Friend of Liberty,
As we head toward 2010, there is much work to be done in the Liberty Movement overall and the Republican Liberty Caucus in specific.
For the last 11 months, the RLC has provided this newsletter as a service to our supporters so you can stay attuned to and become involved in our activities.
We would also like to provide a quarterly newsletter via regular mail to all dues-paying RLC members. But we don’t have the resources to do that.
As you may know, the RLC is an all-volunteer organization. However, the tasks that the Board of Directors are required to fulfill are overwhelming.
That’s why we need a competent liberty-lover to manage the daily tasks of the organization such as database updates, chapter development, and outreach at events.
The RLC does not choose its members … you choose the Republican Liberty Caucus. As a result of a climate much friendlier to our ideas, in part due to the Ron Paul for President campaign and in part due to the failed policies of the Bush Administration, the RLC has grown tremendously in the past several years.
Now is our time to shine. But we can’t do it without your financial support.
Please click here to make your most generous contribution today.
If you haven’t yet joined the RLC, annual dues are just $30. If you are a member and believe in this cause, please help us expand our impact by giving $250, $500, or more today.
It’s a small price to pay to help an organization that represents your values. Together, let’s make our impact known in the 2010 elections.
Sincerely,
Dave Nalle
Chairman
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Republican Liberty Caucus Events Feature Prominent Guests
Cato Institute Chairman, Best-Selling Author Among Them
On Constitution Day, September 17, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Central East Florida organized a dinner with Cato Institute Chairman and legal scholar Robert A. Levy (who is also a RLC member). The Central East Florida chapter of the RLC is based in the Melbourne area. Over 100 guests attended the event.
Dr. Levy joined the Cato Institute as senior fellow in constitutional studies in 1997 after 25 years in business. He founded CDA Investment Technologies, a major provider of financial information and software, and was its CEO until 1991. From 1997 until 2004, Levy was an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University. He has written numerous articles on investments, law, and public policy. Levy received his Ph.D. in business from the American University and his J.D. degree from the George Mason University School of Law.
Most recently, Dr. Levy helped bring the case Heller v. DC to the Supreme Court, where the Court ruled in favor of an individual right to keep and bear arms. The case was brought about by Republican Liberty Caucus member Richard Heller, who has previously addressed RLC members in the District of Columbia.
Mark Your Calendars in the Granite State!
New York Times bestselling author of nine books Dr. Thomas E. Woods, Jr. will be joining Republican Liberty Caucus supporters in New Hampshire on Saturday, November 7. Also addressing event attendees will be Lawrence Lepard, a highly successful investment fund manager.
Woods and Lepard will participate in a fundraiser for the Republican Liberty of New Hampshire PAC and Caucus! Tickets will be $100.
According to New Hampshire RLC Chairman 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’sTom bill to audit the Federal Reserve.
The New Hampshire RLC is also working to bring College Republicans from the University of New Hampshire to hear Dr. Woods and Mr. Lepard. If you are able to sponsor a student from UNH, the RLCNH is asking for a contribution of just $25. Register for the event today.
Other November RLC events across the country also feature some prominent speakers — among them an economist, physician and former Congressional candidate, County Sheriff, former State Representative, and current State Senator. See the events section below for details on events in your area.
Rand Paul Mingles with RLC Members
Dr. Rand Paul, an opthamologist and son of RLC Advisor Congressman Ron Paul, is running for Senate in Kentucky.
He has a good chance of winning the Republican primary, which will occur on May 18, 2010. His opponent is a former Democrat who voted for Bill Clinton in 1992.
Concerned Americans from across the country have already helped Dr. Paul raise over $1 million for his candidacy.
In October, Dr. Paul came to two RLC events: a fundraiser hosted by his medical school friend in Jacksonville, Florida; and a speech to Republican Liberty Caucus members in Georgetown, Kentucky. Thanks to RLC members Sheryl Ford and Mike Moreland for helping organize the Kentucky event. View Dr. Rand Paul’s speech to Kentucky RLC members on YouTube.
