THE REPUBLICAN LIBERTY CAUCUS OF TEXAS eNEWSLETTER
December 17, 2003
http://www.rlctexas.org
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IN THIS ISSUE:
o AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE MEDICARE VOTE (WHAT REALLY HAPPENED)
o JOEY DAUBEN NAMED STUDENT COORDINATOR
o REPUBLICAN ELECTION SCHEDULE FOR 2004
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AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE MEDICARE
VOTE (WHAT REALLY HAPPENED):
Club for Growth Bulletin
www.clubforgrowth.org
To: Club for Growth Members and Friends
From: Stephen Moore, President
Date: December 3, 2003
Subject: An Inside Look at the Medicare Vote
No doubt you share our dismay at the passage of
the Medicare prescription drug bill. Defeating this
incredibly expensive bill that does nothing to avoid
Medicare's coming bankruptcy and would cause
millions of seniors to lose their private prescription
drug coverage was one of our top priorities of the
year at Club for Growth Advocacy.
Many Club members have wondered, rightly, why
a number of congressmen elected with Club for
Growth backing voted for this trillion-dollar
entitlement. We share that frustration. On the other
hand, we're also very proud that the real heroes and
leaders of the fight opposing the bill were
congressmen elected with Club for Growth backing.
They led a courageous and principled fight that
came within an eyelash of winning a miraculous
victory. Indeed, it appeared they had won, but the
GOP House leadership kept the vote open for nearly
three hours as they twisted arms to pass the bill.
The efforts by Republican opponents were all the
more impressive because they did so against their
own party leadership and their own President. And
by doing so, many put their own political careers in
peril.
Without the congressmen elected with Club backing
leading the charge, this wouldn't have even been a
close vote at all.
In fact, it is precisely for legislative battles like this --
where every single vote counts and where members
of Congress are under intense pressure from the
party establishment to "go along to get along" --
that the Club for Growth exists. If the passage of
this abominable bill teaches us anything, it is that
just electing more Republicans to the House and
Senate accomplishes very little. We have a
Republican House, a Republican Senate and a
Republican President. Yet over 200 House
Republicans voted for the biggest expansion of the
Great Society welfare state in nearly four decades.
Only 25 voted no. In the Senate, only nine
Republicans voted no out of 51. President Bush will
sign this bill and trumpet it as a great
accomplishment. We have plenty of Republicans in
Congress, but few who actually believe in smaller
government.
The story of how this bill actually passed the
House is worth recounting in some sordid detail,
because there were so many House conservatives
who acted heroically.
In the end, the bill passed with just two votes to
spare in the House in a roll call that started at
3:00 a.m. on Saturday morning and ended just
before 6:00 a.m. This was the longest time ever
taken for a House vote.
During the days before the vote Club for Growth
Advocacy alerted every House Republican that we
opposed the bill because of its enormous cost and
because we believe it is a giant leap toward
Hillary-health care. We released a poll showing that
most seniors are satisfied with their existing
prescription drug insurance coverage and that
seniors oppose the bill when they learn of the details.
We called all the Club members in the House, in
some cases repeatedly, to remind them of our
opposition and to urge them to hold firm and vote no.
Two lieutenants quickly emerged to lead the
conservative revolt against the bill: Pat Toomey and
Mike Pence. Both of them were elected with Club
support, of course. Mike was all over the news
eloquently dismantling this bill, arguing that he
could never in good conscience look his children in
the eyes and tell them that he had voted for a $1
trillion entitlement program that they would have to
pay for some day. Sitting in the Oval Office of the
White House, he told George Bush: "With all due
respect, Mr. President, I didn't come to this town to
create new entitlements, but to rein in the ones we
already have."
The day of the vote it became clear to Toomey and
Pence that there were 30 Republicans who were
solid no votes, or leaning toward a no vote. One
member who was a hard no vote from the very
beginning was Tom Feeney of Florida, also elected
with Club backing last year. Tom is the freshman
class representative to the House leadership, a
position that goes to the newcomer who the
Speaker wants to groom for a leadership position.
