Speaking of “parties,” what are you thoughts about the Tea Party movement, its relevance and impact on the political scene?
It is exciting to see so many new people jumping into the political process through the Tea Party movement. There is a common theme with the individuals who attend Tea Party events: they believe government, especially at the federal level, is too big and encroaches too much on our private lives. While the Tea Party has a lot of new and exciting energy, it will be interesting to see how the many diverse groups of the Tea Party movement organize over the next few years, and what long term strategies they will rally around to achieve their goals.
What are the RLC and/or your personal thoughts about our current administration and its direction –– what many deem to be an intrusive expansion of government on many fronts?
The RLC is, of course, no fan of the Obama administration as they continue down a course of greater federal government power over individual American lives.
Personally, I believe the Obama administration is just a continuation of the Bush administration with regards to the scope of the federal government: continuing interventionist foreign policy, expanding executive powers, ongoing manipulation of the free market, continuing growth of federal health care programs (after all, it was President Bush who created Medicare Part D), to mention just a few examples of the similarities.
In closing, what can we expect from the RLCCA in the near future?
You can expect the RLCCA to continue to grow in numbers and influence among Californian Republicans. If any activists reading this are inspired by our work thus far, they should contact us via our website to become active in the RLC in their local counties. You can also join the RLCCA on Facebook and Twitter.
Article comments
1 - Arch Conservative
Hey Christine, do you wanna start a pool on how many seats the Demokrats are going to lose this fall?
I wonder how siding with illegals over dead Arizona ranchers and high school students wearing the American flag will go over.
2 - Christine
Hey Arch: I hope the Dems lose a lot of seats!
3 - Arch Conservative
I hope they lose a plethora of seats.
Can't say that I'm overly happy about those seats being taken over by a party that views John McCain and Sarah Palin as people to be taken seriously.
4 - zingzing
archie: "I wonder how siding with illegals over [...] high school students wearing the American flag will go over."
who's condemning the students? got any names? or just making shit up?
5 - Doug Hunter
"who's condemning the students? got any names? or just making shit up?"
No one. One school administrator made a poor decision and I believe his story that the concern was safety. I get the impression that the US flag wearers were intentionally being antagonistic towards immigrant students, something I don't support; although it (antagonism, baiting) is a favorite tool of protesters everywhere and a protected right.
As for the article, I like the ideas the Republican Liberty caucus is bringing forward, liberal social policy and classic liberal economic policy. We need to be slashing government and at the same time trying to find ways to increase tax revenue without killing the economy. This music's going to stop on this game of debt musical chairs one day and we going to find out there's alot more butts needing seats than there are seats to be found. The private debt debacle is chump change compared to the tinderbox we have with government debt.
6 - Doug Hunter
Note on above: total amounts of private debt are higher than public debt, but there is no backstop for public debt.
7 - zingzing
wow, doug and i actually agree on something. the world implodes in 3, 2...
8 - roger nowosielski
The public debt has become "socialized," Doug, a distinction without a difference.
Read Les Slater's comment (#1) on Kenn Jacobine's article.
9 - El Bicho
Good interview, although since there's only one speaker, there's no need to identify every time he speaks.
I do wonder why he, like similar folk, only offers generalities about what his group wants to do but never specifics.
"We work to recruit and support candidates who will reduce the size of the federal government, and also the size of state and local governments."
Sounds great in theory, but he offered nothing about how to accomplish it, so why should a voter think they will do anything once in power.
10 - Christine
Ah, El, did I mess up the format?
11 - Dave Nalle
EB, when the alternative is a candidate who has not the slightest interest in reducing the size of any element of government - and usually the exact opposite - you might want to roll the dice and see what solutions the person who at least has the right intentions will come up with.
Dave
12 - El Bicho
As the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. If someone is running for office, they should have solutions in mind before getting the job not afterward. The latter course signals they have no confidence they will get the job.
13 - STM
Republican liberty. Isn't that an oxymoron?
And is that a ponytail Matt appears to be wearing in the pic with Ron Paul???
I could understand if it was white and powdered, tied with a ribbon, with rolls at the side and held in place by a three-cornered hat, but beyond that ...
14 - El Bicho
btw, if this was done "exclusively for Blogcritics Magazine", why is it posted elsewhere online?