Sol Grosskopf.

Sol Grosskopf has a lot on his plate. Sol, originally from Shawano, Wis., is a senior at the University of Wisconsin.  At 21 years old, he was the youngest Wisconsin delegate to the Republican National Convention this September. While he was in Minneapolis, he ate breakfast with former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson and Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker.  To top it off, he currently serves as Chairman of the Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans, a position he was elected to last spring.

Even better than all of that is Grosskopf’s political philosophy. He says: “In reality, the individuals should be making choices for their lives and not some group of people, whether it be a block away or hundreds of miles away.” Grosskopf is involved in forming the Republican Liberty Caucus of Wisconsin and supported Ron Paul’s presidential bid.

Grosskopf is currently overseeing an effort by Wisconsin’s campus Republicans to ensure that the Wisconsin Assembly keeps its Republican majority.  If it doesn’t, the Democrats will control every branch of state government.

As if he doesn’t have enough to do already. Keep up the good work, Sol!

American Solutions, an organization founded by Newt Gingrich in 2007, is now pushing its agenda on state Republican Party delegates. The “solutions” focus little on reducing the size of government, but on American popular opinion. The top ten issues of the platform are listed here.

According to NolanChart, “In the week leading up to the convention, a coalition of Ron Paul Meetup group activists and members of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Michigan came together to examine the document. The conclusion by the membership of these groups was that this ‘Platform’ was both anti-liberty  and in direct conflict with the principles of the Republican Party. The members of these two groups took it upon themselves to inform the approximately 2000 delegates that this proposal should be opposed.”

In the end, the proposals were rejected. Unfortunately, delegates at GOP Conventions in Virginia and Wisconsin accepted over 70 planks of the American Solutions Platform.

According to The Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel, disabled Milwaukee resident Peter Tubic received a fine for parking his van at his parents home without a license plate in 2004. The city said that Mr. Tubic’s parking ‘incident’ violated zoning regulations.

Never mind that Tubic’s car was parked and was therefore not violating any traffic laws. Ignore the fact that an idle vehicle parked in a private drive usually isn’t the cause of too many problems.  City government has never been known for common sense.

The radiator in Tubic’s car had broken, and Tubic couldn’t renew the plates without passing the state-mandated emissions test. He said he couldn’t afford to fix it and was overwhelmed with caring for his sick parents.  So Tubic did not pay the fine.

Because Mr. Tubic ignored a $50 parking fine in 2004, the city recently confiscated his $245,000 house. The city of Milwaukee foreclosed on Tubic’s house on West Verona Court after repeated attempts to collect the fine, which over the years had escalated to $2,600.

Owen Robinson, a blogger in Washington County, correctly opines, “Under no circumstances is it reasonable for the government to confiscate something that is nearly 100 times more valuable than the amount owed.”

The Social Security Administration has deemed Tubic mentally and physically disabled since 2001. He has a host of physical diseases and a personality disorder that limits his cognitive functioning, they say.

Mr. Robinson, the blogger, astutely sums up the situation: “The government’s proposed remedy will make [things] worse. This man is disabled and mentally incapable of handling his affairs. But at least he has a home that is paid off and some stability. If they take away his home, what will become of him? Will he be forced onto the public dole so that he can afford to rent a place? Will he become homeless and require space in shelters? How much more than $50 will it cost the taxpayers if the city takes his home away?”

The bottom line is that our government now has the authority to take away private property whenever it deems necessary and there is no one who will stand in its way.

Jeff Wood, a representative in the Wisconsin legislature representing Eau Claire in the Chippewa Valley, has filed to run for re-election as an Independent. Notably, Wood was endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus in 2006.

Wood told The Chicago Tribune that the state and national GOP no longer believe in small government and fiscal responsibility. He also said that the establishment Republican leadership felt he was too independent and banished him to a do-nothing committee.

According to The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the last time the Wisconsin legislature had a member elected from a third party was the 1947 session, when there was one Progressive in the Senate.

Wood has broken with Republican ranks on issues such as the state budget (he opposed the fiscally irresponsible budget) and emergency contraception for victims of sexual assault (he supports it). He said the party has lost its way by going into Iraq with no clear mission, suspending habeas corpus and securing driver’s licenses in a way that he says creates a national ID card.

“I couldn’t put an ‘R’ in front of my name and become the standard bearer for what I think is a party that really lost its way,” he said. He said he had sometimes felt an outcast in his party. “How can I stay in a party where it’s not OK to vote your conscience?” he said.

He faces Libertarian Andrew McKenzie of Chippewa Falls in the Nov. 4 election. The GOP may field a write-in candidate.

