{"id":1756046,"date":"2022-11-30T06:06:15","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T11:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1756046"},"modified":"2022-11-30T07:18:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T12:18:00","slug":"pennsylvania-republicans-form-state-freedom-caucus-the-eighth-nationwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pennsylvania-republicans-form-state-freedom-caucus-the-eighth-nationwide\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania Republicans Form State Freedom Caucus, the Eighth Nationwide"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpennsylvania-republicans-form-state-freedom-caucus-the-eighth-nationwide%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1756046&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Some 23 Republican members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives have formed a state freedom caucus, aiming to be the conservative voice in an increasingly Democrat-leaning state. The caucus was announced Monday in Harrisburg with an introduction by Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) who chairs the U.S. congressional House Freedom Caucus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe stand for the millions of Americans who feel that government [has] left them behind and they don\u2019t have a voice. We\u2019re bringing that voice,\u201d Perry said in front of a small gathering of representatives who will be members of the Pennsylvania caucus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople don\u2019t vote for Republicans to come to their state capitol and work out deals in the back room with leftist Democrats,\u201d Perry added. \u201cPeople say, \u2018Well, these are a bunch of radical extremists.\u2019 That\u2019s what the press likes to say: \u2018radical extremists.\u2019 I will remind everybody here \u2026 the Republican party isn\u2019t the one that [has] offered socialists up to run for office and hold office and promote their policies. These are folks that believe in the Constitution, take an oath for a reason, and want to abide by it, want to stand by the principles that they go out and talk to people about.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Legislators: Fulfill Your Promises<\/h2>\n<p>The caucus will be a bloc of representatives who stand together against the pressures of state government and legislative leadership, Perry said, and who will pressure the rest of the state legislature\u2019s Republicans to do what they told voters they were going to do.<\/p>\n<p>Without inspired Republican leadership, Perry said, Pennsylvania has elected \u201cthe most radical, the [most] leftist and the most partisan governor, probably of our lifetime, getting ready to take office right now. We certainly can\u2019t have a legislature that\u2019s going to agree with every single thing that is destroying the commonwealth and destroying our country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perry was referring to Democrat Josh Shapiro, who will take office as Pennsylvania governor in January, after eight years of leadership by Democrat Tom Wolf.<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvania could be leading the energy revolution in the United States, Perry said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople that are at the bottom of the economic spectrum oftentimes have to heat their homes with kerosene, because they can\u2019t afford anymore. Kerosene is now over $7 a gallon. Pennsylvania could be leading it. But we just elected a governor who stands against all of those things,\u201d Perry said. \u201cWe can\u2019t have a legislature that is unwilling to push back on that agenda that is destroying our commonwealth.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>By Invitation Only<\/h2>\n<p>Pennsylvania Republican state Rep. Dawn Keefer will chair the newly established freedom caucus, which is a state version of the federal caucus established in 2015. Vice-chair is Republican state Rep. David Rowe.<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus members must be invited to join. The caucus will not make its list of members public; members may choose whether to identify themselves as members.<\/p>\n<h2>Standing in the Gap<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cWe have a defined, clear, ideological stand that we\u2019re taking,\u201d Keefer said of the group\u2019s agenda. Keefer said the caucus will address issues such as \u201creigning in regulations, anything that would increase the scope and power of government. We plan to protect Pennsylvanians from that overreach of government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Keefer envisions the caucus as \u201cstanding in the gap and making sure that government is working for the people, not the other way around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Regarding state Republicans as a whole, \u201cWe need a clearly defined plan that gets buy-in from all members,\u201d Keefer said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t had that this past session. We\u2019ve been lacking it for a couple of years, for sure. So, let\u2019s get a plan. Let\u2019s get everybody at the table and come up with an agreement. This isn\u2019t about running roughshod and everybody getting their way. This is about coming up with a plan that can move the commonwealth forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caucus vice-chair Rowe called out \u201can unelected and unaccountable bureaucracy\u201d as a threat to constitutional freedoms. \u201c<span>We are here to be the defenders of the freedoms we have and the fighters to reclaim the freedoms we have lost,\u201d he said. \u201cFreedom will not be lost on our watch.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>\u2018I Fear for my Grandchildren\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Pennsylvania state Rep. Frank Ryan (R-Lebanon) has decided not to run for a fourth term, but to work for property tax relief and election integrity as a private citizen, in which capacity he believes he can accomplish more. Ryan will be involved with the freedom caucus, however, and with two days left in his term, he offered some reasons why an organized conservative voice is needed in the Pennsylvania legislature.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe saw during the pandemic, things that I never thought I would see in a free world,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cAs a grandparent, I fear for my grandchildren who are being subjected to decisions over which they have no control, because of protectionism that\u2019s been granted to bureaucracies outside of their controls and parental influence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ryan added, \u201cI am extraordinarily concerned that our freedom of assembly becomes chastised, challenged, and ridiculed because of certain groups \u2026 but I can assure you, [we\u2019ll ] make absolutely certain that we will reestablish the flag of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from the highest mountaintop, and we will shout out in one voice that we are one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>A Nationwide Movement<\/h2>\n<p>Andy Roth, president of the State Freedom Caucus Network, said Pennsylvania is the eighth state to form a freedom caucus in the year since the network launched.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe create [freedom caucuses] to help conservative lawmakers come together, organize and fight for the principles we believe in: family, faith, and freedom,\u201d Roth said. \u201cSetting up state freedom caucuses creates a direct link with the House Freedom Caucus in the U.S. Congress.\u201d Roth called the federal freedom caucus a \u201cconservative north star\u201d in Congress.<\/p>\n<p>The first state freedom caucus was formed in Georgia in December 2021, followed by Mississippi, South Carolina, Nevada, Illinois, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-south-dakota\">South Dakota<\/a>, and Arizona.<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-beth-brelje\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/BethBrelje.jpg\" alt=\"Beth Brelje\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bio\">Beth Brelje is a national, investigative journalist covering politics, wrongdoing, and the stories of everyday people facing extraordinary circumstances. Send her your story ideas: <a class=\"linkified\" href=\"mailto:Beth.brelje@epochtimes.us\">Beth.brelje@epochtimes.us<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some 23 Republican members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives have formed a state freedom caucus, aiming to be the conservative voice in an increasingly Democrat-leaning state. The caucus was<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1704371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1756046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1756046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1756046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1756046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1704371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1756046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1756046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1756046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}