Monthly Archives: April 2007

Perry Willis guest-hosted for me. This episode previewed and described here. ::::::You can listen by downloading the mp3 “attached” to this blog post. ::::::The Downsize DC Conference Call is also sponsored by Gun Owners of America.

:::The Virginia Tech shooting is already starting to fade from the news as we get back to real life — you know, the real news like, “Does Don Imus think that Alec Baldwin would be a good daddy for Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter?”
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:::Well, on today’s Downsize DC Conference Call radio show, we’re going to talk about the Virginia Tech shooting, and specifically, what wasn’t being discussed by the media — what they got wrong.
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:::I think the mainstream press coverage missed three crucial points.
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:::I’ll be joined by a guest with relevant, very moving, testimony to share. I’m not going to tell you who he is, but

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Please share with concerned friends . . .::::::In this issue:::::::* Protecting your right to freely organize to petition Congress:::* Another reason we need the “Read the Bills Act”:::* Brief progress report

The forces of darkness are still working behind the scenes in the House to regulate small grassroots organizations like DownsizeDC.org, while giving the big special interests a pass. ::::::Attached to this blog post, in MS Word, is a letter from Mark Fitzgibbons that describes the hypocrisy and the danger in detail. It’s worth a read.

Downsize DC Conference Call – March 25 & April 1, 2007

Why Guns Rights are not mere politics.::::::This blog post is a little different. It’s a little more personal and visceral. It’s not a polished editorial or Downsizer-Dispatch. These are, I guess, my ramblings. ::::::As most of my friends know, my Sunday radio show is sponsored by Gun Owners of America (GOA) — headquartered in Virginia. Monday, when the shootings occurred at Virginia Tech (VT), GOA wasted no time getting to the heart of the matter. They issued a press release titled, “Virginia Tech Shooting — Gun Bans Are the Problem, Not the Solution.”::::::For me, gun rights are not about politics. This issue is life and death. It’s that important. I have found myself alternately quite pleased and very frustrated while watching the news coverage of the VT shootings. If the comments to our blog were any indication, I was not alone. ::::::The Pareto Principle (also known as the 80-20 principle) tells us that 80% of the consequences stem from 20% of the causes. For examples, 20% of the people do 80% of the work or 80% of your income comes from 20% of your customers. ::::::In the VT media coverage, the Pareto Principle is almost ignored as the reporters focus on the wrong people and things — seeking some preventative solution. ::::::There was endless discussion about

Congress, April 10-15 of 2007

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Please share with concerned friends . . .::::::Subject: How you can make your Congresspersons reduce the deficit::::::Why does Congress spend so much of your money and run such large deficits?::::::Because they can.::::::They pay no price for doing so. It isn’t their money. ::::::Worse still, the more of your money Congress spends, the more powerful members of Congress become. They can use your money to hand-out favors, gain power, win influence, and create lucrative jobs for themselves as lobbyists and corporate directors after they retire.::::::They have EVERY INCENTIVE to spend as much of your money as possible, and NO INCENTIVE TO NOT SPEND IT.::::::To change Congressional behavior we must change these incentives.

The American Freedom Agenda (AFA) is a ten-point complaint list of the most egregious of anti-Constitutional, anti-civil liberties proposals, passed into law at the behest of the current administration. Bruce Fein, David Keene, Richard Viguerie, Bob Barr, and now, John Whitehead, are movement conservatives with a well-established pedigree. That four of them voted for George W. Bush at least once, gives their criticism special validity. ::::::The aforementioned men decided to send a letter to President George W. Bush calling for the resignation of Alberto Gonzales (it’s attached to this message in pdf format). ::::::It’s a bad start. ::: :::I thought they were going to give us bills — ways to change the law so that we needn’t rely on faith in good nature of the occupants of office. I was eager to sign-on to these efforts. ::::::I still am. ::::::But I’m disappointed that, after a successful national press conference, this is their next big salvo. ::::::”The problem is not the abuse of power,

“Top of Center is a podcast recorded Mondays at 8:30p.m. at TalkShoe.com. Tonight’s guest is Jim Babka of DownsizeDC.org, and we’ll be talking a little about the most recent developments with DownsizeDC, and the impact of Digg and other ‘New Media’ artifices on building a mainstream consciousness of the Read The Bills Act campaign.::::::”You can go to TopofCenter.com and listen via the embedded player on the homepage. To call in or text chat during the recording, you can get a free TalkShoe account and PIN number and phone in, or download the TalkShoe client and browse to Top of Center and clicking the Listen Now button.”