Three more Republican Liberty Caucus affiliates are hosting Conventions in the coming months. These three Conventions are in addition to the four state RLC conventions I previously blogged about that are coming up in Arizona, California, Michigan, and Utah. The three other RLC state affiliates hosting spring Conventions include DC in February, Tennessee in March, and Nebraska in May.
District of Columbia RLC Convention: February 8
Join the Republican Liberty Caucus of DC for our biennial Convention on Monday evening, February 8.
Gary Johnson, former two-term New Mexico Governor, will be joining us.
The event will be held at the Old Dominion Brewhouse (9th and M St, near the Convention Center) from 7:00 to 8:30pm.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Tennessee RLC Convention: March 15
The Republican Liberty Caucus of Tennessee is holding its annual Convention on March 20, 2010 in the Chattanooga area. In order for the our group to grow and be effective, we need people willing to commit to the time and energy required to make an impact. The future of the RLCTN depends upon you. RSVP to attend the RLCTN Convention on Facebook.
Nebraska RLC Convention: May 15
On Saturday, May 15, 2010 (time TBA) in Omaha (site TBA), the Republican Liberty Caucus of Nebraska will host special guest Governor Gary Johnson. Gary E. Johnson recently founded, and serves as the honorary chair of the Our America Initiative. He is a longtime member of the National RLC’s Board of Advisers. As Governor of New Mexico from 1994-2002, Johnson vetoed 750 pieces of legislation–more than all of the 49 other governors combined during the same time frame. Stay tuned to the Nebraska RLC 2010 Convention page for details and registration.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the RLC.
That’s one way of characterizing what has been taking place in the Republican Party as it relates to Republican Liberty Caucus members.
As voters that identify as Republicans continue to plummet to new lows (just 20 percent according to an October ABC/Washington Post survey), some state or local Republican Parties have targeted their most liberty-oriented members (undoubtedly members of the Republican Liberty Caucus) for removal.
An interesting strategy to build the Republican coalition — let’s boot out the Republicans that most value the Republican Party platform!
RLC members in Florida and Indiana — and, now, Tennessee — have been removed from elected positions, or have been targeted for removal.
Last week, the Davidson County Republican Party — representing the largest county in Tennessee — announced an effort to remove Vice-Chairman Matt Collins from his elected position. The Davidson County Republican Party Executive Committee voted 14 to 5 to begin the process to remove Mr. Collins from his position.
Collins is also the Vice-Chairman of the recently formed Republican Liberty Caucus of Tennessee. In response, the RLC has issued a press release defending Mr. Collins.
“This is the third state in the last year in which party insiders have tried to purge grassroots activists belonging to the Republican Liberty Caucus,” said Dave Nalle, National Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus. Purges also took place in Marion County, Indiana, where RLC member Liz Karlson was removed from her Ward Chair position, and in Florida, where five Republican Liberty Caucus members were removed from the party for criticizing party leadership or opposing candidates with a history of fiscal irresponsibility and raising taxes.
The Republican Party has a tradition of diversity, tolerance, and support for freedom of speech and the right of dissent. The Republican Liberty Caucus is encouraging its members to contact RNC Chairman Michael Steele and Tennessee RNC Committeemembers Peggy Lambert and John Ryder to ask for their intervention in the matter. The RLC press release includes additional contact information for interested parties.
According to RLC Chairman Dave Nalle, “It looks like a weak faction which barely gained control of the county party decided that Matt Collins and his supporters threatened their positions of power, so despite the fact that he has not violated any rules, they decided to override the party members who voted him into office and force him out.”
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the RLC.
According to the Tenth Amendment Center, last week Tennesse Governor Phil Bredesen signed House Joint Resolution 108 (HJR0108), authored by RLC-endorsed State Representative Susan Lynn. At a meeting several months ago, Tennessee RLC Vice-Chair Matt Collins encouraged Lynn to draft the resolution.
Six other states have had both houses of their legislature pass similar resolutions — Alaska, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Louisiana — but Tennessee is the first to have such a resolution signed by the Governor.
