GOP establishment vs. Tea Party: Smokescreen in Tampa?

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Tea Partiers and other grassroots activists are cautioning that we should not buy into the report of a deal reportedly dousing a smouldering fight over GOP national convention rules:

[…] The issue that some delegates  continue to have with the compromise is that proposed rule 12 would  allow the RNC to rewrite the operating rules and guidelines of the GOP  between conventions, without the influence of delegates, so long as they  had a three-fourths majority.

According to www.preservetheparty.com , a website started this week by delegates to help raise awareness on  this issue, proposed rule 12 reads: “The Republican National Committee  may, by three-fourths (3/4) vote of its entire membership, amend Rule  Nos. 1-11 and 13-25. Any such amendment shall be considered by the  Republican National Committee only if it was passed by a majority vote  of the Standing Committee on Rules after having been submitted in  writing at least ten (10) days in advance of its consideration by the  Republican National Committee and shall take effect thirty (30) days  after adoption. No such amendment shall be adopted after September 30,  2014.

The language of rule 12 makes the compromise on Rule 16,  which would essentially allow a candidate to hire and fire delegates as they see fit, a farce, the RNC can simply go back and rewrite the rules   once the convention is over. […]

I talked with one of our loyal readers who is currently serving as a North Carolina delegate in Tampa:

“Reports of a deal  that changes rule 16  but  leaves the new blank check rule 12 in place are disturbing. With rule 12 intact, the only thing preventing the RNC from adding the exact same language back in after the convention ends is a 3/4 vote. That looks high, but multiple RNC members have testified that it is not.  The chair always gets what he wants if he wants it badly enough. Further, they can add a new rule that does something like allow the RNC Executive Committee to change rules with a majority vote, as long as it’s not rule number 12. Rule 12 is still letting the genie out of the bottle. This deal is a trap.

That they are back to categorizing this as a Ron Paul thing is ridiculous. It’s a clear attempt by the establishment clique to continue their smokescreen approach while they push to minimize the influence of the grassroots and  take over. We can’t give it to them.”