Florida RLC Chair Will Pitts, Northeast Florida RLC Chair John Stevens, and Dr. Rand Paul at the Jacksonville fundraiser.
RLC Affiliates Start the Chartering Process in Connecticut and Wisconsin
Last month, we reported that grassroots liberty-loving Republicans in Illinois and Kentucky are in the process of forming Republican Liberty Caucus affiliates.
This month, we are pleased to report that activists in Connecticut and Wisconsin are in the process of forming their affiliates.
Keith Velia, the RLC Coordinator in Connecticut, reports that they are close to chartering the affiliate. Mr. Velia conducted outreach for the RLC at the recent Connecticut Liberty Forum — which U.S. Senate candidate Peter Schiff and several current and former Republican legislators spoke at. The event was co-organized by RLC member Judy Aron.
In other Connecticut news, Peter Schiff will be addressing the Students for Liberty Conference in Boston on November 7. Supporter Damon Dimmick from Boston will be conducting outreach at the Students for Liberty Conference to recruit for the Republican Liberty Caucus of Massachusetts.
RLC members in Wisconsin will be holding two in-person meetings in November: one on Saturday, November 21 in the Fox Valley or in Green Bay; and another on Monday, November 30 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The latter event will occur in conjunction with a speech being delivered to students and other interested parties by Meltdown author Thomas E. Woods.
For details on the Wisconsin meetings, please contact us.
Urgent Alert: Write Your Senators and Congressmen on Health Care
If you haven’t yet, it is time to contact your Members of Congress and urge them to oppose the public option and mandatory coverage.
You can also reach them via the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
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Missouri RLC Member Mike Ferguson on “Freedom Watch” with Judge Napolitano
Mike Ferguson, a longtime freedom fighter, just joined the RLC in the last several months, but is already making his impact known nationally!
Last week, Mr. Ferguson, who serves as an Alderman in his Missouri community, was featured on the new hit show “Freedom Watch” on Fox News.
Listen to Mike online at http://www.foxnews.com/freedomwatch/ and clicking “Profiling Libertarians?” Mike discussed the impact of the MIAC reports on constitutionalists in Missouri.
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RLC Election Guide: November 2009
The Republican Liberty Caucus has endorsed 38 pro-liberty Republicans in 2009. View our endorsements list.
Many elections are taking place tomorrow. We hope you’ll support your local RLC candidates!
Stay tuned to the RLC blog for full election coverage.
Another RLC Member on the Brink of Being Removed from Republican Party
You read that right! Tennessee RLC Vice-Chair Matt Collins may be removed from the Davidson County GOP Executive Committee.
His sin? Speaking negatively about pro-bailout gubernatorial candidate Zach Wamp and U.S. Senator “Bailout Bob” Corker.
Read more and take action to defend Matt at the RLC blog.
Ed Thompson, brother of former four-term Wisconsin Governor, announces State Senate bid
Ed Thompson’s story is compelling. Despite having a brother serving in his fourth term as Governor, he was the most apolitical man in the state of Wisconsin. Then, in 1998, the state raided his tavern in rural Monroe County and seized his four video poker machines.
Video Poker Raid Prompts Libertarian Renaissance
Ed was one of 43 bar owners busted that night. The 42 others agreed to plead guilty and pay a small small fine. Ed refused. “My attorney said, ‘Take the deal,” he recalls. “My brother got on the phone and said, ‘Take the deal’. I said, ‘I’d rather go to prison than take the deal’.”
Ed Thompson was furious. Didn’t Indian tribes run huge casinos in Wisconsin? Didn’t the state sell lottery tickets in every gas station? Didn’t churches host bingo games? So why was he facing eight years in prison for four nickel poker machines?
Ed persuaded a young lawyer to run against John Matousek, the veteran district attorney who organized the raids. Ed ran the challenger’s campaign, and they won in a landslide. Mr. Matousek had trouble finding 12 impartial jurors to serve, so he offered Thompson a deal: pay $800 to the police and the charges would be dropped. Ed refused that deal, too. His lawyer offered to pay the fee, and the situation was resolved.
