Monthly Archives: March 2007

Less than ten minutes after hitting send on today’s message, I was informed by Jerry Hughes that his elderly mother-in-law was taken to the hospital and the prognosis is not good. Understandably, Jerry is going to be with his wife during this time instead of hosting his show. ::::::I assume they’ll run a tape, but I don’t know if it will include me. This is the nature of live media interviews. Sometimes, breaking news or real life has a way of interrupting. Thank you for understanding.

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::Quote of the day:::::::Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies. ::::::– Groucho Marx::::::Today’s Subject: A “Read the Bills” Surge::::::Rye Terrell’s project to promote Downwsize DC and the “Read the Bills Act” through Digg.com was a smashing success. It resulted in . . .

This past Tuesday, four conservative leaders launched a project that even liberals can cheer: the American Freedom Agenda. According to this press release, “AFA’s mission is to enact legislation that restores ‘the Constitution’s checks and balances’ and makes the subject ‘a staple of political campaigns and of foremost concern to Members of Congress and to voters and educators.'”::::::The AFA launched a ten point plan:

Congress, March 12-17

As I started writing this blog, I was on The Right Source with Kevin Shannon. We’re talking about Downsizing DC, Read the Bills, and, of course, Digg.com. ::::::As of right now, Digg has brought in nearly 200 newly registered DC Downsizers. And to everyone who has gone and there and “Dugg” us and posted a comment, THANK YOU. ::::::Earlier today, I appeared on Straight Talk with Jerry Hughes and told his audience about the Digg article. As I went on air for that show, we were…::::::* the fourth busiest article on the site, :::* we were on page four of the Newly Popular (the main Digg page), :::* and we had dropped to number two on the Political Opinion page.::::::Now, I’m holding for and about to go on Free Talk Live with Ian and Mark. ::::::And several bloggers have responded to the call and sent people to see the fantastic article about the Read the Bills Act at Digg.com. ::::::As I finish writing this blog post, we’ve crossed 1,900 “Diggs.”::::::It’s been a good day for Downsize DC!

URGENT ACTION BULLETIN
:::
:::DC Downsizers,
:::
:::Something really exciting is happening, right now. This message is time sensitive . . .
:::
:::Lots of new people are joining Downsize DC today because of an article about the Read the Bills Act that is number one on the DIGG rating site. Let’s pour fuel on this fire!
:::
:::I’m frequently asked: How are you going to compel Congress to sponsor and act on the Read the Bills Act? The answer: By showing up to work every day and continually adding new DC Downsizers we will build an army that can compel Congress to act through overwhelming, mind-numbing, intense pressure.
:::Slow and steady wins the race.
:::
:::If you’ve already contacted Congress about the Read the Bills Act, then I’m NOT going to ask you to send a message to Congress today using our Congressional Contact System.
:::
:::Are you surprised?
:::
:::Instead, you can do something to get lots of people you’ve never met to join and take action. And best of all, it’s FREE.
:::
:::Your very PROMPT attention and follow-through in response to this message can result in dozens, scores, and perhaps hundreds of new people joining us over the next several hours . . .  

Quote of the day:
:::
:::The Law of Succession: Each president contributes to the upgrading of his predecessors.
:::– political scientist Theodore Lowi
:::
:::Curing loneliness
:::
:::It’s easy to feel alone when it comes to politics. Tell another person what your labels are (Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, or whatever), and you may see the lights turn off in that person’s eyes if their labels are different from your own. 
:::
:::Either that, or your seemingly innocent label-exposure could work like a challenge to a verbal duel, and what you may see in the other person’s eyes could be something more akin to anger. “How dare you take sides with THEM! Here, let me fix you by explaining the error of your ways!”
:::
:::In any case, love or friendship is the least likely response when two people begin to discuss their differing labels.
:::
:::”Labelism” Labeling others may be an important, unrecognized contributor to feelings of loneliness and isolation in the world. But . . .

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch::::::IN THIS ISSUE:::::::* RTBA Coalition grows!:::* Thomas Jefferson writes a letter:::* A few more ticks of the clock

Last week, my show took a different turn right off the bat. A breaking news item. Five callers. Four emails. The show is only an hour long.
:::
:::But it still needs to be discussed… what matters most.
:::
:::The Downsize DC project is predicated on a strategy. It’s the thing that matters most.
:::
:::In recent weeks, various suggestions have been made — issues we should be tackling and arguments we should be making. In fact, these statements have come from a variety of directions. It’s been impossible to respond to them all.
:::
:::Today, I want to respond and to offer hope, because we believe there’s one thing that matters — one root strategy that is more important than all others.
:::
:::Just one. Only one.

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::Quote of the day (a coda to yesterday’s message):::::::I can see that it will work in practice. But would it work in theory?:::– A British joke about the French (and a Downsize DC joke about politics)::::::Media Notice:::::::I’m on the radio again today, and you can listen. See the details below my signature.::::::Order of the Day:::::::We’re moments away from eclipsing our recruitment and messages-to-Congress numbers for last month, with half of March still to go.::::::Meanwhile, Congress is busy, doing so many things in so many different directions, that we’re finding it hard to keep up. But . . .::::::We have to pause for yet another announcement from our sponsors. Or something like that.::::::We didn’t raise much money to pay many bills yesterday, and if you can’t pay the bills you can’t save the world. So we have to hit it again today. Sorry. That’s just how it is.::::::One contribution of $7,000 to $10,000 would do it, plus buy some more advertising. We know there are people on this list with that capacity, quietly watching our progress. Now would be a good time for one of them to step forward. They could do so here.::::::70 contributions of $100 would also do it. Or, :::140 at $50:::280 at $25:::700 at $10:::1,400 at $5::::::The above numbers are rough estimates only, and do not conform to Sarbanes-Oxley federal accounting requirements, but then, neither does the federal budget. ::::::Anything you could give would help. You can contribute here.::::::Thanks for being a DC Downsizer, and don’t forget about the media notice below my signature, or the contribution links above.::::::Jim Babka:::President:::DownsizeDC.org, Inc.