RLCNH-SPONSORED RESOLUTION FOR OPPOSING RNC RULE CHANGE PASSES AT N.H. GOP STATE CONVENTION

Delegates to N.H. GOP State Convention Overwhelmingly Reject RNC Rule 12 As Antithetical to Republican Values

CONCORD, N.H.—New Hampshire Republicans overwhelmingly supported the party’s traditional bottom-up power structure at the N.H. GOP State Convention on Saturday in a nearly unanimous voice vote that passed a RLCNH-sponsored resolution rejecting RNC Rule 12 and asserting the primacy of RNC delegates in setting party rules.

The resolution, incorporated below, is a rejection of Rule 12, which was passed under questionable circumstances during the Republican National Convention in Tampa along with other problematic rules. The rules impose a top-down structure of governance over the party’s traditional grassroots makeup and reduce the power and autonomy of state and local party organizations by removing their oversight over the national organization.  

“Although the effort to pass Saturday’s resolution was led by liberty-minded Republicans through the RLCNH, it is clear from the overwhelming support of the New Hampshire GOP delegates that Republicans from all corners of the party are concerned about the new national party rules,” said Carolyn McKinney, chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire. “I’m so proud that even after a contentious state party platform debate, the New Hampshire Republican Party sent a strong, united message to the RNC.

“After all, one of the cornerstones of the Grand Old Party is a belief in republicanism, which is the idea that power is distributed and limited by checks and balances,” McKinney added. “Those values are embodied in our Constitution and they were the basis of the Republican Party when it was founded and for most of its history. This resolution will hopefully send a message from all Republicans in New Hampshire that we want our party to remain republican, because those are the values that will give us the moral foundation to continue to advance our Republican ideals.”

RESOLUTION TO RESTORE THE POWER OF THE GOP GRASSROOTS

Whereas, the new party rules at the Republican National Convention in Tampa were adopted under questionable circumstances with disregard for convention rules;

Whereas, the new rules impose a top-down structure of governance in place of the party’s traditional bottom-up structure and reduce the power and autonomy of state and local party organizations;

Whereas, the changes to Rule 12 give unprecedented power to the national committee to change party rules without the input and approval of state parties and their members;

Whereas, it is to benefit of the New Hampshire Republican Party that First in the Nation rules not be open to change between conventions;

Therefore, be it resolved that:

We condemn Rule 12 as antithetical to Republican values and assert the primacy of the delegates to the Republican Convention in setting party rules;

We reject the new top-down structure of governance as detrimental to the long-term success of the Republican Party.

It’s important to note that New Hampshire Republicans were the first to advance this resolution at a state party convention in an effort to lead the nation’s Republicans in a grassroots’ effort to reclaim the party for the people. RLCNH Chairman Carolyn McKinney was the author and sponsor of the resolution, and she was the only state delegate to speak about the resolution before it was almost unanimously adopted. Various observers said the voice vote enjoyed 90:10 support.

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About The Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire
The Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, a state chapter of the national Republican Liberty Caucus, was launched in December 2004 to promote the ideals of limited government, individual liberty, personal responsibility, free enterprise and adherence to the N.H. and U.S. Constitutions among Republican Party officials and throughout the state by identifying and supporting candidates sympathetic with the organization’s ideals, and by supporting, through public education and outreach, initiatives in the N.H. Legislature that further these ideals. For more information about the RLCNH, please visit rlcnh.org.

CEI Today: Bill Clinton ignores his own deregulation, strategy at the DNC and GOP conventions, and a new global warming report

CLINTON VS. OBAMA - JOHN BERLAU

Fox News: To save Obama, Clinton ignores his own deregulation moves

With little success on the economic front, President Obama in 2012 is embracing much of his message on the economy from 2008. And from that playbook, he has two basic strategies.

One is to blame the supposed deregulation policies of the George W. Bush administration that Obama and his surrogates endlessly say “got us into this mess.” And the second is to hug former rivals Bill and Hillary Clinton as hard as he can and harken back to the prosperity and economic growth of the 1990s.

But there is just one problem with this theme. The Obama campaign’s twin messages of bashing deregulation and embracing the Clinton years are inherently contradictory. He is telling Americans to, in essence, look at the ‘90s, but don’t look too closely. Or they might see that the ‘90s, perhaps even more than even the ‘80s, was a decade of deregulation.

