Yearly Archives: 2007

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Subject: Can you answer these questions::::::I hope you listen to my radio show today, and call in. I have a few questions to pose. I’d like to hear your answers.::::::We lost the fight on the FISA bill, which will legalize unconstitutional spying on innocent Americans. All complexities aside, we lost by one vote.::::::Question number one: Why did a Democrat controlled Congress pass a bad bill that President Bush wanted, when the Republican controlled Congress couldn’t muster the votes for it the year before?

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Please share with concerned friends . . .::::::Quotes of the Day:::::::From “The Devil’s Dictionary” by Ambrose Bierce . . .:::

Representative: In national politics, a member of the Lower House in this world, and without discernible hope of promotion in the next.::::::Senate: A body of elderly gentlemen charged with high duties and misdemeanors.

::::::Subject: Why we’re confused, and what to do about it::::::We admit it. We’re confused. We would like to be able to tell you what is happening with the so-called FISA “modernization” bill — which may legalize government spying on American citizens — but we can’t. No one understands what is going on with this bill, including the members of Congress.::::::There are so many different versions of this bill, and amendments to it, and back-room negotiations and deals being made, that no one really knows anything about what will come to the floor. And yet, Congressional leaders want to rush to a vote before they recess. ::::::This shouldn’t be happening, and it couldn’t happen if DownsizeDC.org’s “Read the Bills Act” was the law of the land. ::::::There’s also a lot of lying going on. For instance, President Bush has claimed that the FISA law hasn’t been updated since 1978. TRUTH: The FISA law has been updated more than 50 times since 1978, including multiple times since Bush was elected.::::::President Bush signed these updates into law! Our elected leaders really are scoundrels.

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .
:::Last week, the Senate passed ten bills amounting to 1126 pages of legislation. But that was child’s play compared to the House, which managed an astonishing 32 bills or 1460 pages of legislation. This included authorization bills to continue funding for the Departments Justice, Commerce, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development. You would think Congress would take at least a couple of days, if not weeks, looking at each department. Instead, these lengthy bills were rushed through along with dozens of others. A full list of the bills Congress passed is available at the end of this Dispatch, below my signature.
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:::There was one refreshing development. On Thursday, ranking minority member Rep. McCrery of Louisiana forced the House Ways and Means committee to do something it rarely does: read the 481-page bill they were considering. That’s right – not even Congressional committees bother to read bills drawn up by committee staffers and/or Administration bureaucrats. Otherwise, Congressional Quarterly wouldn’t have found it newsworthy. See the story here.
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:::Rep. McCrery’s move may have been a stunt, a stalling tactic because he was upset with the Democrat majority in the committee. But we applaud Mccrery’s move, and encourage other members of Congress to pull this “stunt” in their own committees. It will guarantee that at least some members of Congress will have actually taken the time to read the bills they pass.
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:::But, of course, it’s not nearly enough.

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Subject: Stop the gang that can’t shoot straight::::::The next few days will be crucial for the preservation of the Bill of Rights.::::::It is vital that you forward this message to anyone you know who cares about the Constitution, and who distrusts the competence and honesty of the federal government.::::::We need as many people as possible to help us stop the latest self-destructive federal power grab.

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Please share with concerned friends . . .::::::Subject: Making illegal things legal using fear and fraud, plus other urgent stuff::::::President Bush wants Congress to legalize his illegal spying on Americans. The current vehicle for doing this is HR 3138. The fuel for driving this vehicle is fear and fraud.::::::Recently, the TSA reported that terrorists have been conducting dry runs in airports preparatory to a new attack. These supposed dry runs were no such thing. One involved a leaky ice-bottle, the other involved Wisconsin cheese in a suitcase next to cell phone equipment. ::::::The TSA determined immediately that they were NOT dry runs, but a report was leaked to the media saying the exact opposite. We assert that these false reports were designed to induce fear.

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Please share with concerned friends . . .::::::Quote of the Day:::::::“Simply having rules does not change the things that people want to do. You have to change incentives.”:::– Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia::::::Subject: Victory plus urgent action needed::::::We won another one. The provisions related to the National Animal Identification System were stripped out of the agriculture bill!::::::See, pressure works!::::::Better yet, President Bush says he will veto the agriculture bill because it does not cap subsidies for millionaire farmers. Finally, a good veto from the Decider! ::::::But we can’t savor our victory for long. More votes are coming in Congress and we need to take urgent action.

This episode was previewed in the Sunday Downsizer-Dispatch. My guest was Kent Snyder, Chair of the Ron Paul for President campaign. ::::::This show is hosted by DownsizeDC.org and Gun Owners of America.

Kent Snyder, Ron Paul’s campaign chair, will be my guest on the Downsize DC Conference Call today (Sunday).
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:::The occasion? Well, there are two things.
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:::First, the Iowa straw poll is coming up in just under two weeks. What are the campaign plans? …expectations?
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:::Second, an online writer speculated that Congressman Ron Paul’s presidential campaign was provoked by a call from Karl Rove who wanted the Congressman to run in order to undermine the Libertarian Party.
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:::Now,

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Quote of the Day:::::::“It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into.”:::– Jonathan Swift::::::Subject: Stop funding for REAL ID::::::UPDATE: We didn’t win on the medical marijuana amendment, but we made more progress. The amendment garnered 165 votes — two more than last year. ::::::The problem remains the Republicans who want to continue to look tough on drugs to their base. Frankly, if you asked these Republican politicians what they think about this issue in private, you would probably hear something the exact opposite of how they voted. ::::::We need to give these Republican politicians cover to change their votes by exerting more pressure over the months ahead. They need to know that large numbers of their constituents would support a yes vote on this amendment. ::::::Pressure, more than reason, will do the trick. The needed pressure should be possible because public opinion is with us on this issue. ::::::Meanwhile . . .

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .
:::Last week the House passed 11 bills and 235 pages of legislation. The Senate passed just two bills, but they totaled 365 pages, including H.R. 2272, the “America COMPETES Act.”
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:::A title like that suggests Congress will finally allow Americans to compete in the global economy. But, as one might expect, the bill turned out to be 288 pages of grant programs that take your money to give to somebody else. How can businesses compete if the government, not you the consumer, decides where your money goes?
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:::A real competitiveness bill would cut taxes, simplify the tax laws, and repeal burdensome regulations that hurt small business and drives corporations overseas. It would also allow businesses, families, and local communities to find ways to improve education without rules or other “help” from the federal government. Individuals are the best problem-solvers, and voluntary agreements are more efficient than laws and taxes. To improve America’s economic competitiveness, we must Downsize DC.
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:::The Read the Bills Act would mean bills like H.R. 2272 would never see the light of day.