Culberson is a member of the Republican Liberty Caucus:
What is the RLC?
The Republican Liberty Caucus is a grassroots, nationwide organization affiliated with the Republican Party (GOP). The goal of the RLC is to elect pro-liberty individuals to office. The RLC was founded in 1990, and now has members in every state.
What does the RLC do?
We are expanding our nationwide base of pro-liberty Republicans. We publish a national newsletter and some state chapters publish newsletters as well.
What is the RLC’s platform?
The RLC doesn’t have an official platform like the major parties, because it is a political club and only affiliated with a major party. There is, however, an official list of RLC positions that emphasizes limited government across the board. The document was adopted at the 1996 RLC convention. Individual RLC members do not necessarily concur with every position, and it is not a requirement of membership to endorse it. It does seem to reflect the general views of the members.
Why don’t you just join the Libertarian Party?
Many in our group have been LP members, some still are. Our past chairman, Rep. Ron Paul, was the LP presidential candidate in 1988. Our Past Treasurer, Mike Holmes, was a founding member of the LP.
Everyone in the RLC joined for their own reasons, but it can be presumed that they all would agree that in many races the GOP is the best way to go in order to actually get a libertarian elected. It can also be said that the LP runs educational campaigns, where the goal is not actually electing someone, but educating the public about the libertarian philosophy. We are interested in getting someone who holds the libertarian philosophy elected.
Will the RLC support an LP candidate?
The RLC does not support LP candidates in a race where there is a GOP candidate. This does not mean that individual RLC members are party line voters. A person’s individual choice with regards to voting is not a litmus test for participation in the RLC.
Source: Republican Liberty Caucus web site 00-RLC0 on Dec 8, 2000
Rated 0% by the AU, indicating opposition to church-state separation.
Culberson scores 0% by the AU on church-state separation
OnTheIssues.org interprets the 2006 AU scores as follows:
0%- 20%: opposition to church-state separation (approx. 232 members)
21%- 79%: mixed record on church-state separation (approx. 79 members)
80%-100%: support of church-state separation (approx. 153 members)
About the AU (from their website, www.au.org):
Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
AU is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to preserving the constitutional principle of church-state separation as the only way to ensure religious freedom for all Americans.
Americans United is a national organization with members in all 50 states. We are headquartered in Washington, D.C., and led by the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director. AU has more than 75,000 members from all over the country. They include people from all walks of life and from various faith communities, as well as those who profess no particular faith. We are funded by donations from our members and others who support church-state separation. We do not seek, nor would we accept, government funding.
