Monthly Archives: February 2007

Sometimes people tell me that when they read the Downsizer-Dispatch they get so angry with what Congress is doing that they just have to take action. This is good, but . . .
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:::Responses from anger are only a small part of what we need to really change things.
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:::It is all too easy for anger to slip into fear, and the emotion of fear is right next door to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.
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:::This can lead to depression, apathy, and inaction. Apathy and inaction make defeat certain. So . . .
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:::We need to do something other than push your anger and fear buttons. We need to push your hope and vision buttons too.
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:::And, in order for our Downsizing cause to be successful, we need to have you respond to that just as well as you would to anger.
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:::It is far more meaningful if we take action out of hope — with a vision of how the future can be better than the past. Doing so avoids

This past weekend, my wife Sue and I were in New Hampshire, where I spoke to the Liberty Forum, an event hosted by the Free State Project. We received a very warm welcome.
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:::More importantly, DownsizeDC.org and our Downsize DC Agenda, starting with the Read the Bills Act, received a very enthusiastic reception from the attendees.
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:::And I want to tell you about the feedback I got and am still getting.
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:::But I would be remiss if I didn’t bring you up to date on our progress statistics here at DownsizeDC.org because these numbers are also reason for hope.
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:::There are so many reasons to be excited. We’ve now exceeded, by a good margin, our February ’06 numbers for newly registered DC Downsizers and messages sent to Congress.
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:::Last February, we registered 242 and generated 11,253 messages to Congress. By comparison, this month, we’ve registered 393 and sent 18,804 messages to Congress (and we still have two days left).
:::This is our second consecutive month where we’re ahead of last year.
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:::But one number still needs attention. And it’s quite close to being good. It’s the most important number:

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::We’ve added three new members to the Coalition for the “Read the Bills Act.” Check out their beautiful RTBA ads . . .::::::Shadowmonkey:::Freedom Democrats:::Joe Cochran – Philosophy and Politics::::::If you have a website and want to join the coalition too, you can do so here.::::::Also, check out James Wilson’s post on our blog about Senator Dianne Feinstein getting caught by surprise. Why was she surprised? She doesn’t read the bills she votes on. Here’s the money quote from the Senator:

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::Here’s where we stand with our case for leaving Iraq . . .::::::1. The costs we have incurred to date in Iraq may be as high as $2 trillion. We cannot afford more. To Downsize DC we must leave Iraq.:::2. We lack the troops, or the savagery, to force the Iraqi factions to stop fighting. :::3. None of the Iraqi factions are likely to “win” the civil war, so they will have to reach a settlement.:::4. The Iraqi factions do not trust us, and so we cannot serve to broker this settlement.::::::If we cannot broker a settlement between the Iraqi factions, who can?

This is a follow-up last month’s post on U.S. Attorney appointments. Last week, Dianne Feinstein spoke on the Senate floor about the issue. An excerpt::::

Unbeknownst to any of us, in March 2006, in the PATRIOT Act reauthorization, a provision was included that allows the Attorney General to appoint an interim U.S. attorney for an indefinite period of time.

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::We all want peace and stability for Iraq. How can we best obtain it?::::::The Bush formula reduces to this — we will force the Iraqi’s to stop fighting each other. ::::::We have made an effort to show that U.S. force is very unlikely to bring peace to Iraq, because it does not address the underlying dispute between the Shia and the Sunni, and because we lack sufficient troops (and savagery) to compel the Iraqi’s to stop fighting. ::::::So what is DownsizeDC.org’s alternative?

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::Restore Habeas Corpus::::::”First, do no harm.” This is the rule of every physician who treats you for an illness. The doctor’s objective is to make you better, not worse. ::::::Government should operate by a similar rule. Indeed, it’s supposed to abide by several such rules, including the presumption of innocence, habeas corpus, and all of the other protections that go by the general name of “due process.” ::::::The idea is that whatever government does to address a problem, it must start by not making the problem worse. ::::::First, do no harm. ::::::Government must not punish the innocent. And it must not turn the rest of the world into foes by treating foreigners differently than Americans would want to be treated under similar circumstances. ::::::We must live by the same standards we apply to others. Truth must count. Innocence must matter. ::::::For the past several years our government has been doing the exact opposite.

February 18th episode of the Downsize DC Conference Call

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::We want to make this clear — passage of the Downsize DC Agenda, including the “Read the Bills Act,” the “Write the Laws Act,” and the coming “One Subject at a Time Act,” will set the stage for Downsizing Big Government. But, and this is a BIG BUT . . .::::::Once the stage has been set, radical surgery will be required to actually remove the malignant tumor that Cancerous Government has become. Below, we will show just how malignant this tumor really is.

Do you know the difference between a Shia and Sunni? Do you know which sect is behind the Iraqi insurgency? Which is Al Quaeda? Which is Taliban? Which is the majority in Iran? …Saudi Arabia? Do you know why the Shia and Sunni are fighting a civil war in Iraq?