Republican Party donors call for resignation of state chairman
by Michael C. Bender | December 29th, 2009A dozen Florida Republican Party donors, including Boca Raton residents Mark Guzzetta and Ned Siegel, sent a letter to state party committee members calling for the resignation of party Chairman Jim Greer or his removal “as quickly as possible.”
Based on the current state of affairs of the Republican Party of Florida today—first, the continued inability to raise the necessary resources to fund its budget; second, its inability to adjust its budget to eliminate unnecessary expenses; and third, its inability to motivate and unite all Republicans in a common effort for our collective benefit–it is evident that one of the elements of that essential triad relationship has fallen short.
This has resulted in a crisis of confidence in our Party with widespread uneasiness, lack of trust, lack of motivation, and raises questions about the leadership of Jim Greer, Chairman of the Party, among the grass roots active members of the Party, elected Leadership and those of us who have historically rallied financial support around the state of Florida.
For the complete letter, continue reading.
LETTER TO ALL COMMITTEE MEMBERS OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA
We, the undersigned, constitute a geographically diverse group of professional, civic, and business leaders from all regions of Florida. Nonetheless, we have been over the years, and more so now, singularly united in our firm conviction and support for the principles and values of the Republican Party here in our Great State of Florida.
Each one of us has spent many years and many election cycles helping candidates at the local, county and state levels in elections, raising money and doing whatever was needed for the election of Republican candidates in Florida as well as across our country.
Our success to date is of course testament to the hard work and dedication of the thousands of workers and generous donors who made possible the incredible successes over the past twelve (12) years.
But, more importantly, our success could not have been possible without the highest ethical principles of not only our candidates for whom we have all supported and worked — but also our Party Leadership— holding to the values that make our Florida Republican Party relevant.
If any part of this essential triad relationship—–the Candidate, the Party Leadership and equally, if not most important, the volunteer army of donors at all levels along with campaign workers who give of their time, energy and largesse to willingly support a cause/candidate they believe in for the good of our state and country—does not meet these standards in an integrated and harmonious way so as to provide strong and trusting support of each other—-then we have an unstable alignment, and the chances of success are greatly diminished.
Based on the current state of affairs of the Republican Party of Florida today—first, the continued inability to raise the necessary resources to fund its budget; second, its inability to adjust its budget to eliminate unnecessary expenses; and third, its inability to motivate and unite all Republicans in a common effort for our collective benefit–it is evident that one of the elements of that essential triad relationship has fallen short.
This has resulted in a crisis of confidence in our Party with widespread uneasiness, lack of trust, lack of motivation, and raises questions about the leadership of Jim Greer, Chairman of the Party, among the grass roots active members of the Party, elected Leadership and those of us who have historically rallied financial support around the state of Florida.
Thus we can only come to the conclusion that there must be an immediate change of chairmanship of the Republican Party of Florida.
There must be a change in order to restore total confidence in our Party’s ability to conserve its assets, save and protect them for the specific purpose of electing Republicans in their campaigns; not only in 2010 election cycle but also to not carry forward debt if possible for the next 2012 election cycle.
There must be a change in leadership to successfully execute the strategic plan for victory in 2010 election cycle for Republicans on the ballot in both federal and non-federal races.
There must be a change to reinvigorate, restore confidence and restart all elements of our Republican base so the Party can successfully raise the necessary financial resources to achieve these objectives.
We do not take this Call for Action lightly. It is even more agonizing to publicly call for this plan of action but it would not have come to this had Jim Greer heeded warning calls and implemented a strategic plan of action for our Republican candidates as a competent State Chairman should and would.
Many months have passed with no response from Mr. Greer to private appeals for a change in course of action, and now with less than a year until the primary elections, we must set our internal house in order straight away to achieve victory in November.
The best interests of the Party would be for Mr. Greer to resign now. Failing this, he should be removed as quickly as possible.
Thank you for your attention to this very serious situation.
Sincerely, and urgently,
SIGNATORIES
Mr. Richard Beard, Tampa
Mr. William Becker, Vero Beach
Mr. Seth Bernstein, Orlando
Ambassador Charles E. Cobb, Miami
Mr. J.C. Demetree, Jacksonville
Mr. Earl Durden, Panama City
Mr. Ed Easton, Miami
Mr. Mark Guzzetta, Boca Raton
Mr. Charles Hilton, Panama City
Ambassador Al Hoffman, Ft. Myers
Ambassador Mel Sembler, St. Petersburg
Ambassador Ned Siegel, Boca Raton
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December 29th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Don’t worry the Democrats are putting ours together soon too..for at least the county chair for violating election law. 3rd party anyone?
December 30th, 2009 at 6:20 am
Third party will come after democrats are voted out of office. Instead of cutting back democrats have added to the cost of government. They have to be defeated. Cut our taxes.
In January expect County Commissioner Burt Aaronson to start pushing for a county wide sales tax on everything you purchase.
Burt didn’t get the memo that people are leaving the state, not coming. Service needs are down. Democrats need to stop pinching money from those who still remain. But what does Burt care…we pay for his healthcare, his pension, his salary. He just wants to make taxpayers ante up more.