If Democrats pick up two seats and Wood is elected as an independent, that would mean a 49-49-1 split, with Wood as the swing vote. Democrats need three more seats.

Let’s hope it happens. Wood is likely the second most libertarian-leaning member of the legislature, after the RLC-endorsed Frank Lasee.

Memo to the Republican Party establishment: Stick to the platform!

UPDATE: The Wisconsin GOP is challenging the validity of Wood’s signatures. READ MORE.

There’s a lot going on in RLC-land. Some updates from the states:

Arizona: Roy Miller of Phoenix has replaced Bennett Kopp as the new Arizona RLC State Chair. Roy can be reached via e-mail.

Arkansas: Jim Martin of Eureka Springs is the new RLC State Contact. Jim can be reached via e-mail.

Illinois: The state RLC has established a new website at http://www.rlcil.org. The new state Co-Contacts are W. Guy Finley in Round Lake and Robert M.W. Stanford in Normal. Guy and Robert can be reached via e-mail.

Iowa: Roger Barr of Boone has been appointed the new RLC State Contact. Roger can be reached via e-mail.

Louisiana: Aaron Andrus was appointed the RLC state contact in March. Aaron and his wife Jill have four children, ages 8 years to 4 months old, and reside in Lake Charles. Aaron graduated with a BS in Finance from McNeese State University and a Masters in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University New Orleans (2006). He is the Assistant Operations Manager for Seabulk Towing Services, Inc and has been a registered Republican since 1996. We are excited to have Aaron on board. He can be reached via e-mail.

Nevada: RLC National Board member Daniel Rego has moved to Las Vegas and is the new RLC State Co-Contact in the state. Dan can be reached via e-mail.

North Carolina: RLC National Treasurer Jeff Palmer reports: “Spearheaded by the Triangle-Area (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) RLC Meetup group, which held its largest organizational meeting to date on March 20, the North Carolina RLC approved bylaws, elected an interim Board, heard from our local congressional candidate (who’s now a Board member), and increased its paid membership by more than 50%. A RLCNC rechartering application will be submitted to national shortly. New members came all the way from Wilmington where the Cape Fear Republican Liberty Caucus was founded and promises to absorb the 150+ member Wilmington-Area Ron Paul Meetup group. Seeds have also been planted for local RLC groups in Charlotte, Asheville, and the Triad (Winston-Salem/Greensboro/High Point). Interestingly, three of our new members — including one of our most promising — were libertarian Republicans who just happened to being playing pool in the room where we were about to have our meeting. When it rains, it pours! North Carolina has a delegate selection process separate from and parallel to our upcoming presidential primary and, as the state’s Ron Paul movement has switched gears to the GOP ‘inside-baseball’ that the delegate selection process entails, the RLC here has enhanced its reputation as the putative expert on the process and on working within the GOP.”

Pennsylvania: Shawn McArdle of Erie has been appointed the new RLC State Contact. Shawn can be reached via e-mail.

Tennessee: The state RLC has a new contact, Dr. Joe Dumas of Signal Mountain in Hamilton County. Dr. Dumas is a Professor of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is a volunteer for Bachman Community Center and Mountain Arts Community Center. He is a rated chess player and is the Senior Tournament Director of the U.S. Chess Federation. The RLC is thankful to have Joe as our state contact. He can be reached via e-mail.

Dr. Joe Dumas

Virginia: A statewide Republican Liberty Caucus chapter meeting is taking place at 3:30 pm on Saturday, March 22 at the Snow Memorial Library in Spotsylvania (north of Richmond and south of Fredericksburg). The featured speaker with be State Senator Ken Cuccinelli, one of the few libertarian-leaning Republicans in the state legislature.

Utah: A statewide Republican Liberty Caucus chapter meeting is taking place at 2:30 pm on Saturday, March 22 at the Sandy Library in Sandy. This is the first official organizing meeting for the RLC in Utah. The state RLC contact is Lowell Nelson, who can be reached via e-mail.

Wisconsin: The state RLC has a new contact, David Baumgardner of La Farge in Vernon County. David is an Eagle Scout who is currently completing his goal of obtaining a Law Degree. He is involved with Boy Scouts of America, the Vernon County Republican Party, GOPAC, the NRA, the Midwest Renewable Energy Association, and the Federalist Society. We welcome David’s enthusiasm to the RLC and look forward to a Wisconsin chapter. David can be reached via e-mail.

David P. Baumgardner

Wyoming: The state RLC has established a new website at http://www.wyrlc.org.