But not forgotten. Ed spent weeks going to the state legislature, buttonholing every member, asking them to support a bill that reduced the penalties for poker machines to a small fine. They passed the bill, Tommy signed it and it became known as “Ed Thompson’s law.”
But Ed was just getting started. In 1999, he ran for Mayor of Tomah (pop. 8,000) and won against a popular incumbent. While mayor, he reduced unncessary services, cut bureaucracy, and restructured committees to create “the Committee of the Whole”. As a citizen mayor, he did not run again after serving for two terms.
In the late ’90s, he was recruited by former Wisconsin Libertarian Party Chairmen Jim Mueller and Bob Collison (who was endorsed by the RLC in his 2006 Republican
Assembly bid) to join the Libertarian Party after they explained that the LP would never have raided his tavern.
In 2002, Ed ran for Governor of Wisconsin as a Libertarian, earning nearly 200,000 votes for close to 12 percent. He still holds the Libertarian Party’s record for highest percentage received in a gubernatorial election.
Republican Liberty Caucus Outreach Chair and Wisconsin native Aaron Biterman served as Milwaukee County Coordinator for the Thompson campaign in 2002. “I have known and respected Ed Thompson for years. You will not meet a more down to earth guy than Ed. He’s really a people person. We need his reasoned voice for liberty in the Wisconsin Senate,” said Biterman.
Commitment to Common Sense and Small Government
“I’m a different person than Tommy,” Ed says about his brother, who also served as Health and Human Services Secretary under George W. Bush.
“Tommy believes in politicians. He really thinks George W. Bush is a fantastic guy. Can you believe that? That’s proof right there that I’m the smartest [brother].”
In 2005, Ed won an unexpected victory in the city council election in Tomah. He wasn’t running for any position, but won the election anyway! His only opponent, John Buick, received just one vote — from Thompson himself. Ed served on the City Council for one term, and then ran for Mayor in 2008, defeating the incumbent in a landslide.
State Senate Bid is First Run as Republican
Just last week, Ed Thompson has announced his campaign against incumbent Kathleen Vinehout as a Republican.
It took Ed seven years to decide to run as a Republican. He has no allegiance to the Republican Party, just to the people in his district that help make Wisconsin great and the principles he holds so near and dear: individual liberty and limited government.
Still, he pledges to be “an independent, common-sense legislator who will fight for smaller, more responsible government that works for the people, not a big-spending government that taxes people out of their jobs, businesses, and homes.”
The district is in rural western Wisconsin, south of Eau Claire and north of LaCrosse.
Ed says that the solution is clear: “[T]he government must get out of the way of progress by reducing taxes on working families and the people who provide jobs.”
Let’s help restore some common sense to the Wisconsin legislature by electing Ed Thompson.
Click here to donate to his campaign.
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November Republican Liberty Caucus Events
Baltimore Area (Maryland) RLC Meetup – November 3
RSVP at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=165886623359
Northeast Florida RLC Annual Chili Cookoff – November 3
**Featuring Duval County Sheriff John Rutherford
Details at http://www.rlcnef.org/
Bexar County (Texas) RLC Meeting – November 4
**Featuring economist William Sirakos
RSVP at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179294522272
New York City RLC Meetup – November 6
For additional details, contact Dan Halloran.
Central East Florida RLC Monthly Meetup – November 9
**Featuring RLC-endorsed State Senator Mike Haridopolos
Details at http://www.rlccef.org/events/republican-liberty-caucus-of-1
Triangle (North Carolina) RLC Meetup – November 16
**Featuring Dr. BJ Lawson on “Our Economy, Monty Python, & You”
RSVP at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=168379872261
Fox Valley/Green Bay (Wisconsin) RLC Meetup – November 21
**Featuring former State Rep. Terri McCormick
For additional details, contact us.
Milwaukee Area (Wisconsin) RLC Meetup – November 30
**In conjunction with Thomas E. Woods speech at UWM
For additional details, contact us.
Georgia RLC Annual Convention – December 5
Atlanta, Georgia
For additional details, contact us.
Do you have an event submission or newsletter content suggestions or recommendations? If so, please contact us.
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