Feeney was told that his stubborn no vote would
set him back three years in his bid to climb the
House ladder. He would be relegated to a position
of a back bencher. They put their arms around him
and shook their heads and told him how
disappointed they were in him. "Why jeopardize
your career, Tom, over this one little vote?" Feeney
never wavered. He too told the President that he
could not in good conscience vote for an expansion
in the welfare state. He told the House leaders that
"this is not about my career, this is about my country."
Of all the no votes, Tom probably had the most to lose.
The night of the vote Pat Toomey hosted a dinner
at the Hunan Restaurant on Capitol Hill for 20 of the
Republicans who were against the bill. The message
was "stick together." Toomey and Pence had
devised a fallback plan to vote down the Medicare
bill then come back to the President with a much
scaled back plan that would 1) cover only those
seniors who don't have existing prescription drug
insurance and 2) retain the health savings accounts
(the one redeeming feature of the bill). This was
exactly what we at the Club and the Wall Street
Journal urged as a sensible alternative that would
cost only one-third of what the conference report
cost. The plan of action was for these conservatives
to go to the floor and record their "no" votes
immediately, which would signal to the Democrats
that there were not enough Republican votes to pass
the bill. It almost worked.
In the first 10 minutes of the vote there were 17
Republican no votes recorded. The Democrats,
who did not want to hand Bush a "victory" on this
issue, voted no en masse, with the exception of
about a dozen who waited on the sidelines to see
what would happen on the Republican side of the
aisle. When the normal 15 minutes passed, the bill
was losing by 15 votes. After an hour it appeared
that the House rejected the bill as 218
representatives, a majority, had voted "nay."
Now the intense lobbying pressure began.
Members were promised pork barrel projects.
They were threatened with primary challengers.
The President, who had just returned from Britain,
called lawmakers at 5:00 in the morning to round
up a few more votes.
Todd Akin of Missouri got a call from a state
legislator earlier in the day, no doubt at the urging
of the White House, threatening to run a primary
challenge against him if he voted no. I talked to
Todd several times during the day, urging him not
to buckle. Akin withstood intense pressure from
his colleagues all night long and by 5:00 a.m.
looked like he had come out of a torture chamber.
But he held firm and voted no.
But nothing compares to the disgusting behavior of
the Republican leadership toward Michigan's Nick
Smith. Smith is retiring from the House and his son
is running in a crowded field to succeed him. The
leadership first offered unbelievable enticements to
change his vote to a yes. First, they said that the
leadership would take the unusual step of endorsing
his son Brad in the tight primary race. Smith said no
deal. Then they promised to raise $100,000 for Brad
Smith if he voted yes. He still said no. Then several
Republican leaders threatened that if he didn't
change his vote they would raise money for his
son's opponents. At this point, Nick's wife called her
son to tell him of the situation. Brad Smith phoned
his dad and heroically told him to vote his
conscience and to not worry about the House race.
Smith stuck with his no vote. Several infuriated
Republicans in the House were still fuming after the
vote and taunted Nick Smith with threats that "we
will make sure your son never wins this seat." Ugly
stuff.
Another hero was Rep. Scott Garrett, who of course
replaced the RINO Marge Roukema with Club
member backing. Garrett was lambasted by the
leadership for the political suicide that they said he
was committing by voting no. But when I asked him
a few hours before the vote what he was going to do,
he said "I am for freedom." And he was the only
House Republican in the entire northeast to vote no.
By 5:00 a.m. many members were starting to suffer
from sleep deprivation (was this done intentionally
to break down their will to resist?). The drug bill
was still stuck at a vote of 216-218. The vote count
on the board had not moved in nearly an hour.
Incredibly, the bill was going down to defeat.
According to the Washington Post, on several
occasions House Majority Leader Tom Delay was
ready to throw in the towel and end the vote. Each
time he was urged by the White House to hold off a
little longer.
Then the White House and the Whip team tried one
more desperation tactic. They went to two western
state members, Trent Franks and Butch Otter, and
told them that if they didn't change their votes, the
President would immediately instruct the House
leadership to pass the Democratic version of the bill.
