty and prosperity in Idaho, Michigan, Montana, and New Hampshire.

The RLC’s setbacks include the losses of Tom Feeney from Congress, Lois Snowe Mello from the Maine State Senate, Gregory Sorg and Jason Bedrick from the New Hampshire Assembly, Bob Beers from the Nevada State Senate, and Frank Lasee from the Wisconsin Assembly. Additionally, North Carolina State Auditor and RLC ally Leslie Merritt lost his bid for re-election. Unfortunately, RLC Texas Chair Melissa Goodwin lost her bid for re-election in Travis County’s 427th Judicial district.

Ron Paul has a new ally in Congress in longtime
RLC ally Sen. Tom McClintock.

U.S. Congress: The RLC endorsed only a few candidates for U.S. Congress. Of those, only one non-incumbent, California State Senator Tom McClintock, was victorious. Sydney Hay did not win in Arizona’s District 1. Incumbent members of Congress Tom Feeney (Florida) and Steve Chabot (Ohio) suffered defeats, but all other endorsed incumbent members of Congress retained their seats.

State Legislature: In Arizona, all of the RLC’s endorsed incumbents won re-election. Andre Campos came close to upsetting a Democrat in Senate District 23.

In Arkansas, Amendment 2, which requires the legislature to meet annually, overwhelmingly passed. State Rep. Dan Greenberg, RLC ally, was the chief spokesman to defeat the measure.

In Colorado, voters narrowly rejected an initiative to prohibit discrimination or preferential treatment by the state in public employment, public education, and public contracting. Additionally, voters rejected an initiative to ban forced unionism. The RLC’s ally in the legislature, State Senator Shawn Mitchell, was re-elected.

In Delaware, State Senator Colin Bonini retained his seat. Rumor has it that Senator Bonini may run for Joe Biden’s Senate seat. Stay tuned to this blog for future updates.

In Florida, RLC Adviser and Congressman Tom Feeney suffered a defeat in his bid for re-election. However, RLC allies Lake Ray and Ritch Workman won seats in the state House of Representatives.

In Georgia, all RLC endorsed incumbents were re-elected.

In Maine, State Senator Lois Snowe Mello was narrowly defeated in her bid for re-election. In the House, Mike Vaughan lost his race. All other RLC endorsed incumbents retained their seats.

Massachusetts RLC allies State Senator Bob Hedlund and State Representative Jeff Perry were both re-elected. Additionally, Massachusetts voters passed a statewide referendum to decriminalize marijuana.

In Michigan, the RLC scored a big victory with the election of our own Justin Amash to the legislature in the suburbs of Grand Rapids, District 72. Justin is a young rising star in the Michigan GOP. Additionally, the RLC’s endorsed candidate in House District 88, Bob Genetski, was elected to an open seat. RLC member Brad Benzing was elected to the Hillsdale County Board of Commissioners, District 4. Finally, Michigan voters passed the RLC-endorsed initiative to legalize medical marijuana.

Justin Amash, the new ‘Leon Drolet’
of the Michigan legislature.

In Minnesota, RLC endorsed incumbents Steve Gottwalt, Ron Shimanski, Bruce Anderson, Tom Emmer, Steve Drazkowski, Joyce Peppin, and Tom Hackbarth were re-elected. RLC endorsed incumbent Sondra Erickson lost her bid for re-election. RLC endorsed challengers Peggy Scott and Mary Kiffmeyer were elected to the State House. Kathy Lohmer and Judy Lindsay nearly knocked off the incumbent Democrats in their races.

Missouri State Representative Jim Guest was re-elected in District 5.

In Montana, Greg Hinkle won his bid for an open state Senate seat. Dr. Krayton Kerns won a second term in the House. He will join RLC ally Joe Balyeat in the State Senate. In the House, RLC endorsed candidate Craig Witte was narrowly defeated in his bid for a second term. However, newcomers Gerald Bennett, Wendy Warburton, Lee Randall, Bob Wagner, Mike More, and Mike Miller were elected to the State House.  Randall, More, and Miller were active in the Ron Paul effort in Big Sky Country.

In Nevada, incumbent RLC State Senators Bob Beers and Joe Heck were each defeated for re-election. However, Kris Pickering won her bid to become State Supreme Court justice.

In New Hampshire, despite losing John Sununu from the Senate, there was some good news. All RLC incumbent legislators other than Jason Bedrick (defeated in primary) and Gregory Sorg (defeated Nov. 4) won re-election. Additionally, former RLC National Board member Carol McGuire was elected in Merrimack, District 8 and Jenn Coffey was elected in Merrimack, District 6. Hillsborough districts 4, 6, and 7 resulted in RLC endorsed candidates Bob Mead, William O’Brien, Cal Pratt, and Gary Hopper winning their races. Finally, Jim Twombly and Warren Groen won seats in Strafford, District 1.

In North Carolina news, all three RLC endorsed candidates lost their races, including the incumbent State Auditor, Les Merritt. The state RLC is working to ensure future successes.

Pennsylvania RLC legislators Daryl Metcalfe and Sam Rohrer were both re-elected.

In Oklahoma, State Representatives Charles Key and Jason Murphey each won their re-election bids.

In Tennessee, both RLC endorsed State Representatives, Susan Lynn and Donna Rowland, were re-elected. Additionally, RLC endorsed candidate Gregg Juster lost his race for Hamilton County School Board by just ten votes.

In Texas, there was no good news. Melissa Goodwin, Don Zimmerman, and Raymond Frank each lost their races.

In West Virginia, kudos to State Representative candidate Tomas Engle, who narrowly lost a State Representative seat to represent the West Virginia University area.

Rep. Frank Lasee has been fighting for individual liberty
and limited government in the Wisconsin Assembly
for more than a decade. He was defeated on Nov. 4.

In Wisconsin, the RLC’s closest ally, Representative Frank Lasee, was defeated. In better news, State Representative Jeff Wood, an ally of the RLC, was able to retain his seat after quitting the Republican Party earlier this summer. Wood left the GOP to become an independent because he felt the Republican Party had abandoned its limited government principles. He defeated Republican Don Moga of Chippewa Falls, becoming the first independent elected to the Wisconsin legislature in 62 years.

In response to the elections, Republican direct mail guru Richard Viguerie said, “Republican congressional leaders have failed their party, they have failed the conservatives who make up their party’s base, and they have failed the American people. They should resign immediately!”

A hearty note of THANKS to all of the RLC candidates who had the courage to run (and stay true to principle!) in 2008.

(Note: I have not been able to find comprehensive results for North Dakota, South Dakota, and Vermont. An updated listing of the RLC’s elected officials is available.)