Monthly Archives: February 2008

Will Ron Paul’s Revolution go the way of Ross Perot’s Reform movement?
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:::On today’s Downsize DC Conference Call, my two hour, Sunday radio show, we’ll tackle that question, at length. And I want to hear from you about it at 1(800)259-9231 or “CALL at DOWNSIZEDC dot ORG”
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:::We’ll also have an update from my show sponsor, Gun Owners of America, focusing on the DC Handgun ban case in the U.S. Supreme Court.
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:::BTW, I’m still looking for additional show sponsors and have opportunities available between $165 and $450. Email me at the radio show address if you’re interested in details.
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:::And, if we have time, we’ll go talk about the presumptive GOP nominee, John McCain, too. I have some things I want to get off my chest. Maybe you do too! If so, let me hear from you.
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:::The Downsize DC Conference Call starts at 3:06 PM Eastern (2:06 PM Central, 1:06 PM Mountain, and 12:06 PM Pacific). 
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:::It’s on a couple stations, but really, the best way to guarantee that you hear it is on the Net. Go to http://gcnlive.com/listenlive.htm.
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:::Happy Listening,
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:::Jim Babka
:::Host
:::Downsize DC Conference Call

SPECIAL NOTE:  Jim Babka will be on Straight Talk with Jerry Hughes at 3 PM Eastern today. See below the signature for details on how you can listen.
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:::Quote of the Day:
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:::”I think the world is run by ‘C’ students.”
:::– Al McGuire
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:::Subject: Reactive thinking vs. reflective thinking
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:::Thousands of TV hours are devoted to elections, but issues are rarely discussed. We hear a few buzzwords like change, experience, or liberal and conservative, but these words mean so many different things to so many different people that they don’t really communicate anything at all.
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:::Elections aren’t about issues. Elections are sporting events.
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:::We gravitate to elections for the same reason we watch sports or movies. We like the competition. We like the drama. We like to keep score. We liked to see “good guys” pitted against “bad guys.” It’s all about the drama. It isn’t about philosophy.
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:::So the question must be asked: can elections change minds? Can elections change America’s intellectual environment? We think the odds are so stacked against it as to make it almost metaphysically impossible.

The $150 Billion Fraud

DownsizeDC.org, along with thirty-three other public interest groups, signed a letter to the House Appropriations Act to preserve the Open the Government Act. That Act created a new Office of Government Information Services at the National Archives and Records Administration, to improve the way the government processes Freedom of Information Act requests. But Section 519 of President Bush’s new budget would move the office to the Dept. of Justice, which would undermine the new Office’s independence and create conflicts-of-interest within Justice. We request that Section 519 be rejected, and that the new Office of Government Information Services stays at the National Archives, as Congress intended. The letter is attached.

Special Bulletin – Senate Acting Right Now

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Change the environment. Recruit more Downsizers. Share this with others.::::::Quote of the Day:::::::“Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.” :::- Edmund Burke ::::::Subject: The Big Issue — $53 trillion in unfunded liabilities::::::The federal government has made a lot of promises in your name. It has committed you to pay most of the health care costs of the elderly (Medicare), and to provide them with a small stipend (Social Security). It has also borrowed trillions of dollars, to pay current expenses, that your children and grandchildren will have to repay. Unfortunately, future revenues will be insufficient to fulfill these promises.::::::The Government Accountability Office estimates the future shortfall in funding at $53.3 trillion. Other experts say the number is almost certainly higher. This means that every full-time worker owes a staggering $440,000, courtesy of government excess. ::::::Eventually, that debt must be paid, either in higher taxes, or in reduced benefits. These numbers represent a looming crisis of staggering proportions. ::::::What can be done?

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Change the environment. Recruit more Downsizers. Share this with others.::::::Quotes of the Day:::::::“We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.”:::– Edward R. Murrow::::::“If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. The loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or imagined, from abroad.”:::– James Madison::::::Subject: Fear the spending::::::Since its founding DownsizeDC.org has spent the bulk of its efforts defending the Bill of Rights. We have spent comparatively less effort on fiscal matters. This has been because of the nature of the current administration, in both the White House and the Congress. ::::::The politicians of both parties have joined forces to wage what may be the greatest war against traditional American civil liberties since perhaps the time of President Wilson. But now we are on the cusp of a new era, in which fiscal and economic issues will move to the fore. ::::::It is not that we expect the next administration to be more respectful of the Bills of Rights. We do not expect that, no matter which parties prevail in the coming elections. ::::::Neither do we believe the current administration has been sound in its fiscal policies, nor that we necessarily expect the next one to be worse. ::::::These are not the reasons why fiscal and economic issues will become predominant. Rather . . .

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Change the environment. Recruit more Downsizers. Share this with others.::::::Quote of the Day:::::::“Find out just what the people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”::: – Frederick Douglass::::::Subject: The Direction of Compromise::::::We are told that compromise is the essence of politics. We assert that seeking what you really want is the only way to move the process of compromise in the right direction.

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Change the environment. Recruit more Downsizers. Share this message with others.::::::SPECIAL NOTE: I’ll be on two radio shows today — Jerry Hughes at 3 PM Eastern and Gary Nolan at 5 PM Central. See below my signature for details on how you can listen. ::::::Quote of the Day:::::::“Congress is continually appointing fact-finding committees, when what we really need are some fact-facing committees.”:::– Roger Allen::::::Subject: Make Congress pay by not paying them::::::If the government fails, you can’t take your business elsewhere, or even get your money back. ::::::If a politicians fails, you can’t fire him or her. Of course . . .