December 30th, 2009 at 7:35 am
Jim please resign now! Save airing the real dirty laundry. Don’t bother to wait until January 9th and tie up the meeting. That way the meeting can be used for restructuring to get “our” not “your” party back on track. All of this is for naught because we all know Crist is Crust and some even think the two of you will be in Eglin by election time. Please Just Resign Today!
December 30th, 2009 at 8:07 am
This is what happens when power goes to a person who cannot handle it properly. His arrogance and elitism is his downfall. No one respects this man and WHY SHOULD THEY. “HE IS A COMPLETE FOOL”.Get rid of him and GIVE ME A BREAK!
December 30th, 2009 at 10:49 am
As soon as Governor Charlie “RINO” Crist and his sidekick RPOF Chairman Jim Greer (and their cronies) are no longer in positions of responsibility, both our state and our party will be better off! They both entered those offices for the wrong reasons and wrong motivations. Instead of serving the people of Florida and doing what’s right for our state and our party, they did it for their own political self-interest and self-aggrandizement.
Do we need a third party? The answer is an unequivocal no! If this was to happen, it will only assure the election of more tax & spend Democrats at the state and federal levels – which our state and county and future generations of Floridians and Americans cannot afford. Those concerned at the current direction of our state and party need to join together and get rid of the malfeasance and ineptness within the Governor’s office as well as the Chairman’s office of the Republican Party of Florida. We need people of integrity leading our state and party once again who are committed to returning the RPOF (and the RNC) back into the party of Reagan. We need not compromise our values and our principles to attract more voters into the GOP tent, rather, we need to stand firm on our core convictions of less taxing, less spending, less government, more freedom and respect for the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Then and only then, will you see the people who left the Republican Party at the state and federal level return to the Party of Reagan and once again see the Republican Party become the Majority Party in our country. I applaud the efforts of these respected leaders of our state to call for the immediate resignation of Chairman Greer so we can start “right”ing our ship and preparing for the November 2010 elections.
December 30th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
When did Seth Bernstein become a leader of the Republican party? Aren’t we still waiting for his multi million dollar fund raiser for jeb and George W. and George Sr.? Never happened? Like most of his promises, they don’t materialize. I’m no Greer fan, but why cheapen the appeal with a fake?
December 31st, 2009 at 7:26 pm
“The best interests of the Party would be for Mr. Greer to resign now. Failing this, he should be removed as quickly as possible. Thank you for your attention to this very serious situation.”
Don’t you just love a good food fight. Rs beating up other Rs, that’s like two crooks trying to convince each other who’s the bigger crook.
I see Earl Durden’s name on the letter, the chairman of Jeb’s “transportation commission” that justified the SIS legislation that diverted state general fund revenue sources away from schools, health care and public safety and to the DOT so Chuckles and Atwater and Alexander would have their pot of gold to give CSX when the time came.
What a crock. They should all be locked up and their millions and millions confiscated and put back into the public’s treasury.
Greer, get out before it’s too late, you idiot. The FBI is all over Tallahassee for a reason, and you’re part of it.
January 1st, 2010 at 12:05 pm
It appears the hierarchy of the RNC is continuing to display the elitist mentality. NO MONEY DIRECTLY TO THE RNC, SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE DIRECTLY!!
When the RNC was questioned during a recent meeting about the unconstitutionality of the Obama health care mandate, the response from the top was, “it doesn’t become unconstitutional until it’s in effect and has cause.” Granted, we all understand how the legalities will play out, however wouldn’t it have been nice to hear some support rather than defense?
The RNC still have their eyes and ears on numbers and demographics only. It’s about what’s politically correct and politically expedient. All they want is a lot of money to do whatever they want to do, they are STILL not listening to us.
This election will require each of us to do our part in getting candidates into the primaries. The RNC is tossing their hands in the air telling us, we select the candidates…….so let’s do it and stop them from supporting their leftist liberals in republican clothing. As you all know we have a major push down here in Florida for Marco Rubio. There isn’t anyone living here who can read, now can’t understand Crist is and has supported the other camp. It’s just business as usual for them. We cannot count of the RNC to wake up and stop pushing their RINO candidates on us.
However, political suicide to make a point is still suicide. We need to continue to bring back the Republican Party through persuasion exhorting it back to the conservative principals. We must become such a powerful force that the GOP leadership cannot ignore us as they have done in the past. Reach-across-the-aisle moderate candidates are what got the country in the mess it’s in today. What’s needed is a message of calm strength and common sense solutions to issues that benefit all Americans, not just special interest groups. We need to make sure they got the message and realize their mistake in the NY-23 race backing a liberal candidate. Hopefully, they’ll follow if we show them the way.
Please send your money, time and energy to individuals who will support our constitution and love this republic. A lot of new faces will be on the 2010 political scene trying to be elected as reformers. They need to be carefully vetted. The Tea Party needs to be a movement within the Republican party. We have to make the Republican party what is used to be and then make them stay out. If we split the party, then we hand a victory over to the progressives for Obama.