The Tenth Amendment Center says that “[p]assage of this resolution appears to be part of what is now a growing state-level resistance to the federal government on various levels. Similar 10th Amendment resolutions have been introduced in 36 states around the country, and various states are considering single-issue legislation in direct contravention to federal laws.”
Most recently, the Arizona Legislature passed a measure for public approval on the 2010 state ballot that would give Arizona voters the opportunity to nullify, or opt out, of any potential national health care legislation.
The resolution will be forwarded to Congress and the President for their information.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the RLC.
As I previously reported, RLC Tennessee Vice-Chair Matt Collins tied the GOP establishment candidate to become Davidson County GOP Chair and there was a run-off election on April 4. Unfortunately, Matt did not win that run-off election, but he did come in second place.
Mr. Collins’s race was an uphill battle from the start, but it was entirely worth it: he advanced our message of individual liberty and limited government and showed that limited government Republicans can compete with the establishment in party races.
Mr. Collins not only received enough votes to be elected Vice-Chair, but also helped half-a-dozen other pro-liberty Republicans join the Dadidson County GOP Executive Committee. According to Matt Collins, “It is now time to move towards [liberty] by recruiting, fundraising, and supporting conservative limited-government candidates for office.”
Matt Collins proved that a young man with principles and ambition can have an impact on the process — that one man can make a difference in the largest county in Tennessee. He is encouraging all other RLC activists and advocates to come out of the woodwork to take a stand for limited government.
There’s never been a better time to recapture the GOP for limited government.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the RLC.
As I reported earlier, Matt Collins, Vice-Chair of the newly chartered Republican Liberty Caucus of Tennessee, is in a run-off to be elected Davidson County Republican Chair in the Volunteer State. His opponent is an incumbent, establishment candidate, who he tied in a previous Convention. Yesterday, Collins was on the Mike Church Show promoting his candidacy, the Republican Liberty Caucus, and a return to basics for Republicans. You can listen to Mr. Collins via mp3 by clicking here.
On the radio, Collins advocated more individuals becoming involved in their local Republican parties to take back the party from those who believe in establishment big government policies. The RLC wishes Matt the best of luck in his April 4 run-off election.
Additionally, Will Pitts of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Northeast Florida, was on the Mike Church show yesterday. Mr. Pitts is running to become Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida. He promoted the National Convention and the Republican Liberty Caucus on the radio program. You can listen here.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the RLC.
As those advocating Keynesian economics and the vast expansion of the federal government continue to control our country, the grassroots movement to return American to Constitutional principles continues to expand. The Republican Liberty Caucus is leading the grassroots effort to take back the Republican Party.
As part of the RLC effort, three new state affiliates have recently chartered to provide resistance to government growth and to a GOP that has lost its core principles. Activists from across the states of Alabama, Tennessee, and Washington have come together to form new RLC chapter affiliates.
RLC members recently chartered their affiliate in Alabama.
In Alabama, the new affiliate includes former Birmingham City Council member Dr. Jimmy Blake, homeschooling mom Shana Kluck, and longtime libertarian activist Steve Gordon. The Chair of the affiliate is attorney Scott Boykin. The Alabama affiliate plans to set up a web presence shortly. According to Gordon, the group is extremely energetic and ready to recruit more members. A press release about the group’s formation is available here.
The Tennessee group came together under the skilled leadership of Dr. Joe Dumas and former Hamilton County School Board candidate Gregg Juster. The group has already established a website and is selling RLC merchandise to reach out to prospective members. Additionally, Tennessee RLC Vice-Chair Matt Collins, 27, recently tied an establishment candidate in a competitive and multiple-ballot race for Davidson County GOP Chair. A run-off will occur soon to determine the winner of the race.
The Washington RLC is now off the ground, thanks to organizer John W. Herr of Pierce County. The affiliate is hoping to expand its membership and capitalize on the 23% received by Ron Paul in the 2008 GOP Presidential primary in the state. Interested parties should visit the Washington RLC page to become involved in the affiliate.
The District of Columbia RLC affiliate recently held its re-organizational meeting, the Maryland RLC will soon be submitting its charter, and the Virginia RLC is hosting a re-organizational Conference Call this Sunday night. Across the country, the movement for limited government is alive and well — thanks to the Republican Liberty Caucus.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the RLC.