These two were told that they were the only ones
standing between passage of an even worse
Medicare drug bill. I'm convinced the White House
was bluffing and this was simply another scheme
to peel off votes. We'll never know, because Franks
and Otter changed to yes votes after getting calls
from the President and the bill passed 220-215 as
two other lawmakers voted to be on the prevailing side.
Poor Trent Franks looked like he was white as a
ghost when he walked off the House floor. Trent is
a terrific guy and I truly believe that he simply
allowed himself to get snookered. I have talked to
him several times since the vote (he called me at
8:00 that Saturday morning to tell me what had
happened). He seemed whipped and I have no
doubt his conscience is gnawing away at him --
and will do so for a long time. Actually, I feel sorrier
for Trent Franks than anyone else in this whole
unseemly escapade.
"I went to college at the Citadel and so I have lived
through the hazing process," said Rep. Gresham
Barrett, another no vote. "But the barrage of attacks
we absorbed from our own colleagues during those
three hours was much worse."
I really believe that if we could have won this vote
against the most powerful whip operation in the
history of House and a popular Republican President,
it would have proven to the Republican establishment
that conservatives are sick of the spending splurge
that is going on in Washington. The budget has
grown by 27% in two years, a faster rate of growth
in the budget than at anytime since LBJ's presidency.
Republican leaders in the White House and the
Congress seem entirely unconcerned about the
orgy of spending and debt. They are in denial. A
deserved defeat of this bill would have dropped an
ice cold bucket of water on their heads and helped
them snap out of it. So close!
I'm convinced this is a hollow victory for the
Republican Party bosses. The bill could blow up in
the Republicans' laps when seniors see the details
of the carved up turkey they've just been served.
Worse, the bill threatens to further demoralize fiscal
conservative voters who are infuriated by the GOP's
massive expansion of government. I know I'm
demoralized. As Mike Pence told me last week,
"We Republicans seem to have forgotten who we
are and why voters sent us here."
We now have two big government parties in
Washington. And we only have about two dozen
Republicans in the House and a handful in the
Senate who are trying to pull the Republicans in
an anti-big government direction. We must add to
these numbers.
One final note: we intend to make it a top priority
of the Club to protect the heroes who voted against
this bill from the retribution of the Republican Party
brass. If the party leaders do run primary
challengers against these principled congressmen,
we will do everything we can to crush the challenge
and protect those true fiscal conservatives who
voted for principle over politics during the wee hours
of Saturday morning.
Here is a list of the Republicans in the House and
Senate who voted against the bill:
House:
Akin (Missouri)
Barrett (South Carolina)
Burton (Indiana)
Chabot (Ohio)
Culberson (Texas)
DeMint (South Carolina)
Emerson (Missouri)
Feeney (Florida)
Flake (Arizona)
Garrett (New Jersey)
Gutknecht (Minnesota)
Hostettler (Indiana)
Jones (North Carolina)
Miller (Florida)
Moran (Kansas)
Musgrave (Colorado)
Norwood (Georgia)
Paul (Texas)
Pence (Indiana)
Ryun (Kansas)
Shadegg (Arizona)
Smith (Michigan)
Tancredo (Colorado)
Toomey (Pennsylvania)
Wamp (Tennessee)
Senate:
Chafee (Rhode Island)
Ensign (Nevada)
Graham (South Carolina)
Gregg (New Hampshire)
Hagel (Nebraska)
Lott (Mississippi)
McCain (Arizona)
Nickles (Oklahoma)
Sununu (New Hampshire)
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JOEY DAUBEN NAMED STUDENT
COORDINATOR FOR RLC OF TEXAS:
Austin, TX -- Joey Dauben, a Republican Liberty
Caucus of Texas member from Ellis County
(Ovilla, TX) has been named Student Coordinator
for the State of Texas.
"As a journalist at The Ellis County Press and
past Midlothian ISD Board candidate, Joey has
intimate knowledge of and access to the
contemporary government school system and is
well positioned to champion students', parents'
and teachers' Constitutional rights in that arena",
said Don Zimmerman, RLC-TX Executive Director.