Everyone has a role in this no matter how big or how small. Each one of us have God given talents that are greatly needed if we have any hope in swinging this around. Please get involved, we are in for one heck of a fight in 2010
January 1st, 2010 at 12:09 pm
What follows is an open letter to the RNC letting them know exactly what is on most American minds. It was written by a fine patriot with genuine love of this Republic:
December 28, 2009
An Open Letter To The RNC:
As a point of introduction, I have been an independent voter since 1980, and have a blog with a readership that includes indies, democrats, republicans, conservatives, Christians, Muslims, etc. It is a very eclectic mix of people and ideas, but one issue they all agree on is that the Republican Party is likely more than 50% of the problem in our country right now. The Republican Party has proven itself to be suspect and untrustworthy because of their actions, (or lack thereof), and their inability, (or purposeful ignorance), to see the depth of the danger a democratic administration is posing to the future of the nation.
A good number of my readership knew how devastating an Obama administration was going to be, and even though we were truly aghast at a John McCain candidacy, we voted for him to try to keep the White House and the congress balanced. Now the Republican party knows what we knew years ago, and yet, the RP still continues to play politics with the future of this nation and will not take a stand against the nation killer called liberal democrat socialism. Desperate times call for drastic measures and we are just not seeing that type of leadership coming from the RP, and it has lead us to believe that we are on our own. Why else would the Tea Parties be drawing greater percentages than the republicans, and why would Doug Hoffman have made the splash he did?
Where were you on 9.12.09 when 2 million Americans showed up on the Capitol Steps to send a message about Obama and his policies? Why does one liberal like Jane Hamsher have immediate access to the airwaves whenever they are displeased, yet 40 senators and 177 representatives could not show up on 9.12.09 to stand with 2.1 million Americans who set a new record for a gathering on the steps to help them get some media time? Why weren’t you there, and why do you expect us to vote for you when you aren’t even present? You continue to be a day late and a dollar short, again.
The New Year’s Resolution of myself and my readers is to do everything possible to vote out every single senator and congressman that is not protecting and preserving our nation’s founding document; The Constitution. We will be searching for and supporting candidates that have a track record of saying what they mean and meaning what they say, who show spine and stand up for that precious document, it’s principles, and our freedoms.
If the Republicans want to win in 2010, the party better not fight the takeover by constitutionalists of all political stripes. It is time for moderate republicans to become the democrats they so want to be, and the rest of the party to support the conservative message. There is no longer anytime left to bandy about with Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. They are progressive socialists that truly believe their way is better, and their endgame is in sight. The current Republican Party seems to think a big tent is a good idea, but has forgotten that the biggest percentage of Americans are conservative. Stop being the ghost of the party that was started to abolish slavery!
If the RP wants to wins seats, it will have to run on these messages, and then make good on those promises:
•You will not become a prostitute by selling your vote to the highest bidder.
•Stop Spending Money We Don’t Have and STOP FISCAL CHILD ABUSE!
•Stop or Repeal the un-Constitutional ObamaCare.
•Stop Cap and Trade.
•Stop Destroying Small Businesses through policies that straightjacket them.
•Stop Helping everyone BUT the average American.
•Stop allowing American Sovereignty to be watered down by the UN. One World Government is going to lead to the end of innovation and wealth creation for the majority of the world’s population.
•Stop sending all our money overseas through insane policies like funding abortions in third world countries.
•Stop the insane taxation that is causing American wealth to leave our shores and our economy.
When the republicans get the majority in both houses, and then the White House, you will be required to do the following:
•BE REAL LEADERS! Stop worrying about not getting re-elected. Do not sell your vote, follow the Constitution, and do right by the American public and you will be re-elected.
•Fight for REAL HEALTHCARE REFORM through a series of smaller bills that have a laser focus on the actual problems that exist in the healthcare system now. The very first issue should be taking an American’s employer out of the equation. Americans should be able to buy policies they own and take with them. The indentured servitude to employers because of benefits must stop.
•Abolish the Federal Reserve and its monopoly on American’s wealth through the interest on the debt you and the democrats have burdened us with.
•Abolish the IRS and implement a flat tax or fair tax. If you even think about adding a VAT tax on top of the current system, you will see complete revolution.
•Abolish lobbyists in Washington, D.C. Period. No More Special Interest Money. Being a senator or congressman was not supposed to be your only job. The percentage of millionaires in the congress is so far out of proportion to the rest of the country that it is sickening. Everybody must work.
•Set Term Limits for the congress. The congress has become a cesspool, and the hope of a true statesmen rising from the muck is a fantasy.
•Implement private retirement accounts based on the Texas model that has a greater yield and get the government out of Social Security.
•If an idea or bill does not increase Americans’ freedom and liberty, be against it!
The message for the Republican Party is a simple one; We Wanted Real Change And You Gave Us Obama!
Put forward conservative, constitutional candidates that actually have common sense and real experience in the private sector who will have the fortitude to walk back many of the socialist policies of the last 60 years and replace them with policies that empower Americans (i.e. private retirement accounts). Support them by putting the entire Republican infrastructure at their disposal including financially and politically. We will do the rest.
January 7th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
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