Don Guymon (photo at left), a RLC activist, is running for Davis County GOP Chair in Utah. Guymon’s is running to:
(1) promote the GOP party platform. Republicans should stand for our core values of limiting government and protecting our rights (including our most fundamnental right; the right to life);
(2) Grow the party. As we promote our principles we draw people into the party;
(3) Make every person in the party feel important. Whether you attend your precinct caucus for the first time or are an elected official for years, every person has an important role to play. Every individual in the party should feel that they are important; and
(4) Ensure the party is run in the proper manner.
Mr. Guymon served as Davis County Rules Chair from 2006 to 2008 and as Davis County Elections Chair in 2001. He has been a member of the Utah GOP State Central Committee since 1999, was Vice-Chair of the Utah GOP Constitution and Bylaws Committee from 2001 to 2002, and served on the Utah GOP Rules Committee in 2000, 2001, and 2002.
In Tennessee, the Vice-Chair of the newly chartered RLC affiliate is running for Chair of the Davidson County GOP, according to The Nashville Examiner. According to the article, “Matt Collins, a sound engineer and producer at Supertalk 99.7 WTN, said the 2008 presidential election showed in rather stark terms that the GOP needs to start embracing a ‘younger, more philosophically-motivated’ brand of ‘limited-government conservatism’ of the sort Ron Paul aroused during his primary run last year.”
Collins is waging an uphill, but necessary, battle. An email from TNGOP chief of staff Mark Winslow that circulated around Tennessee Republican circles last month said the Old Guard of the Party “can do without the zealous peace and freedom-purists that Rep. Paul’s campaign so emboldened,” according to the paper.
The article continues: “Outgoing Davidson County GOP chairman Tom Lawless told Examiner.com he won’t officially endorse a favorite in the race to succeed him. But Lawless said he’s long believed expanding the party base to include new voters and new demographics will require new leaders with new visions. Collins appears to fit the mold, said Lawless.”
“Continued Lawless, ‘(Starnes) is clearly a status-quo candidate, and she’d be the pick of the older generation that currently has the reins of power. But you’ve got to pass those reins at some point. I recognized very early in Matt the strength of his energies and of his traditional conservative beliefs that go back, not just to the ideas of Ronald Reagan, but to the ideas of the Founding Fathers. Matt has exhibited to me some extremely good leadership qualities in a very, very short period of time’,” concluded the outgoing Chair.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the RLC.
The Indiana RLC has been lobbying hard on behalf of that states’ resolution. It was introduced by RLC-friendly Senators Walker and Stutzmann, who recently attended the Indianapolis-area “RLC Callout” event (see photo, right).
The online information for Indiana’s 10th Amendment Resolution has been updated to represent that State Senator Mike Delph (district 29) was indeed one of the co-authors and initiators of this legislation along with Senators Greg Walker and Dennis Kruse. Not only that, but the list of Senators now listed along with them on this bill has grown to fourteen.
In Kentucky, RLC-friendly legislator Stan Lee of Fayette County is a co-sponsor of the resolution, HCR 168. I received an e-mail this week from Rep. Lee’s office in response to a message I wrote to him, saying, in part, that “Rep. Lee shares [the RLC's] vision of limited government.”
In Tennessee, RLC-endorsed State Rep. Susan Lynn (left) introduced the resolution, HJR 108 (pdf). At her blog, Rep. Lynn says: “State sovereignty is a big deal to state legislators; hopefully, it is to you as well. It is what keeps the federal government from over stepping its constitutional bounds.”
The Kansas resolution was introduced by a Republican Senator. Kevin Patrick, a RLC ally in West Virginia, has set up a website in support of that state’s resolution.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the RLC.
