Reduce Silly Regulations effort has the backing of Governor Scott

From Eric Dondero:

Believe it or not, it is illegal in the State of Florida to ride your bicycle without your hands on the handle-bars. It is illegal to smoke so-called flavored cigarettes. It is illegal for a boyfriend and girlfriend to live together without a marriage license. All that may soon change.

From the Miami Herald "Lawmaker wants bad laws banished":

Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne... is on a mission to obliterate such illegalities buried in state law — like smoking clove cigarettes, coasting down hills in neutral, and unmarried couples living in cohabitation or “open adultery” — even if he doesn’t believe in them.

What’s most important, he said, is restoring personal liberties chipped away by government.

The second-term legislator’s repeal run started in November when House Speaker Dean Cannon told him he wanted to leave office with fewer laws on the books than when he started. Then Gov. Rick Scott made reducing state regulations a top priority.

RLC asked to help identify laws to eliminate

Meanwhile:

Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, is trying to repeal a law requiring diners to order a salad or vegetable, entree, bread, and beverage to take home resealed wine. And Longwood Rep. Scott Plakon, a libertarian-leaning Republican like Workman, is proposing several of his own, including one that would repeal the unlawful roaming of sheep-killing dogs.

Workman presented four bills in committee meetings this week. An avid runner, Workman was so excited for one that he jogged to the lectern. He needed only six minutes to pass repeals on “arcane” rules for chauffeur’s licenses and coasting.

The Reps are getting libertarian activists involved in the effort. Continuing:

[Rep.] Workman, a 37-year-old mortgage broker... asked the local Republican Liberty Caucus to mine the Florida Statutes — five books and an index — for targets. He whittled down the group’s suggestions to seven bills and also gave away a few to colleagues.

There have been some mild objections to eliminating the laws from Democrats, such as Rep. Darryl Rouson of St. Petersburg, who expressed the belief that if the laws aren't harming anyone, they should be allowed to stay on the books.

But with Republicans holding vast majorities in the House and Senate in Tallahassee and with a movement libertarian sitting in the Governor's office, it's a good bet there will be less Florida statutes on the books come the end of the legislative sesssion.

Easily wins RLC Convention Straw Poll

From Eric Dondero:

Ric Sincere, longtime libertarian Republican activist and former Libertarian Party official from Virginia has an extensive report on the RLC Convention held over the weekend in northern VA at The Examiner.

The biggest news to come out of the Convention as Sincere reports was the overwhelming victory of Gary Johnson in the presidential straw poll, "with more than double the amount of votes of the second-place finisher Ron Paul." Johnson was the keynote speaker for the convention.

Other important news, Dave Nalle of Texas (a friend and contributor of this website), was reelected National Chairman of the RLC, and Wisconsinite Aaron Bitterman as Vice-Chairman.

Sincere also reports:

Other prominent speakers at the convention included investment analyst and author Peter Schiff, freshman Congressman Justin Amash (R-Michigan), New York City Councilman Dan Halloran, Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett, Cato Institute executive vice president David Boaz, and 2010 congressional candidate John Dennis, who challenged former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her home district in San Francisco, California.

"Two years ago, this president faced an economic crisis and an uncertain world. An uncertain world has been made more dangerous by the lack of clear direction from a weak president. If I were to decide to run for president, it sure wouldn't take me two years to wake up to a job crisis and I wouldn't be asking for help to fix it." - Romney, C-PAC

From Eric Dondero:

In the 2012 Presidential sweepstakes, Mitch Daniels, Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty all posted fine performances on the C-PAC dais over the weekend. All are receiving positive reviews that will clearly advance their campaigns.

However, the Washington Post declares one clear winner.

From WaPo, CPAC winners and losers:

Mitt Romney: For Romney, the nominal frontrunner in the 2012 nomination fight, his goal with his CPAC speech was to do no harm. He did far better than that with a very well-received speech and a strong second place finish in the straw poll. If any of the top tier candidates strengthened their hand at CPAC, it was Romney.

N. VA Republican lawmaker expresses his fury and outrage

From Sify.com "Man charged with 3 counts of murder in Va. attacks":

A Salvadoran man who was ordered deported nearly a decade ago but never left has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in a series of shootings and a knife attack in a Virginia suburb of Washington, authorities said Friday.

Jose Oswaldo Reyes Alfaro, an illegal immigrant, was charged in the pair of attacks blocks apart Thursday night that left three people dead and three others injured, Manassas Police Chief Doug Keen said.

The State Delegate for the area, was quick to comment.

"It's another abject failure of the federal government," said state Delegate Jackson Miller, R-Manassas, a former city council member and police officer. "Now we have three innocent victims in my city, about a mile from my house there's a murderous rampage. I am furious. ... Yet it happens over and over and over again, and then we have to hear all of these apologetic excuses as to why we shouldn't be addressing criminal illegal aliens on the state or local level. It's just disgusting."

Republican Senator Collins - saying the words Radical Islam "taboo"

From Eric Dondero:

President George W. Bush said the words "Islamo-Fascism" one single time during his presidency.

But as Jonathan Mark writing in The Jewish Week points out, Obama won't even say the words Radical Islam:

Last year, Obama ordered his administration to stop using words such as "jihad," "Islamic terrorism," or "radical Islam." Obama won't even say the words Islamic jihad.

U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Report on Major Nadal Hassan released last week by Senators Susan Collins of Maine, and Joe Lieberman of CT.

We are concerned that DoD's failure to address violent Islamist extremism by its name signals to the bureaucracy as a whole that the subject is taboo and raises the potential that DoD's actions to confront radicalization to violent Islamist extremism will be inefficient and ineffective.