> Read the full commentary on FoxNews.com

> Interview John Berlau

DNC, GOP CONVENTIONS - RYAN YOUNG Openmarket.org: The Conventions Continue Last week I pointed out that the GOP and Democratic nominating conventions will cost taxpayers as much as $136 million, and to little effect. I’m not just picking on Democrats here. The GOP has the same problem, and to the same degree. There are a lot of reasons why such a base strategy is politically successful. One is rational ignorance; people have better things to do than dissect the fineries of policy.> Read the full post on Openmarket.org > Interview Ryan Young

GLOBAL WARMING STERN REVIEW - MARLO LEWIS Globalwarming.org: Stern Review Not Fit to Guide U.K. Climate Policy, Report Finds The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) has just published The Failings of the Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change. The  2006 Stern Review — named for Sir Nicholas Stern, head of the UK Government’s Economic Service under Prime Minister Tony Blair – is arguably the most pessimistic official assessment ever of the economic damages of global warming. Influenced by the Stern Review, the UK Government adopted a set of climate policies that cost £17,000 per household. > Read the full commentary on Globalwarming.org > Interview Marlo Lewis

Also featuring...

NEW BOOK! THE LIBERAL WAR ON TRANSPARENCY - CHRISTOPHER C. HORNER CNSNews.com: Author: Journalists 'Cover Energy And Environment Subjects As Liberal Activists,' E-Mails Show Liberals claim to support transparency in government - until conservatives start finding shady things through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. New York Times bestselling author, litigator, and Competitive Enterprise Institute senior fellow Chris Horner has been filing such FOIAs for years and has turned up Obama's "true plan" for cap-and-trade, a close relationship between an energy official and a Solyndra director - and more. Horner's quest for public information, labeled as "criminal" by one Obama agency head, will be detailed in his upcoming book, "The Liberal War on Transparency." > Read the CNSNews.com article by Julia Seymore

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website, cei.org, and blogs, Globalwarming.org and OpenMarket.org.  Follow CEI on Twitter! Twitter.com/ceidotorg.

Josiah Bartlett Center - Political Conventions, Bond Bank Downgrade and Talking Points

Weekly Update from the
Josiah Bartlett Center

Keeping you up to date on our latest research
on the issues impacting New Hampshire

Party Conventions are Taxpayer Funded Self-Indulgence

Political party conventions are giant taxpayer funded parties that have outlived their usefulness and should be eliminated. That Congress routinely votes to spend ten of millions of dollars on themselves is a sign of their own immaturity and helps explain the fiscal problem we have and they can’t seem to fix... Click here to keep reading

The Disappearing Deficit?

Looking at the Latest Election Year Talking Point

Grant Bosse and Paul Westcott discuss the new talking point that the Republican Legislature didn’t actually fix the state’s $900 million deficit, because the deficit allegedly never existed. Click here to listen.

JBC Report

Taxpayer Funded Conventions

Jack Heath asks Charlie Arlinghaus about his Union Leader column calling for an end to taxpayer funded subsidies of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. Click here to keep reading.

Fitch Downgrades Municipal Bond Bank

Downgrade Explained

Fitch Rating has downgraded the bond rating for the New Hampshire Municipal Bond Bank from AA to AA-, but New Hampshire’s Treasurer says it’s not reason to worry about the credit worthiness of New Hampshire cities and towns.  Click here to keep reading.

Granite Staters Host GOP Convention Watching Parties in Derry and Stratham Victory Offices

Bedford, NH – Thursday, Granite Staters will gather at local GOP Victory Offices to watch the final evening of the Republican National Convention where Governor Mitt Romney will officially accept the party’s nomination. Tomorrow’s convention theme is “Believe in America” which echoes the motto of the Romney/Ryan campaign, referencing a better future for all Americans under a Romney presidency. After New Hampshire business owners and volunteers showed support on Tuesday night in Windham, the festivities will continue in eight Victory Offices throughout the state on Thursday. The following events are open to the press:

Thursday, August 30, 2012:

Event:                        GOP Convention Watching Parties

Locations:                   Derry GOP Victory Office

                                    15 West Broadway, Suite 2

                                     Derry, NH 03038 

                                     Stratham Victory Office

                                     72 Portsmouth Avenue, Unit 101

                                     Stratham, NH 03885

Program Time:           7:30 PM EDT

CEI Today: Union budget-buster, European left wants capitalism?, and a Grand Old Picture Show in Tampa

UNION BUDGET-BUSTER - TREY KOVACS

Openmarket.org: The “Gift Clause” Would Force Camden Police Union Bosses To Do Police Work

The real question taxpayers need to answer in these times of economic hardship is: Should taxpayers  pay individuals to do work for private entities — such as a union — that provides absolutely no benefit to the taxpayer? Thankfully, taxpayers in Camden, New Jerrsey have recourse available to them.