As more governors declare their opposition to the Stimulus Bill — which is now estimated to include more than $1 trillion in unfunded mandates for the states above and beyond the initial $800 billion cost — more and more state legislators across the nation have been introducing bills to assert state sovereignty under the 10th Amendment in an effort to assert the rights of their citizens and the authority of state governments against unwarranted interference by the federal government.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour and Idaho Governor Butch Otter stated their support for the position against the stimulus taken by Texas Governor Rick Perry and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford this week. Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska has been speaking publicly against the bill and when it passed her office issued a statement praising Alaska’s congressional delegation for voting against it:
“Congressman Young and Senator Murkowski did their best to achieve the right balance in the bill, but in the end the majority allowed the spending to balloon and encompass support for programs that don’t respond to the problem at hand.”
Meanwhile, Governor Palin made the bizarrely optimistic suggestion that President Obama should Veto the bill to five lawmakers a chance to at least read the bill and specifically citing the problem for the states in the huge amount of unfunded mandates in the bill.
The push for state sovereignty laws has really gone nationwide. Texas has gotten on board with a bill submitted this week with six sponsors. It is basically the same as the Oklahoma resolution rather than the more radical New Hampshire resolution, which gives it a better chance of passage. Texas is a big state, and having it in the fight adds a lot of serious weight.
Although it is not yet confirmed on their legislature’s website, the story is circulating that Tennessee is the first state to pass a sovereignty resolution through both of its legislative houses, in only 2 days from its introduction on Wednesday. Their version is a non-binding resolution which doesn’t require the governor’s signature or have the force of law, but it is a significant statement nonetheless.
In Pennsylvania, State Representative Sam Rohrer is leading the charge, and has made a very impassioned video statement which lays out exactly what the problem is and urges other states to join him in reasserting their sovereignty and rejecting federal mandates, stressing the very real concern that the spendthrift federal government will take the fiscally responsible states down with them.
There’s also news from Oklahoma, where a quick phonecall to State Representative Charles Key confirms that the sovereignty resolution which he got through the house last year was approved unanimously by the rules committee and on Wednesday was passed by the Oklahoma House by a 83-13 majority and may be voted on by the state Senate as early as next week, with high hopes of passage.
Missouri, as always, is marching to its own radically conservative drummer, with a state sovereignty bill up for consideration which is unique in that it specifically takes exception to the pro-abortion proposed federal Freedom of Choice law. This is conceptually similar to the bills being considered in Indiana, Wyoming and Oregon which reassert state sovereignty with a special emphasis on gun owners rights in response to a bill currently being considered in the House of Representatives to require licensing of all firearms nationwide.
Because of these articles a lot of concerned citizens are contacting me from various different states about what their states are doing. Sources in Maine inform me that they have also had a sovereignty bill proposed, but because of the structure of their legislative session it likely won’t even be looked at for months. A sovereignty bill was introduced in Minnesota on Thursday as HF997. Arkansas joined in with a bill in its state House of Representatives on Friday morning as well.
Some states have yet to get state legislators on board and are trying alternative methods. In Florida there is a pettition which will be submitted to the state legislature, which may not sit terribly well will stimulus-embracing Governor Charlie Crist. In Massachusets under a provision of their state constitution any citizen can request that a legislator submit a bill on their behalf. Ron Bokleman is struggling to get his bill, which is a version of the New Hampshire bill, past bureaucratic red tape so that it will actually be considered by the legislature. One correspondent also pointed out that a number of states passed or at least considered sovereignty bills in the past, starting with the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions authored by Madison and Jefferson back in 1799, but with some much more recent, like Utah’s 1995 bill which passed their House, a reminder that concern over unfunded mandates isn’t new, though it’s growing ever more critical.
It now looks as if at least half the states will have some sort of sovereignty bill up for consideration this year. Combine that with governors and legislators who are worried about how they’ll ever be able to pay for the massive unfunded mandates included in the so-called stimulus bill, and you have a volatile rift developing between the relatively fiscally responsible and citizen-friendly state governments and the incredibly fiscally irresponsible and increasingly autocratic government in Washington, DC. If we stand together and make our voices heard, we can stop further federal stimulus and bailout spending. If we can reassert control by 2010 we can stop at least two thirds of the current stimulus money from ever being spent. It’s time to storm the gates of power and let our elected leaders know that we do not want to see our country bankrupted and driven into socialism out of desperation and expediency.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the RLC.