"My school board campaign was centered on
respecting student rights,as well as lower taxes,
so I'll transfer those beliefs over to my new
position as the RLC Student Coordinator," Dauben
added. "Young people from high schools across
the state face all kinds of unconstitutional
measures, and students at college campuses are
facing higher 'taxes' on tuition, not to mention
political correctness. The fact I'm young and have
a newspaper backing me is also helpful."
Additionally, Dauben has created the Student
Rights Committee, an RLC-affiliated group that
will consist of high school/college students and
legal experts to organize against the
unconstitutional violations on campus, either by
letter-writing campaigns or legal action.
Dauben plans to attend the University of North
Texas in Denton and pursue a degree in journalism.
For more information, contact Joey Dauben at
jdauben@rlctexas.net
(972) 617-9537,
or Don Zimmerman at
hq1@rlctexas.org
(512) 577-8842
***********************************
REPUBLICAN ELECTION SCHEDULE FOR 2004:
o January 2, 2004 - Filing deadline (6:00 p.m.) for
candidates to be on the
ballot - all offices
o February 17-27, 2004 - General Primary Election
Early Voting by Personal
Appearance
o March 2, 2004 - 2004 PRIMARY ELECTION
o March 20, 2004 - 2004 Senatorial District
Conventions
o April 12-16, 2004 - Runoff Primary Election Early
Voting by Personal
Appearance
o April 20, 2004 - 2004 Primary Runoff Election
o May 10, 2004 - County Chair & Precinct Chairs
begin 2-year term of office
o June 3-5, 2004 - 2004 Republican State
Convention in San Antonio
o August 30, 2004 - Republican National
Convention convenes in New York City
o September 2, 2004 - Republican National
Convention adjourns
o October 18-29, 2004 - General Election Early
voting by personal appearance
o November 2, 2004 - GENERAL ELECTION
***********************************
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Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas
201 W. Stassney Lane 181-B
Austin, TX 78745
Membership Options (Receive RLC License Plate
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OUR PURPOSE:
After decades of New Deal and Great Society social
activism ...
combined with the rapid decline in civics
and American history
education in our government-run
public schools ... mixed with a
growing population
of ill-informed and apathetic voters ...
government at
every level in this country continues to be too big,
too intrusive and too expensive.
Founded in 1990, the Republican Liberty Caucus
of Texas works to
advance the principles of limited
government, individual liberty and
free markets
within the Republican Party and throughout Texas.
Our focus is on a broad range of issues, including
education, taxation,
property rights, gun rights,
free speech, federalism and the proper
role of
government.
In addition to giving disenfranchised
smaller-government Republicans
a home by
creating incentive to stay in our party, the
Republican
Liberty Caucus of Texas helps avoid a
potential exodus to Libertarian,
Constitutional, and
other third parties, which would end up weakening
our thin margin over the Democrats, thus opening
the door to
big-government victories from leftist
candidates. The Republican
Liberty Caucus of
Texas is proud to promote the GOP's
smaller-
government message. Our limited government,
individual
liberty and free market ideas will win by
inclusion. There is
strength in numbers.
While rolling back decades of government
"nannyism" will require a
great deal of public
education and grassroots lobbying, the most
important means of changing public policy is to
change public officials.
Therefore, the Republican
Liberty Caucus of Texas works to elect
pro-liberty
Republicans to offices at all levels, partisan and
non-partisan, in both primary and general elections.
The Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas is
committed not to just
electing more Republicans ...
but better ones, as well.
***********************************
COMMITTEE:
Executive Director:
Mr. Don Zimmerman
Austin, TX
(512) 577-8842
dzimmerman@rlctexas.net
Chairman:
Mr. Jerry Patterson
Austin, TX
jpatterson@rlctexas.net
Vice Chairman:
Penny Langford
Angleton, TX
plangford@rlctexas.net
Secretary:
Mr. John Reed
Buda, TX
jreed@rlctexas.net
Treasurer:
Mr. Richard Relph
Austin, TX
rrelph@rlctexas.net
At-Large:
Mr. Trey Summitt
Dallas, TX
gsummitt@rlctexas.net
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Republican Liberty Caucus of
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201 W. Stassney Lane 181-B
Austin, TX 78745
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