The New Jersey state constitution prohibits what is in effect a gift from the taxpayers to private individuals and entities. The provision, called the “Gift Clause,” prohibits subsidies of any kind to private individuals, associations, or corporations. It explicitly states, “No county, city, borough, town, township or village shall hereafter give any money or property, or loan its money or credit, to or in aid of any individual, association or corporation.”

It is time to stop giving away taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars to public servants who refuse to perform work we all pay them to do. Enforcing the Gift Clause would be a good start.  > Read the full commentary on Openmarket.org

>Interview Trey Kovacs

 

LEFT EMBRACING CAPITALISM? - IAIN MURRAY In an illuminating piece in today’s EU Observer, the head of the European Parliament’s Socialist group demonstrates just how far the European Left will go to keep Greece in the euro zone. Scorning the idea that Greece needs to leave the euro to get its economy back on track, Hannes Swoboda says: Even with the most basic economic knowledge, it is obvious that what Greece requires to get back on its feet is economic growth. Privatisations and increased efficiency as well as serious cutting of red tape will facilitate investments and projects resulting in job creation and therefore increase the number of taxable incomes, simultaneously providing opportunities for the jobless in Greece. To say I was shocked to read this is an understatement. This is the most prominent socialist in the European Parliament (bar its president, Martin Schulz) speaking. Have we really reached the stage that European socialists are farther to the right on fiscal and regulatory matters than mainstream Democrats? > Read the full post on Nationalreview.com > Interview Iain Murray

CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week In Regulation - RYAN YOUNG Just another week in the world of regulation: Last week, 76 new final rules were published, up from 65 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 13 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 2,507 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,872 new rules. Last week, 1,687 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register, for a total of 52,597 pages. At its current pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 78,178 pages. Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 29 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $16.5 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates, and a third cost estimate does not give a total annual cost. We assume that rules lacking this basic transparency measure cost the bare minimum of $100 million per year. The true cost is almost certainly higher. One economically significant rule was published last week. So far, 250 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2012. So far this year, 474 final rules affect small business; 64 of them are significant rules. Highlights from final rules published last week: Last week’s economically significant rule comes from the intimidatingly named Safety and Environmental Enforcement Bureau. New oil and gas drilling regulations for the outer continental shelf will cost an estimated $131 million per year. The State of New York wants to set its own odometer standards. They had to petition the federal government first. For more data, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

Also featuring... The Dark Ages Weren’t So Dark, And Neither Is Modernity CEI Podcast for August 23, 2012: Bailouts as Corruption Senior Fellow Matt Patterson argues that when government is big and powerful enough to dispense favors like bailouts, special interests will flock to Washington to get a piece of the pie. Corruption is the inevitable result, as the GM/Delphi/UAW bailout showed. The only effective way to limit corruption, Patterson argues, is to limit government.

In Tampa this week?  Catch the Grand Old Picture Show on Wednesday afternoon! Join us for an afternoon screening of films that support free enterprise and property rights! Admission is free and includes a complimentary reception before the screening.  Visit www.grandoldpictureshow.com for more information. For tickets, email info@grandoldpictureshow.com.  Invite friends on Facebook. Featured films: We the People: A series of movie trailers commissioned by the State Policy Network to promote their new curriculum for patriots and activists for liberty. The Empire State Divide: A powerful look at rural communities in upstate New York fighting for survival. Saving the Oasis: A series of short documentaries commissioned by Syngenta to explore how modern agriculture preserves our water and our environment by building sustainable models for food production. I Pencil (Rough Cut): A sneak peak at the Competitive Enterprise Institute's film adaptation of Leonard Read's timeless essay. Following the screenings will be a discussion with the following panelists: Josh Gilder, a former Reagan speechwriter Karen Moreau, president of the Foundation for Land & Liberty Nicholas Tucker, director and producer for Passing Lane Films Nicole Ciandella, screenwriter of I Pencil Drew Tidwell, production coordinator for I Am Legend, Eagle Eye, and United 93

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website, cei.org, and blogs, Globalwarming.org and OpenMarket.org.  Follow CEI on Twitter! Twitter.com/ceidotorg.